Resume how old is too old

Career coaches and professional resume writers advise you focus on the past 10 to 15 years, for most industries. Some roles, like those within the federal government or in academia, typically, require more complete career histories.

Beyond 20 years, most employers aren't going to weigh that experience anyway, and it's probably your most junior experience so you can probably skip it. In industries like tech, where in-demand skill sets change frequently, Cohen recommends staying on the shorter end and not including more than the past 10 years' work history on a resume as roles, programs and experiences dating beyond that will likely seem irrelevant or dated.

Career change coach Aurora Meneghello recommends this approach to most of her clients regardless of industry: "Unless the position requires you to have more than 10 years of experience, usually the last 10 years are the most relevant and will keep your resume to a manageable length. You also don't have to include every job you've held in that time-span either, says John Suarez, a professional resume writer and career coach.

A resume is a curated document you've designed to highlight your skills and experience. If a past role isn't relevant, you can leave it off or trim the explanation of that job to include only pertinent accomplishments. This will free up more space for describing other roles that will sell you better to a hiring manager. Your resume should tout your skills, not your age. Related Articles. Browse articles by Find The Right Career Path.

Professional Development. Most Recent Jobs. See More Jobs. Close Looking for the right fit? Sign up to get job alerts relevant to your skills and experience. Enter Your Email Address Warning goes here. Our review will help you with tips on the design, structure and content of your resume. While you wait, we have plenty of expert career advice on our blog. Does your professional resume proclaim "experienced" or does it squeak "old? Your resume may be saying things about you when you're not in the room — things that may cause employers to perceive you as obsolete.

You may be keeping up with the latest technologies, but if you are committing one or more of these resume faux pas, recruiters may incorrectly assume that your skill set is archaic, that your thinking is rigid, or that you may not fit in the modern workplace.

As we progress through our careers, we tend to hang on to the status quo. However, when we're facing a world of fierce competition in the job market, it's essential to modernize our resume to combat age discrimination. Unless you're OK with being passed over by younger, less experienced candidates, you've got to reexamine your first line of defense: your resume. It's empowering to know that what you convey on your resume can be adjusted to reflect a more up-to-date sensibility.

A few subtle resume edits can go far in undoing a hiring manager's preconceived notions of antiquated skills, fixed thinking, or an inability to change. To ensure your resume is highlighting your value, rather than your age, start by addressing these common resume mistakes people over 50 tend to make:.

OK, that is a bit of an exaggeration. But if your resume is more than two pages long, it is a serious indicator that you're out of touch with today's resume best practices. The sheer number of applicants per position makes it unlikely that any recruiter will spend more than 10 seconds on any given resume.

We get it; your resume is your personal work history. It's often hard to determine what to leave in and what to take out, particularly when you have a long work history. This is where a professional resume writer can help you fine-tune your application and cut down what isn't relevant to the position you're gunning for. They will also help to take the focus away from your age and focus it back to what you have to offer a company.

Do yourself a favor and ditch your old Comcast, AOL, Hotmail, or other, antiquated email account for a free, professional-looking Gmail address that incorporates your name for example, John. Smith gmail. Create this new email account to be used solely for your job search.

Resist the temptation to share your new email address with family and friends, so that all the mail that you receive there is exclusively for employer communication. While we're on the subject of contact information, make sure that you are only listing ONE phone number at the top of your resume: your cell. Millennials are known for their love of technology at the same time that companies are abandoning landlines, so having a landline immediately marks you as a bit of a relic.

Smartphones' dominance in the marketplace stems from their multi-functionality, which has made the need for listing both landline and mobile numbers an obsolete practice. Besides, do you really want to wait until you get home to find out that an employer called, and realize that you can't call them back until the next day?