At first glance, the answer to this question would seem to be a loud and resounding ‘no’ because work experience is one of the most important parts of your resume checked by a recruiter. However, the fact is that many people are actually trimming away some of their work experience, and they do not seem to be quashing their job chances because of it.
These people often have many years of experience- enough to cover three pages. Obviously, it is not possible to include all this experience on their resume and as such, they do away with some unimportant bits. This can actually help create a more specific resume which talks about the skills and achievements that are suitable for the job opening.
A majority of recruiters and hiring managers are only interesting in knowing about the skills and experience of an application that are relevant to the open position. A trimmed down and concise resume can be the step to impress them. All your relevant information has to be in the front and easily viewed by the reader. If you are still not convinced about why you should keep from listing everything about your degree of experience, here are some more pointers:
Only the Latest Experience Matters
Most recruiters are not interested in the work you did two decades ago unless it was absolutely groundbreaking. Your resume has to be constantly updated with new experience, but it should also do away with old work experience details. An ideal resume should only concentrate on the last decade of work experience, with a few lines stating your achievements in each position. However, if a job you did two decades ago is relevant to the job application, it is best if you add it to your resume.
Appearing Overqualified
Believe it or not, too much work experience in your resume can actually hamper your chances of getting the job. Recruiters often look for applicants whose work experience falls within their specific range. Generally, it is best if you lower your experience to suit the range stated in the job description.
Some Jobs Do Not Matter
The early stages of your career may require you to include your summer internship experience in your resume. After years of real work experience, however, this addition to your resume is more or less redundant. Similarly, you may have worked in positions that do not matter in the position you are applying for. The addition of these roles may seem like the ethical thing to do, but the fact is that it makes your resume look cluttered. With more experience, recruiters assume that you will leave out irrelevant positions in your resume.
Short-term Jobs and Internships
You may have some relevant work experience you want to include in your resume, but there is no point adding it if it was only a short-term job. The only reason why a short position could be useful is if it is only to prove that you have experience in the industry. Similarly, internships should also be removed from your resume once you have enough work experience under your belt.
