I have to revamp my resume for a supervisor position I'm applying for, and purchased the resume workbook. I'm over 40, and have had a lot of jobs in my past due to my career choice and the fact I was a wacko when I was younger. I went to trade school for automotive technology, and had a very unsuccessful stint as an auto mechanic. I worked at 4 or 5 different shops. I don't remember some of the names of the shops and they are long closed. During that time I'd work 2 jobs, one time I was working 3 different jobs. All these jobs were counted in months rather than years. I think I lasted just over a year at a muffler shop, but worked in three different locations. There was a warehouse job in there somewhere, and a huge reception hall job. I was a mess. I was never out of work more than a couple weeks, but I had a lot of jobs.
I got my first real long term job in '98, when I was 22. That's typically when I start my resume. I leave off the trade school as well. Every single job I worked at from 18-22, except one, is out of business, even the tech school is closed.
I looked into getting my complete work history from the Social Security Administration, but that's a lot of money for something I may not need. Also, if they need to do a credit check, I'll need to unlock my credit. I had my ID stolen last year and everything's on lockdown.
Any advice would be appreciated!
Various Podcasts
Hi,
MTs have lots of podcasts and show notes with even resume templates that I think will help.
I think some folks think they need to start at the dawn of time w/their resume, think like MTs says you want to focus on relevant information.
I personally started working when I was 15 (when there existed working papers) but I don't put on my resume the bakery job I started with nor the deli clerk job I did while in college.
I start my resume w/the relevant professional experience I want to focus on, which actually doesn't include my first full time job in a major insurance carrier.
Theoretically if you focus on relevant experience w/the job responsibilities and accountabilities someone will see your vast experience.
Hope that helps
Old stuff rolls off
I expect someone before mid-twenties to try several things out, if they can. I'd not look at you funny for not saying anything about the exposures from before that 1998 "first real job".
I'm a decade older than you, and have had many 1-2 year contracts to place on the page. My base one-pager, presently doing great work at finding me possibilities, reaches back eight positions / 17 years. My two-pager adds one more (20 years). The "first real job" had long ago rolled off. Even if I had the room, the short jobs from elementary school (newspaper route) through college (summer research) have long been supplanted by more mature professional postings.
I give a passing mention in the cover letter for anything relevant from before my "first real job". For instance, I noted in one cover letter, for a media company position, that I'd learned how to run a camera and a broadcast production booth while in high school. That's a relevant conversation-starter for that company, but not for any of the others I've looked at recently.