The answer to “How far back should a resume go in years?” depends on where you are in your career. Generally, it is acceptable to go back ten to 15 years; however, if you are just starting out, you probably don’t have that much experience yet. That’s why the specific number of years depends on your current professional position.
In this guide, we will provide a more detailed breakdown of the years of experience to include on a resume for entry-level, associate-level, mid-level, and senior/executive-level professionals. Additionally, we will provide tips on choosing the right resume format for framing your work history and avoiding common mistakes.
Key Takeaways
Resumes can go back ten to 15 years, but the number of jobs you include in the work experience section depends on your career level and the role you are applying to.
If you are in a specialized field, a longer resume work history is helpful in reflecting your depth of knowledge, credibility, and reputation.
Your resume should typically cover the last two years for entry-level professionals, two to five years for associate-level, five to ten years for mid-level, and ten or more years for senior or executive-level professionals.
Choose the right resume format to highlight your roles, skills, and results, while avoiding listing every job you have ever held, using vague descriptions, or making formatting errors.
Standard Guidelines for Resume Work History
The section for work experience on a resume usually spans ten to 15 years. In general, older roles will be less relevant because they:
Leveraged tools and skills that are now outdated
Involved more limited responsibilities in terms of scale and scope
(Likely) no longer align with your current career goals and values
However, if you are in a specialized field like pharmaceutical research, a longer resume work history can reflect your depth of industry knowledge, credibility, and reputation.
Executive roles will also benefit from a +15-year professional experience, as employers typically look for evidence of sustained results.
Nevertheless, to write a strong resume, you shouldn’t dwell on how many years of experience to include. Instead, focus on your accomplishments; quantifying them and tying them to the mission and vision of the company you are applying to can help you stand out.
How Far Back Should a Resume Go by Career Level?
Let’s look at how far back a resume should go for entry-level, associate-level, mid-level, and senior/executive-level professionals:
Career level | How far back should a resume go? |
|---|---|
Entry-level professionals | 0-2 years |
Associate-level professionals | 2-5 years |
Mid-level professionals | 5-10 years |
Senior/Executive-level professionals | 10+ years |
#1. Entry-Level Professionals (0-2 years)
If you are just starting your career, you likely have zero to two years of experience to include in a resume. Hiring managers won’t expect a lengthy list of jobs, but they will still want to grasp your potential. So, to help them do that, you should list your extracurricular activities, volunteer, or internship experience.
For example, if you are building a career in journalism, you might list:
Extracurricular activities. This could be participating in clubs, student initiatives, and student organizations, such as “Wrote and edited five articles each week for the entire school year, collaborated with a team of ten writers, and managed a content calendar to timely news and feature stories for the university's newspaper.”
Volunteer work. This could be contributing to community newsletters, magazines, or non-profit media outlets, like "Researched and wrote 20+ monthly articles highlighting local news, events, and community initiatives."
Internship experience. This could be working at local newspapers, broadcasting platforms, and media agencies, such as “Assisted the editorial team by researching and drafting three news articles every day, fact-checking content, and contributing to the weekly digital editions.”
The key is to spotlight your soft and hard skills, as well as your passion, dedication, initiative, and professionalism. These can help hiring managers determine your fit and whether you will be able to contribute and commit long-term.
If you do have traditional work experience, make sure they clearly communicate your career goals and professional skills; you want to put together a meaningful timeline, not just one for the sake of it.
#2. Associate Level (2-3 years)
Your resume can go back two to three years if you are currently an associate-level professional. Make sure you showcase the skills employers expect; this can include conceptual abilities, technical competencies, and software skills.
You should filter out roles that don’t help you showcase your strengths and prioritize those with concrete accomplishments. This way, employers will be confident you know the ropes in your industry, and they can count on your competencies.
#3. Mid-Level Professionals (5-10 years)
As a mid-level professional, your resume can go back five to ten years. The roles you choose to include should demonstrate your growth; for example, roles where you earned promotions, moving from ‘Assistant’ to ‘Coordinator’ to ‘Manager’.
If your job titles stayed similar over the course of your career, you should list the roles where you managed larger projects, worked on more difficult tasks, or shifted from contributing individually to influencing others.
#4. Senior/Executive-Level Professionals (+10 years)
Senior-level or executive-level professionals’ resumes can go back more than ten years. It is standard to include a longer work history because your goal is to highlight consistency and credibility.
Make sure that the jobs you include illustrate higher-level decision-making, leadership, and problem-solving skills. These can help employers gauge your strategic impact, which is important in demonstrating that you can contribute at a senior or executive level.
How Many Jobs Should You List on Your Resume?
In most cases, you should list two to four of your most recent and relevant jobs. If you include too many, your resume might feel drawn out; the key is to list enough to clearly showcase your career advancement.
Here are some special considerations to keep in mind if you:
Are making a career change: Focus on roles that demonstrate your transferable skills under ‘Relevant Experience’ and summarize unrelated roles under ‘Additional Experience’ to show that you have been working, just in a different field.
Have a long tenure at a company: Break your experience into sub-roles or job titles; for example, Marketing Coordinator > Marketing Manager > Marketing Director. This makes it easier for hiring managers to see your growth.
