Resume Tips: How far back should I list my work history?

We will address the best approach when listing employment history for entry-level workers and more seasoned professionals.

For entry-level workers, or if you are newer to the workforce – this also applies to people in college or looking for internships – we recommend listing jobs as far back as high school.

Although this varies by industry, if you are a more seasoned professional, we suggest limiting the experience on your resume to no more than ten years back. In our experience, nothing you did over ten years ago is relevant for a job today. Including older experience can also date you as a candidate.

If you have been in the workforce for a couple of decades or more, we would still strongly recommend listing more current work history within the last ten years.

If you’ve been in your current job for ten years, anything beyond that can be summarized very succinctly without going into too much detail.

For more information on resume dos and don’ts, check out our website and extended video on resume tips and tricks on our YouTube channel, linked below.