PSA: Stop putting your entire work history on your resume

For five years I listed every job I ever had going back to high school, thinking more experience looked better. A recruiter at a landscaping conference in Denver told me nobody cares what I did before 2010 and to cut anything older than 10 years. Trimmed my resume down to three jobs and got an interview within two weeks for a crew lead position. Anyone else been holding onto old jobs that just clutter things up?

3 comments

3 Comments

gonzalez.vera3d ago

Oh for sure @parkermorgan nailed it. I kept my high school cashier job on there for way too long thinking it showed I was "reliable" until a buddy at a trade show laughed and said "bro that was literally a decade before most of these people even got into the industry.

miles5813d ago

Hang on though, I have to push back on this a little. Leaving out early jobs is fine for some industries but it really depends on what you're going for. If you're applying to a place that values grit and hustle, showing you worked through high school can actually help you stand out from the kids who just had internships handed to them. I've seen hiring managers specifically ask about that first job because it tells them you're not afraid of hard work. Plus trimming it down to just the last two or three gigs can leave weird gaps on your timeline that make people wonder what you were doing for those missing years. Not saying you should list every paper route you ever had but some context matters more than people give it credit for.

parkermorgan3d ago

Yeah that's a solid move honestly. I used to keep my first job bagging groceries on there thinking it showed I started working early. Recruiters told me the same thing, nobody cares about jobs from 15 years ago unless they're super relevant. Take this with a grain of salt but I've seen way better callback rates since I trimmed down to just the last two or three gigs. Your resume is a marketing tool not a biography.