Resume Help

Straight answers to resume questions

Every page here answers one question you hit while writing a resume, with a committed answer up front — a number, a yes or no, and the exact line to type. For complete, editable resumes by job title, see the resume examples.

• How Far Back Should a Resume Go?

  Go back 10–15 years, or your last three to four relevant roles, whichever tells the better story. Compress anything older into a one-line "Earlier experience" entry or cut it entirely; a resume is a sales document, not a full employment history. The exception: when an older role is your most relevant one, it earns real space no matter its date.

• How to List an Unfinished Degree on a Resume

  List an unfinished degree when the coursework is relevant or substantial: school, program, credits or years completed, and dates, never phrasing that implies you finished. Still enrolled? Write "expected" with your graduation date instead. Leave it off only when it was brief and unrelated to the job.

• How to List References on a Resume (and Why You Shouldn't)

  Leave references off your resume, and cut the "references available upon request" line too; it spends space on something every employer already assumes. Keep a separate references document ready to send when you're asked, usually after an interview. The exception is government, academic, and some licensed-field applications that explicitly require references; there, follow the posting exactly.

• How to Put Babysitting on a Resume

  List babysitting under Work Experience like any job: "Babysitter — Private clients," with dates and two or three bullets that show scope (how many families, the ages, what you were trusted with). Paid, recurring, trusted work counts as experience; you don't need a company name to claim it.

• How to Show Two Positions at the Same Company on a Resume

  Stack the titles under one company header when the roles progress: newest title first, dates on each line, one shared set of bullets. The stacked format is the point, because it makes the promotion visible in the shape of the page. Give each role its own entry only when the two jobs are genuinely unrelated, like a move from engineering into product.

• Resume Summary vs. Objective: Which One Should You Use?

  Write a summary: two or three lines stating what you've done, with your best number in them. Objectives describe what you want, which no reviewer is screening for, and they've read as dated for years. The exception is when your target job isn't inferable from your history (career change, first resume); then open with a single line, written as what you offer.