Resume, remove work experience that is not IT related?

Matt_Smi

I got a new job about two mouths ago so I am redoing my resume to include my new job. And I am wondering if I should cut out my non relevant work experience or leave it? I am still young (21) so right now there are only four jobs on my resume, two are IT related (field tech and my current role of desktop support) and two are not (CVS Pharmacy and painter/contractor). Think I would be better of just leaving the two IT jobs, or should I keep the non-relevant stuff on there until I get a little more experience? And also if I do leave only the relevant jobs in there should I rename my heading from "work experience" to "Relevant work experience"?

NinjaBoy

In my opinion, I would leave them in for now until you get more IT experience/IT jobs. My current CV/resume is two pages long, when I change jobs I drop off the oldest non-relevant job and carry on that fashion until my CV covers only IT and job related items.

Remember now-a-days the IT industry is not only looking for IT technical knowledge/experience but also "soft" skills that you may have developed elsewhere.

Hope this helps

-Ken

Matt_Smi

Thanks for the input

NinjaBoy wrote:

Remember now-a-days the IT industry is not only looking for IT technical knowledge/experience but also "soft" skills that you may have developed elsewhere.

This is a good point, I was thinking of leaving CVS in there since after all it was a customer service job and I did work there for four years which may show something. I may cut out the painter/contractor job, since that was kind of un-official, I just worked for my dad's self run business basically. But the idea of cutting things once it reaches two pages is good too, right now mine is only about 1 and half.

RATTLERMAN

Good idea to include your customer service skills learned at cvs. Before I was in IT my non IT jobs included working for the Dept of Corrections as an officer then as a probation officer. The way i spin that experience that I had developed my "soft skills"
working in one of the most stressful jobs known to man. When you deal with inmates/probationers you better develop a thick skin and coping techniques . I had to learn how to take control of situation without losing my cool. With that being said a helpdesk job was a walk in the park. It takes al kinds to work in IT you just have to find your niche and make it happen

JDMurray

When you have little on your resume, leave in those entries about working at Kmart or McDonalds. Later, when you collect more jobs and experience, you can drop them.

When you have lots of experience on your resume, you will eventually find yourself removing information because you do not want to work with that technology any longer. I went through a time when head hunters were constantly calling me about jobs for writing Unix devices drivers and TCP/IP software in Motorola assembly language, none of which I do anymore. I erased those experiences from my resume and the calls (eventually) stopped. Too much of anything, even experience, is not necessarily a good thing.

RD28327

I worked for the Dept. of Correction in NC, but, instead of being a correctional officer, I worked in the MIS department as a PC Support Tech. Thus, I spent less time inside the prisons and more time dealing with general office issues. But, I can say I have spent some time in prison! The prison folks just let me out at night and wear my own clothes!

garv221

leave the non IT jobs until you have enough experience to drop them.