How Far Back You Should Go on Your Resume?

How Far Back Should Your Resume Go?

Many experienced professionals with an extensive employment history can find it tough to narrow down their experiences when writing a resume for a new job. To answer the question “How far back should a resume go?” let’s take a closer look at how to format your work history on your resume.

Top 5 Tips on How To Add Work Experience to Your Resume

Hiring managers want to know if you are qualified for a given job listing, which can be extremely important when you are applying for a managerial or senior position. This is why you need to pay close attention to what you include in the work experience section.

Many professional resume writers advise that your resume shouldn’t go back further than 10 years at most. This is especially true for positions that involve high tech, where certain software you’ve used in the past may no longer be used or is simply outdated.

Recruiters will pay more attention to resumes that use the following five tips:

1. Only include relevant experience.

A good rule of thumb is to only include the most relevant work history on your resume. Focus on duties and achievements that show you’re capable of the work required in the job description.

2. List your work experience in reverse-chronological order.

When you list your work history, present it in reverse-chronological order. A hiring manager is more likely to look at your recent experience to assess if you are familiar with the work environment as a whole. It is easier to integrate an employee who knows how to handle the most up-to-date equipment, software, and tools. This is not to say that adding earlier experiences isn’t valuable. Tracking your rise from entry-level assistant to a full-fledged manager or department head can show recruiters that you are a dedicated individual who would fit in well with their team. Focus on experiences and achievements that show you’ve gained (and can use) the skills you need for the particular job you’re applying to.

3. Stress your length of experience.

For instance, if you are applying for an office manager position, you might list how long you’ve worked as an office assistant or in another office manager position to show off your experience. Some job seekers, such as recent graduates from high school or college, might not have enough experience to list on their resumes. In that case, list relevant volunteer experience or volunteer work instead. Internships and relevant part-time jobs will work as well.

4. Use succinct bullet points.

When discussing your career history, you will also want to be as succinct as possible. Unless you have plenty of relevant work experience to add, your resume length should not be longer than one page at the most. This is where using bullet points can come in handy. A brief bullet point list underneath each job title explaining what your most important duties were can tell a recruiter everything they need to know about your experience and skills.

5. Use keywords from the job description.

Oftentimes, hiring managers won’t have the time to parse through every single application that comes their way. They will instead run these resumes through an applicant tracking system (ATS), which will scan your entire application for keywords from the job description itself (usually specific skills or job requirements for the job). The more keywords you use, the more likely your application will get in front of a hiring manager.