Have several short stints: Leave out jobs that don’t fill a noticeable gap or include notable achievements. Hiring managers are biased against job hopping; a study found that resumes with fewer job changes received a 40-50% higher callback rate.
Have career breaks: Include these sections in your resume along with brief explanations. It is also helpful to add bullet points about what you did, such as volunteering, freelancing, and upskilling and reskilling, to show your continued commitment. According to a LinkedIn survey of 1,024 hiring managers, 54% prefer applicants committed to continuous learning.
To decide on the specific number of jobs to include on your resume, revisit the job listing. In most cases, hiring managers tell you exactly what they are looking for: a certain number of years in the industry, a specific skill set, or familiarity with particular tools and platforms.
Compare these requirements with the roles you have held, and prioritize the ones that align most closely. If a role doesn't help prove your fit for the position, it is best to leave it out. The goal is to focus on jobs that "tick the boxes" and make it easy for hiring managers to see why you are the right choice.
How Does the Resume Format Impact Work History?
The resume format impacts how you present your work history, and by extension, how easily hiring managers can understand your professional narrative. You can choose one from these three options:
Reverse chronological format. This type of resume starts with your most recent job. It helps you map out a clear career path and highlights your consistency and competency. However, by the same token, it brings attention to frequent job changes or employment gaps; if your career isn’t linear, it is best to avoid the reverse chronological format.
Functional format. This resume is organized around skills and achievements rather than dates and job titles. It is useful if you are re-entering the workforce, making a career change, or have diverse experiences that don’t fit a traditional trajectory.
Combination format. This resume type includes a summary of qualifications first, and then a reverse chronological work history. It allows you to show what you can do and where you proved it, which creates a logical flow that makes your resume more convincing overall.
3 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Adding Work Experience to Your Resume
Here are three common mistakes to avoid when adding work experience to your resume:
#1. Including Every Job Ever Held
Even though this might seem like a good idea to show that you have extensive experience, it can do more harm than good because it:
Clutters your resume. Hiring managers usually spend only six to eight seconds on a resume. So, if you list every job you have ever had, you will make it a lot harder for hiring managers to pinpoint what’s most important when going through yours.
Spotlights your uncertainty. If you list many jobs that are unrelated, they can create confusion about your career path and make it seem as though you lack direction. This, in turn, can cause hiring managers to have doubts about your long-term commitment.
Can highlight job hopping. Hiring managers are usually wary about applicants with many short-term jobs because they see job hopping as an indicator of instability. Regardless of why you left those jobs, it is best to avoid letting this bias work against you.
Wastes valuable space. Ideally, a resume is between one and two pages, depending on whether you have more than five years of experience. To keep your resume concise, swap irrelevant jobs for more valuable sections about your recent achievements, results, and skills.
#2. Adding Vague Descriptions Without Context
Usually, it is already easy to assume certain responsibilities based on job titles, so merely listing them out beneath your position header will not add much value.
For example, you might say you “managed projects” or “oversaw a team,” under ‘Project Manager’ or ‘Team Lead,’ but hiring managers can’t tell the scale or significance of your work from these.
Instead, you need to provide details about how many people you led, the size of the budget, or your work’s impact on company goals. For instance, “led six cross-functional projects valued at $3M each, delivered under budget” paints a much clearer picture.
#3. Making Formatting Errors
Although they may seem minor, formatting errors like inconsistent date displays, misaligned bullet points, and multiple fonts can negatively affect your resume. They can raise concerns about your attention to detail and interrupt a hiring manager’s reading flow.
Formatting errors can also cause problems with applicant tracking systems (ATS). Namely, 90% of Fortune 500 companies now use ATS to filter out resumes before they reach a hiring manager, and many other companies keep following their lead. Therefore, it is important that you don't make it difficult for systems to read your resume correctly.
To maintain a clean, consistent layout, you can use our resume builder, as it will handle all the design aspects and ATS optimization for you. We also have a large collection of ready-made resume templates and HR-approved resume examples you can browse to learn about the best practices.
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Our AI-powered resume builder will help you land your dream job!Closing Thoughts
Now, you know how far back your resume can go: it should be ten to 15 years maximum. However, as we have advised, you shouldn’t worry too much about the number of years or number of jobs to include.
Instead, focus on filtering out irrelevant roles and describing the roles you decide to keep with proper context and quantified results. Leveraging Resume.co, you can easily create a strong resume in the format of your choice and secure the role you want.
How Far Back Should a Resume Go FAQs
#1. When should you remove old jobs from your resume?
You should remove old jobs from your resume when they are no longer relevant to the role you are applying to or fall outside the standard ten to 15 years range. You shouldn't try to include as many jobs as possible on your resume; instead, focus on those that highlight your skills and achievements.
#2. Should I include internships on my resume if I have 5+ years of experience?
You shouldn’t include internships on your resume if you have 5+ years of experience. At this stage in your career, hiring managers expect professional, formal roles. It is best to list full-time positions and achievements that demonstrate your expertise instead.
#3. Does the length of a resume affect my chances with ATS systems?
The length of a resume does affect your chances with ATS systems. Generally, it is best to keep your resume between one and two pages. Writing more might boost the ATS keyword density, but your resume won’t leave a good impression on hiring managers when it reaches them. So, be strategic about what you put on your resume.
