For most people, a resume should cover the last 10–15 years of work experience. Give the most space to jobs that help show you can do the job you want. You can include older work if it is relevant or the employer asks for it.
Have less than 10 years of experience? You do not need to fill that time. Include the jobs, internships, projects or volunteer work that show what you can do.
Have a longer work history? You do not have to describe every job in detail. We’ll show you which jobs to keep, which ones to shorten and how to include older experience—with examples you can use for your own resume.
How Many Years Should You Include?
Start with how much experience you have. If you have worked for four years, you do not need a ten-year work history. If you have worked for thirty years, you do not need to describe every job in detail.
Starting out: 0–2 years
Include relevant experience you already have. That could be a first job, an internship, a college project or volunteer work. A part-time job can also show useful skills, such as helping customers or handling payments.
A few years of work: 2–5 years
You can usually include your work history so far. Give more detail to jobs that match the one you want. Shorten an older internship or student job if your recent work shows those skills more clearly.
More experience: 5–15 years
Include the roles that best show your relevant experience. Describe your recent work in more detail and shorten older roles that repeat the same tasks. You do not need to give every job the same amount of space.
A longer career: 15+ years
Focus most of the detail on the last 10–15 years. Keep older work when it helps prove you meet the job requirements. This applies whether you are a manager, a specialist or someone who has stayed with one employer for many years.
Writing your first resume? Our guide to writing a resume for your first job shows how to use projects, volunteering and other experience when you have little or no paid work history.
Keep your dates accurate. If your current job began more than 15 years ago, use its actual start date. You can give more space to your recent work without changing when you joined.
Resume Examples at Different Career Stages
Choose an example below. Select “View larger” to open the image and zoom in.
Use these as layout examples. Replace bracketed fields, such as [number], with true details or remove the claim. Check that the summary, skills, job titles and dates all match your own experience.
Ready to put your experience together? Add your own details and choose a layout in our resume builder.
Build My ResumeWhen Should You Include Older Jobs?
A job does not become useless just because it was more than 15 years ago. Keep it if it helps explain why you can do the job you want now. These are some situations where going further back can make sense.
The Job Needs Experience You Gained Earlier
An older role may show a skill or type of work that your recent jobs do not. Include the part that matches the employer’s needs, rather than the full list of tasks you did.
Example: A manufacturer wants someone who has bought materials from overseas suppliers. You did that in an earlier purchasing role, so a short entry could help—even though you later moved into other work.
You Are Returning to a Previous Field
If you want to return to work you did earlier in your career, show that experience. Explain the useful work you did then, and include recent evidence of your skills where you have it.
Example: You worked in hotel reception before spending several years in retail. If you are applying for a hotel role again, your earlier experience with bookings and guest enquiries is worth including.
Our guide to writing a career change resume explains how to connect experience from different types of work.
You Are Returning After a Long Break
Your most useful paid experience may be from before your break. You can include it even if it falls outside the usual 10–15-year range. Keep the actual dates and describe the work that matters for your application.
Example: You are applying for an office role after a long period of caring for a family member. Your earlier work arranging appointments and handling invoices can still help show what you know.
For help with the rest of your application, see how to write a resume after a career break.
You Have Been With One Employer for Many Years
Keep your actual start date, even if you joined more than 15 years ago. Give more detail to your recent responsibilities and results. If you held several roles there, show their titles and dates under the same employer.
Example: You joined a company as an assistant and later became a supervisor. Show that change clearly, with more space for the supervisory work if it matches the position you want.
Older experience does not always need a full description. A title, employer, dates and one relevant achievement may be enough. The next section shows how to write it.
How to Show Older Work Experience
Older work can stay on your resume without taking up too much space. You can shorten one job, put several earlier roles together or show your different positions under one employer.
Use these examples to format your work history. Replace the job titles, employers, dates and descriptions with your own details.
1. Keep One Older Job Short
Use a short entry when an older job shows something useful that your recent roles do not.
Why keep it? If the new job involves buying materials from overseas, this entry shows relevant experience without listing every task from the older role.
2. Group Earlier Jobs Together
Place a short “Earlier Experience” section below your recent work. Keep each job separate, with its own employer and dates.
Why use this format? It keeps the earlier jobs easy to find while leaving more room for recent experience. You can leave out the descriptions if the titles and dates give enough context.
3. Show Several Roles With One Employer
If you have stayed with one company for many years, put the company name first. Then show the positions you held, starting with the most recent.
Why use this format? It shows the full time with the employer and the dates of each role. The current position gets more detail, while the earlier jobs show how the person progressed.
Keep the wording specific to what you actually did. Our resume action verbs guide can help you describe the work clearly.
Keep the dates for each role accurate. If you became a supervisor in 2018, do not make it look as though you held that title from the day you joined the company.
Example: Shortening a Long Work History
You do not have to remove every older job to make your resume shorter. Start by cutting repeated descriptions and giving less space to work that matters less for your next job.
