If you have been in the workforce for over a long-time, the jobs that date 10 or 15 years are now considered old jobs.
Despite the fact that you worked those positions so long ago, they can still make a good impression on your resume, granted that you add them the right way.
How to list old jobs on your resume?
When listing old jobs on your resume stay within 2 pages, provide only relevant details, and mention technological competence. If you do not want to give too many details, you can either create a work timeline with just the job and company name and date, or a section for additional experience.
Keep your resume to 2 pages maximum
When you have old jobs to list on your resume, you might have an extensive amount of work experience.
It is important that you do not go over the 2-page maximum standard by listing your old jobs and the duties and achievements from them.
If you are about to exceed the 2-page limit by adding your old jobs, and still feel as though it is advantageous to list them, you can either create a work timeline or dedicate an additional section.
There, you do not have to go into depth and can save space.
Only provide relevant details from your old jobs
Keep your bullet points limited to only relevant achievements, awards and recognition from your old jobs.
It is unnecessary to add tasks or responsibilities as it is necessary to show the positive impact you’ve had in that old position.
When listing old jobs, you have to be concise and distinctive about your contributions to not waste valuable resume space.
You might also consider following a functional or combination resume format where you either focus solely on the skills gained from your experience or both the skills and experience respectively.
If listing jobs from 15+ years ago, mention technological competence
When you are listing jobs from more than 15 years ago, which you should only do if the job description asks for them, you have to talk about your technological competence.
To avoid age discrimination or ageist stereotypes, demonstrate on your resume that you are still up to date and fully competent with handling current workplace technologies.
Whether it’s as simple as Microsoft Office use to listing more specific digital project websites such as GitHub on your resume, it’s important to do so.
Some recruiters might disregard a resume completely if the applicant seems out of touch with modern technologies or workplace standards, you want to avoid this as much as you can.
Technological competence in a resume for old jobs example:
Professional Summary:
Innovation officer with more than 10 years of experience in the International Development sector implementing innovative approaches, partnerships and technologies that support the improvement of the quality of disadvantaged lives. Proficient in all Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook and Access.
Create a work timeline
As mentioned before, you might be running out of space on your resume.
In this case, you can create a work timeline.
You can make one by adding a line, preferably horizontally, and adding old jobs as textboxes on top of it.
Only mention the job title, company name and the date of employment without any more details.
Create a section for additional experience
If you find it somewhat difficult to design a work timeline yourself, you can just create a separate section for additional experience where you list your old jobs.
Add them reverse chronologically, and as with the work timeline, only write the job title, company name and the date of employment
Additional experience section in a resume for old jobs example:
Additional Experience:
Administrative Assistant
Marriott International | Atlanta, USA | Sep 2014- Feb 2015
Front Desk Representative
CNN | Atlanta, USA | Sep 2013 – Aug 2014
When not to list old jobs on your resume?
Don’t list old jobs if they are irrelevant and date back 10 to 15 years, if the company now has a bad reputation, if you are applying to a highly technical job, or if the old job was short-term or entry-level. You also should not add old jobs when you are exceeding the 2-page maximum standard.
Don’t add irrelevant jobs that are from more than 10 to 15 years ago
If the job description does not ask for more than 10 or 15 years of work experience, it is irrelevant to add jobs older than that.
They would not be up to today’s standards and so would be taking up space for no useful reason.
Don’t list an old job from a company with a bad reputation
Whether you had a senior position or not in a company that has gone bankrupt, wound up in a controversy, or exposed for unethical operations, leave it off your resume.
Because it would be an old job, you wouldn’t have to worry about suspicious employment gaps on your resume.
Don’t mention old jobs when applying to a highly technical job
If you are applying to a job that is centered on technical abilities, such as an IT or engineering position, your old jobs would be completely irrelevant because of the substantial change in technology.
So, only list recent experiences when applying for a technical position.
Don’t put old jobs that were short-term or entry-level
No recruiter would really care if you had a job for a few months or one that was entry-level 20 years ago.
It is not necessary to list all your jobs on your resume.
Only the ones that are relevant to the job description and demonstrate your proficiencies and capabilities belong there.
Don’t add old jobs when your resume is exceeding 2 pages
If your resume is exceeding 2 pages and is filled with fairly recent relevant jobs, you do not need to add old jobs.
It is very likely that a recruiter would be more interested in your recent experiences and achievements on your resume.
Hey fellow Linguaholics! It’s me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.