How far back should a resume go?
10 to 15 years for most professionals. New graduates: include everything. 20+ year veterans: cut anything before 2011 unless it's directly relevant.
There's no universal rule because it depends on your situation. But there's a principle that always applies: if a role doesn't strengthen your case for the job you're applying to, it's taking up space that a stronger point could use.
Quick rules by career stage
Early career (0-5 years): Include everything. Internships, part-time work, volunteer roles, relevant coursework. You don't have enough experience to be selective yet, and that's fine. A well-written internship bullet is better than empty space.
Mid career (5-15 years): Go back to your first relevant role. If you switched industries, you might cut the early unrelated jobs entirely. A marketing director doesn't need to list their college retail job from 2012 unless it tells a story about customer insight that's relevant to the role.
Senior / executive (15+ years): 10-15 years max. Older roles become a single line: title, company, dates. No bullets, no descriptions. Your last two or three positions carry the weight. An executive recruiter scanning your resume cares about what you did as VP, not what you did as a junior analyst in 2008.
Two exceptions worth knowing
You worked at a name-brand company early on. If you spent two years at Google in 2010, keep it. Brand recognition catches a recruiter's eye even if the role was junior. Just keep the entry short.
The old role is directly relevant to the target job. Applying for a healthcare data role and you worked at a hospital 12 years ago? Keep it. Relevance overrides recency.
What about age discrimination?
Real concern. Listing a graduation date from 1995 or experience going back 25 years signals your age immediately. Removing graduation years and trimming to the last 15 years reduces this risk without creating suspicious gaps. It's not dishonest, it's practical. Your resume is a marketing document, not a legal deposition.
Not sure if your resume's length and structure are working against you? Run it through our free ATS checker to see your word count, page count, and whether ATS systems can parse it properly.