At the job post · 6 min read
How far back should my CV go?
Usually the last 10 to 15 years in detail, with older roles summarised. How to trim by career stage, what to do with relevant old jobs, and dates.
The short answer
Most CVs should cover the last 10 to 15 years in detail, with older roles cut to a single line or a short 'Earlier career' list. Go further back only when an older job is directly relevant to the post. Early-career CVs can include everything, including part-time work. The goal is two pages of the evidence this employer cares about, not a full history.
Key takeaways
- Detail the last 10 to 15 years; summarise or drop the rest.
- An old job that proves a must-have can stay, even if it's 20 years back.
- Early-career CVs can include part-time and student jobs.
- Keep dates honest; you can drop the oldest roles but not hide gaps by changing dates.
- Age-related details like school dates can usually go once you have work history.
On this pageA rule of thumb by career stage
A rule of thumb by career stage
| Stage | What to include |
|---|---|
| Student or graduate | Everything relevant, including part-time, volunteering and projects |
| Up to 10 years in work | All roles, with the most detail on the last two or three |
| 10 to 20 years | Last 10 to 15 years in detail; earlier roles as one line each |
| 20+ years | Last 10 to 15 years in detail; an 'Earlier career' list or nothing |
Relevance beats recency
The cut-off is a guide, not a rule. If you're applying to teach and you taught for three years in 2008, that matters more than your last five years in sales. Keep relevant old roles with a line that says what you did, and shorten recent irrelevant ones instead.
How to shorten older roles
- One line per role: title, employer, years.
- Group several similar roles: 'Retail and hospitality roles, 2004 to 2010'.
- Keep one standout result if it's still impressive, and drop the rest.
- Use years only, not months, for roles more than ten years old.
Dates, age and honesty
Some experienced candidates worry about age. Trimming old roles and leaving off school dates is a reasonable way to keep attention on recent evidence. Changing dates, or stretching a role to cover a gap, isn't: it can come out in reference checks, and it hands an employer a reason to withdraw an offer.
OffLadder CV, our free Chrome extension, runs an ATS check on the exact file you'll download: one column and real text, standard headings, email and phone in the page itself, a date on every role, bullets of one or two lines, no symbols or filler phrases, the post's own terms, and the page count.
What happens to the gaps
Applying shows you what employers want that you can't show yet: a must-have your CV doesn't mention, or a question you couldn't answer well. Hand the job from OffLadder CV to Laddie, our AI coach, and it turns each one into three steps:
- Learn the skill: a short lesson on what the post asks for, starting from the basics.
- Try the work: a 15-minute task taken from the job itself, so you have a real example to talk about.
- Practise the interview: a five-question mock interview for that role, weighted to the parts you're least sure of.
The conversation stays in your OffLadder account. Once you've done the work, add it to your CV in your own words, and the next post you tailor for can point to it.
Questions people ask
- Is it OK to leave jobs off my CV?
- Yes. A CV is a selection of evidence, not a legal record. Leaving off old or unrelated roles is normal. Some formal applications, such as certain public-sector or security-cleared roles, ask for a full history on the form itself, and there you must give it.
- Will leaving old jobs off look like a gap?
- Not if you drop the oldest ones. Gaps show when something is missing between roles you've listed. If you cut everything before 2010, the CV simply starts in 2010, which is normal for an experienced candidate.
- Should I include my school results?
- Early in your career, yes. Once you have a degree or several years of work, school results usually aren't needed unless the post asks for them, for example a minimum maths or English grade.
- What about a relevant job from 20 years ago?
- Keep it, in a short form. You can list it under 'Earlier career' or 'Other relevant experience' with one line on what you did. Mention it in your cover letter if it's central to why you're applying.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
Sources
- How to write a CV · National Careers Service (England)
- Resume guide: work experience · CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.