You do not need to include all jobs in your CV, especially at the executive level. Job history is one of the most impactful elements of your résumé – it convinces hiring managers of your professional aptitude and personality match. However, experts from CV writing services advise that the focus should be on preparing a brief and well-targeted CV. Not including the entire history.
Rather than list all jobs in a CV, think about experiences that are relevant. You can cherry-pick from your history and help the reader conclude you are the best fit for the role. But, how do you determine which jobs to include in a CV, and how should you list them? The following tips will help.
Jobs to include in your CV; why limit
Recruiters and hiring managers often take less than 10 seconds to scan a résumé. Therefore, relevance and clarity should be the two most important aspects of résumé writing. Your CV should have an attractive and easy-to-read list of relevant work history. If you can provide a well-targeted list of previous work experiences and present it memorably, you will be one step closer to receiving an interview invitation. Use the guideline below to decide which jobs to list in your CV.
Guidelines on choosing jobs to include in your CV
Read the job advert and use it like a map
At the executive level, recruiters want to hire someone with the right experience and a matching personality. You may have plenty of examples, but before you list a job in your CV, ask yourself these questions: it is relevant? Does it portray my personality and aptitude within the context of the role? Is it recent?
Use the job ad as your guide. It can help eliminate experiences that do not match the role. For example, if the recruiter specifies that applicants should have at least five years of experience, include jobs that are recent. If you are yet to hit the five-year mark, you can include volunteer jobs in your CV. The job ad makes it easy to determine which experiences are relevant and which ones to eliminate.
Select roles where you had a significant and measurable impact
If you’ve had broad and lengthy experiences, you might still want to trim your résumé so that you keep it punchy. Include jobs in your CV from where you had significant and measurable impacts. For example, if you held a position, but it was brief, and your contribution was not outstanding, you may choose to mention it only or skip it.
Jobs to include in your CV should showcase that you can deliver significant and measurable results. For instance, if you are applying for a sales executive position, you can include jobs in your CV where the company experienced measurable revenue growth due to your efforts.
Create a progressive and meaningful timeline
The career history section on your CV also outlines your professional timeline. It should portray to the hiring manager how your career began, the progress and how the new role matches or would fulfil your aspirations. Large gaps in your career history would, of course, raise eyebrows. Avoid gaps or fill them. You can include part-time jobs in your CV and volunteer roles. However, note that if you must list roles that do not match the target job, highlight the skills rather than the responsibilities.
Keep it recent
You may have long and highly relevant experience (often over 15 years) and feel compelled to include all jobs in your CV. But that would also make your CV lengthy and tedious for the hiring manager. In such a case, list jobs from the same industry. Also, emphasise jobs from your recent history that are relevant.
Tips on how to list
Now that you know what jobs to include on your CV, the next step is to ensure you list them in an attractive and reader-friendly format. The following tips will help you achieve that:
- Ensure entries are chronological
- Use relevant and compelling sub-headings
- Use bullet points rather than prose form
- Leave no gaps (a complete history)
- Keep CV brief and punchy
What jobs to include in a CV? The bottom line
There are various dynamics to consider when listing jobs in a CV, especially at the executive level. The team of expert CV writers at ExecutiveOne can help you sift through your work history and prepare a great CV. You will have more time to focus on other priorities, and get expert opinions.
