Dear Cindy – Older Jobs

I have had approximately 30 jobs since graduating high school 25 years ago. I have lost track of my earlier jobs and also worked for several temporary agencies, so I was wondering how far back I should go to list my jobs with dates and company names. I always thought going back five to 10 years was sufficient. And I did complete a medical/dental administrative office diploma from 1998 to 1999. Is it OK to give more information on a cover letter regarding older jobs?

Sincerely,

Too Many Jobs

The year in which a person completed his or her last relevant formal educational qualification is a common time at which to cut off work experience in a résumé. For work prior to your 1999 diploma, you can give a summary line such as: "Earlier experience gained in various government, private, and medical office and retail settings. More details on request." An employer is unlikely to be demanding about dates/specifics for jobs beyond that period (and if they do ask, just let them know that you'll be providing details to the best of your recollection).

Certainly, in your cover letter illustrate how your skills and past experiences make you an excellent candidate for the job for which you're applying. Additionally, you may want to consider using a combination style résumé, which employs the features of both the chronological and the functional types of résumés. That is, after your contact details, include a bullet list of your skills, and follow this with a list of education and employment (or employment and education, as preferred), in reverse order (from most recent to oldest), and limited as mentioned above.

Good luck!