Just read an interesting piece in the latest edition of Money - Does Your Resume Make You Look Old?
Lots of good solid resume tips here but there is one stand out for me. #8 - Delving Too Deep Into the Past.
The author, Elaine Pofeldt quotes Wendy Enelow (trainer/author) who says you should only go back 15 years. Unless 20 years ago you were President or landed on the moon or something.
Its a great point. I started my career path in 198-let's call it-7. That is 24 years ago. In 1987 I was using Multi-Mate on a DOS based computer to do mailings for a stock brokerage. Cell phones were those giant military converted field radios. The fax - does anyone fax anymore - used that god-awful thermal paper. Texture worse than eggplant on that paper. Ick.
I just wiped out 15 years. All in financial services. But Enelow is right. None of that information is helping me. It doesn't add anything to the marketing document/resume.
This advice isn't just for aging Gen X'ers like myself. (Or the baby boomers who read "Money"). The resume is a marketing tool. As long as it doesn't show a gap in your employment history - make sure you trim the old/irrelevant stuff.
Even if you are in your mid-20s. It is time to take the high school jobs off your resume.
And don't forget linkedin!
Mike,
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you talk about resumes! Not only do you understand it is a marketing document, you have also seen a fair share of crappy resumes in your time .
No one really cares about our personal history. Plus, think about all the space that's now freed up to talk about current talents, skills and abilities!
Thanks for your post!