The example: An applicant has worked in retail since 2006 and now wants a store manager job. Their resume gives the same amount of space to every role, including their first cashier position.
Before: Every Job Gets the Same Space
- Store Manager, 2019–Present: six points describing staff, stock, customer service and store routines.
- Assistant Store Manager, 2014–2019: six points, several repeating the same store routines.
- Sales Assistant, 2009–2014: six points describing customer service, shelves and payments.
- Cashier, 2006–2009: six more points about payments and customer service.
The recent management experience is the best match for the job. Keep that detail, shorten the assistant manager role and list the earlier jobs briefly.
After: More Space for Relevant Work
What Changed?
- The management work gets more space. It shows the responsibilities that matter for the next job.
- Repeated tasks are removed. There is no need to describe handling payments under every retail role.
- The older jobs stay brief. Their titles and dates show the applicant’s earlier experience without adding long descriptions.
- The dates stay accurate. Shortening the resume does not change the employment record.
Does It Need to Fit on One Page?
Not always. One page may be enough when you have less experience. Two pages can make sense when you need the space to show relevant work.
Cut repetition before shrinking the text or removing useful experience. Our guide to how many pages a resume should be explains how to choose a suitable length.
What About Employment and Education Dates?
The 10–15-year guideline is about how much work history to describe. It does not mean you need to remove an older degree or change the dates of a job you keep.
Employment Dates
For each job you include, show when you started and finished. Month and year make the timeline clear. Use “Present” only if you still hold the job.
Accounts Assistant | Brookfield Supplies
March 2009 – December 2012
Keep the same date format throughout your work history. If you include an older role in an “Earlier Experience” section, its dates can stay even when you remove the description.
Education Dates
A relevant degree can stay on your resume even if you earned it more than 15 years ago. If you graduated long ago, you can usually leave off the graduation year unless the employer asks for it.
Bachelor of Science in Accounting
University Name
If you are still studying, show your expected graduation date. Recent graduates can include their graduation date to make their background clear.
For more examples, see what to include in your resume’s education section.
What If the Dates Show a Gap?
Keep the dates accurate. Do not extend a job’s end date or mark it as “Present” to cover time away from work.
A recent, long break may need a short explanation. If another section already explains the time—for example, full-time study—you may not need a separate entry. Our guide to explaining employment gaps on a resume shows how to keep the explanation brief.
Check the form as well as the resume. An application may ask for dates or a complete work history that your resume does not include. Supply the information requested, and keep shared details consistent.
Check the Application Instructions
Before you finish, check the job posting and application form. If the employer asks for a specific period of work history, follow that request rather than the usual 10–15-year guideline.
Look for a Required Time Period
An application may ask for your last five years of employment, your last ten years or your complete work history. Provide the period requested, including older jobs when needed.
Example: If a form asks for every employer from the last ten years, include an unrelated job from that period—even if you left it off your resume.
Check Which Document They Want
An academic CV may need research, teaching, publications and other work from across your career. That is a different task from choosing recent experience for a short employment resume.
For government jobs, read the current instructions on the official application site and in the job announcement. Check the page limit and the details required for each position.
Keep Shared Details Consistent
Your resume can give a shorter account than the application form. But when both list the same job, the employer, title and dates should agree.
Example: You can shorten an older job to one line on your resume and describe it fully on the form. Keep its actual start and end dates in both places.
Not sure what “work history” includes? Check the form’s help text for instructions about self-employment, contract work or time away from work. If it is still unclear, ask the employer before submitting.
Common Questions
Should I put 20 years of experience on my resume?
You can if that experience helps show you meet the job requirements. Give more detail to recent, relevant roles and shorten earlier ones. You do not need to describe all 20 years equally.
Does my resume need to include every job?
Usually, no. An older job that does not support your application may not need space. Be more careful with recent jobs, because removing one can leave an unclear gap. If the employer asks for a complete work history, provide it.
Should I remove a job as soon as it becomes 15 years old?
No. Fifteen years is a guide, not an expiry date. Keep an older role if it shows useful experience that your recent jobs do not. A short entry may be enough.
What if I have worked at the same company for 25 years?
Keep your actual start date. If you held different positions, list their titles and dates under the employer’s name. Give more space to recent work that matches the job you want.
How far back should an executive resume go?
Start with the last 10–15 years, then include older experience if it adds important evidence. For example, an earlier role may show that you led a business through a change similar to the one the employer is planning. A senior title alone does not mean every past job needs a full description.
Can I include an old internship or student job?
Yes, especially when you have little other experience or the work is relevant. Once your later jobs show those skills more clearly, you can shorten or remove the older entry.
Does the same advice apply to a CV?
It depends on what the employer means by “CV.” If they want a short employment document, focus on relevant work. An academic CV may need a longer record of research, teaching and publications. Follow the instructions for that application.
Ready to update your resume? Gather the jobs you want to include, check their dates and add your details to a layout in our resume builder.
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