How Many Years Back Should Your Resume List Job Experience?

How far back into your job history should you detail on a resume? It's a common question. And while there are some attempts at a standard rule of thumb on the matter, the truth is that there are as many exceptions as there are careers and people pursuing them. Use these guidelines to figure out how much of your career should show up on your resume.

Rules of Thumb
First, let's talk about the attempts at guidelines on how far back to include things on your resume. Experts all agree that employers don't really care all that much about jobs you've done more than 15 years ago. But some experts go further and say ten years is the cutoff. And a few even say that five years is the dividing line between relevant jobs and meaningless ones. See what I mean? The rules on this matter are hardly standardized enough to merit consideration as rules.

Judging for Yourself
Okay, having said that the rules of thumb aren't really rules on this one, how far back should you go? Go as far back as you need to in order to make your experience do you the most good. For instance, let's say you're trying to get a job in pharmaceutical sales and you're a registered nurse. That's great. Except that it was 19 years ago that you last actually worked as a nurse. Should you put it in your resume or leave it off? You're probably better going ahead and putting it in your resume. You may have to abbreviate, or list it in a special way, but at least mention it. On the other hand, if instead of a nurse you were an administrator at a hospital, that would probably be different. You'd probably leave it off it were 19 years ago, but maybe put it in there if it were only five. Every situation is different.

A Calculated Risk, Like Everything on a Resume
Few choices on a resume are as simple as they appear at first glance. Let's go back to our example of the aspiring pharmaceutical sales rep. Okay, so you've got nursing experience, which would be great. But putting that experience on the resume will probably force you to account for much of what happened in the 19 years since you left nursing. Maybe during that time you've switched careers three times, took five years off to raise a family, got laid off for a year, and worked as a cashier in a retail store before finally landing the great sales and marketing job you have now. Tough situation. Do you go into all that stuff just so you can list your nursing background? It's a risk. Weigh the pros and cons.

Special Situations Often Demand Special Treatment on Your Resume
When you've got unusual circumstances such as our pharmaceutical sales example, you might have to bend the conventions of resume writing. Faced with the situation detailed here, I'd look for compromises and techniques that would let me get the best of both choices. I'd probably first try leaving off the unrelated experience over the last 19 years, then note that she was a registered nurse, without going into specific work history. Or I'd note the dates of her nursing experience, then fast forward directly to the recent, highly relevant job in sales and marketing. The key is to try whatever you think might work and not rule it out until you see it on paper. You never know how a trick will play out on a resume until you go for it.