Even though most people would call me a young upstart punk for talking about working even though I’m not too many years out of college, the truth is that you could say I’ve been working for at least 15 years. And I don’t mean “being a student is work”-working.
When I was 10, I started out working weekends at the front desk at my dad’s store. By the time I was 13, I was going in after school and doing that job plus a few administrative duties (don’t tell the government – they get mad about this sort of thing sometimes). Of course, the store closed when I was 15, so I took a couple of years off to focus on school and volunteer opportunities. But between those jobs and what I’ve done since, be it part-time retail over summer vacation, an internship at a prestigious ad agency, or even my more recent endeavors, I’ve found something from each position that’s helped me become better at the next one.
That doesn’t mean that I’m going to put them all on my resume.
There’s no reason to run a novella-length resume that drones on and on about your accomplishments and careers. Anything that is over seven years old is ancient history. Just pick the three or four most pertinent jobs and use them. There is no reason to mention an internship at an architectural firm when applying for a retail job (or vice-versa).
But what do you do if none of your work experience quite matches up with the job? It’s best to go with the most pertinent parts of your job history, preferably from your most recent positions.
Placing your entire job history on a resume almost gives the impression that you feel overqualified for the position, or that you really want to write your autobiography. Either way, pick the most important stuff and leave the rest out.
