There are times when you will need to include older experiences in your resume. When creating a chronological resume, the rule of thumb is to emphasize your most recent work experience and give less real estate to older jobs. However, you may run into a problem if you want to highlight a work experience that occurred several jobs back in your work history.
If this is a problem you are experiencing, here is a way to combat it.
You want to avoid focusing too much on older jobs that may end up highlighting the fact you haven’t done anything significant for a while. This may show future employers that your skills could be rusty if you haven’t employed them for three or four jobs ago. This is not what you are trying to accomplish. So here is a solution that will allow you to include this vital information while not making it look like you have been wasting your time since.
Look to The Recent Experience, Too
First, try to see if you have used these skills more recently in another capacity you may have overlooked. You may be able to highlight these talents in more recent professional positions, showing employers that you are actively using these skills today.
Try to view the experience that you want to include objectively. Is it possible that it is not as valuable today as it once was? Perhaps the accomplishments you made are actually outdated, or maybe the accomplishments you’ve made since overshadow this once important accomplishment.
Include Older Experiences in a Highlighted Section
If it is a specific experience that cannot be duplicated in another job and is essential to showcase your abilities, then there is another option. Instead of putting the experience under your work history, make it really stand out. Incorporate it under a heading like “Career Highlights.”
This section will function as a bulleted list of all your significant and relevant achievements. This way, you will be able to adequately describe and include older experiences without having to list dates or specify at which company it happened while bringing even more attention to it by putting it near the top of your resume. Problem solved!
When creating a resume, ensure you incorporate all your most important accomplishments to present yourself in the best light to future employers. So you want to make sure you don’t leave anything out while also ensuring that you appear current in your skills and experiences.
When wanting to show a significant accomplishment from earlier on in your work history, implementing a Career Highlights section in your resume is a perfect way. Use this method to highlight and include older experiences, along with the rest of your most impressive accomplishments.
Not only does this solve the issue of highlighting older accomplishments, but it also allows you to effectively highlight all of your work accomplishments to gain the attention of future employers.
Have you had success incorporating dated experience into your resume? Comment and share tips below! If you need help with this, reach out to Candace to learn more!