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As a hiring manager involved in many hires over the past few years, this is excellent advice for anyone with ~10 years or more of experience.

by darkr 8y ago

bigiain 8y ago
Exactly. When I'm reviewing resumes - I _really_ don't care (or even want to know) that you flipped burgers during one summer break in college in the '80s or that 15-20 years ago you wrote web backends in PHP or maintained logistics software in Cobol. List your last two or three jobs - selectively highlighting/editing(and, if your referees will go along with it, embellishing them) them to emphasis the specific skills and experience needed for the role you're applying for. While a "35 year career in Silicon Valley" might sound impressive to some people (and perhaps rightly so), as a hiring manager I probably don't care about any projects/technologies you worked on in 1983... I want to know whether you can do the project I need delivered now. Tell me what you worked on last year and in the last 5 years - skim over or leave out the rest. (If you're dealing through recruiters instead of directly with hiring managers, you've got a different set of problems - the solution to which is probably ignore the recruiters and don't play that game - surely a 35 year career has left you with a network that can bypass those rent-seeking gatekeepers?)
petsormeat 8y ago
Out of curiosity: what do you think when you meet the candidate, and it’s obvious they have much more than ten years of work experience? Is there something the candidate can do to put you at ease? I’ve noticed some anxious double-takes in interviews after passing hiring filters with my shorter resume.
- joewee 8y ago
  Just explain it in person and offer to provide an extended resume if they would like one. You could also he projecting? I’ve met people who have changed careers and decided to leave off their prior career work. Resumes are used in the background check for some companies but no one looks beyond 7 years. And if they really have a problem, do you really want to work for them?
amorphous 8y ago
What I don't understand is: will the age not eventually come out? When meeting face to face or little things someone says it shouldn't be too difficult to estimate the age of someone.

As a hiring manager involved in many hires over the past few years, this is excellent advice for anyone with ~10 years or more of experience.

by darkr 8y ago

As a hiring manager involved in many hires over the past few years, this is excellent advice for anyone with ~10 years or more of experience.

bigiain 8y ago

Exactly. When I'm reviewing resumes - I _really_ don't care (or even want to know) that you flipped burgers during one summer break in college in the '80s or that 15-20 years ago you wrote web backends in PHP or maintained logistics software in Cobol. List your last two or three jobs - selectively highlighting/editing(and, if your referees will go along with it, embellishing them) them to emphasis the specific skills and experience needed for the role you're applying for. While a "35 year career in Silicon Valley" might sound impressive to some people (and perhaps rightly so), as a hiring manager I probably don't care about any projects/technologies you worked on in 1983... I want to know whether you can do the project I need delivered now. Tell me what you worked on last year and in the last 5 years - skim over or leave out the rest. (If you're dealing through recruiters instead of directly with hiring managers, you've got a different set of problems - the solution to which is probably ignore the recruiters and don't play that game - surely a 35 year career has left you with a network that can bypass those rent-seeking gatekeepers?)

petsormeat 8y ago

Out of curiosity: what do you think when you meet the candidate, and it’s obvious they have much more than ten years of work experience? Is there something the candidate can do to put you at ease? I’ve noticed some anxious double-takes in interviews after passing hiring filters with my shorter resume.

joewee 8y ago
Just explain it in person and offer to provide an extended resume if they would like one. You could also he projecting? I’ve met people who have changed careers and decided to leave off their prior career work. Resumes are used in the background check for some companies but no one looks beyond 7 years. And if they really have a problem, do you really want to work for them?

amorphous 8y ago

What I don't understand is: will the age not eventually come out? When meeting face to face or little things someone says it shouldn't be too difficult to estimate the age of someone.