When to drop old jobs (resume)

Hey all, got a quick question for you:

At what point do you consider dropping old jobs that have no IT relation? For example, I worked sales for a few years and construction (total of 5 years for both). After that I worked as a depot tech, service desk, and now operations (total of 3-ish years for these three). Currently, I have my IT jobs on the main page, and my non-related work on page 2. Just wanted to know how long you guys think I should have worked in IT before I can phase them out or if I should keep them to show longevity.

Thanks

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Comments

DevilWAH

When they are no longer relevant and I have experience to replace them with.

Also its how much info you put in about the job.

For example it is 9 years since I worked in Science as a scientists, and for my last job I left that out of my CV. However for my current role it is a scientific research institute. So I put in back in as a very brief few lines as I thought it might be interesting to the potential employer.

I have to say if I read a CV and it has gaps in it then I will ask what some one was doing during them, out of work possible, in jail?? apart from working in Mc Donalds or behind a till as a summer job. Any serious employment I would be inclined to included, but only as a single line saying company, position and dates.

Essendon

Lol @ being in jail! Devil's right on the money with his post. I will always keep me resume to two pages, when I cant fit the older jobs in, they get booted from the resume. I dont think the new employer needs to know what you did 6 jobs ago unless you launched a satellite or discovered a solar system.

N2IT

Agree with Devil about running one line for the position.

I was in real estate for a few years and that is exactly what I did, list the job with dates and title and that is it.

About7Narwhal

I may post mine later and let you guys have a go at it. A visual may serve a better purpose or lead to a completely different solution for the whole number of pages issue. I appreciate the input though. I can see where either way could have it's pros and cons.

nerdinhiding

Essendon wrote: »

Lol @ being in jail! Devil's right on the money with his post. I will always keep me resume to two pages, when I cant fit the older jobs in, they get booted from the resume. I dont think the new employer needs to know what you did 6 jobs ago unless you launched a satellite or discovered a solar system.

+1 to what Essendon stated. The most important thing is all your info fit on 2 pages. And if you were in jail list it as social development in a rehabilitation center, lol!

lsud00d

DevilWAH and N2IT hit it on the head; simply list the location (City, State), Company, and dates of employment--this way you can minimize the space taken on your resume while showing continual employment, even if not related to current aspirations.

I only list a few of my certs and leave off 2 years of hourly IT experience since my 5 years of FTE effectively communicate my skillset and goals. This is also an attempt to keep my resume as tight and concise as possible. If you can get your resume to 1 page, I would recommend it.

blargoe

I dropped my old non-IT jobs as soon as I had a couple of jobs to take their place on the resume.

the_hutch

I've kinda been wondering this too. Prior to getting into IT, I worked at walmart as a customer service manager for 3 years. I've been hesitant to take it off my resume because (unlike my IT jobs) it shows management experience. Then again, it is Walmart...so not sure how credible that even is... Thoughts?

jibbajabba

I have all jobs on CV, related or not. But I do have indeed seperated them. I only ever write what I have done where and what for the last three job (Employment History) and then I have a section where I name the rest (Further Employment History) - which also just includes Company Name, Location and job held. My CV dates back to 1996 and still .. up to my recent job .. had two pages .. now I am finally on three .. that sucks

YFZblu

the_hutch wrote: »

I've kinda been wondering this too. Prior to getting into IT, I worked at walmart as a customer service manager for 3 years. I've been hesitant to take it off my resume because (unlike my IT jobs) it shows management experience. Then again, it is Walmart...so not sure how credible that even is... Thoughts?

I think showing the ability to succeed on the business side can be valuable on an IT resume. I have a small amount of non IT on my resume as well.