You are a professional that is already deep in the working world. But having so much work experience can lead to some obstacles in the job-seeking process.
What experience should you list? Is your education still relevant? What resume format to use? And, on top of all that – how long should your resume be?
Don't worry, we got you covered. There are a couple of steps you can take to perfect your resume for 10 years of experience In this article, we are going to find how to get the best out of your resume for 10 years of experience.
By the end of this article, you’ll be ready to fire up our resume builder and write a resume that gets callbacks.
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How to get the best out of your resume for 10 years of experience?
You want to get that new job you saw, and you want to get it now. It is time to get to work then. You might have tons of experience behind your back already, but that doesn't mean you have that one in the pocket.
Here are a few details that need your attention when writing a resume.
Pick the right resume format
When hiring managers see your resume, they would mainly focus on your work experience and skills. That's great for you, as you have lots of these to show.
But you still need to think about which resume format would be the best fit for you. There are three main resume formats for you to pick from.
Reverse chronological resume format
Most resumes hiring managers to see are in the reverse chronological resume format.
That’s because it is suitable for pretty much every job position. This format is mostly career-oriented – it lists your work history in order, as the most recent position would be at the top.
It is the ideal format for people with lots of work experience, relevant to the job position they are applying for. That's why a reverse chronological resume might be the best pick for you. But don't rule out all the other formats just yet. It is still better to have the knowledge about them
Functional resume format
The second resume format is the opposite of the reverse chronological resume format.
The functional resume format is also called skill-based resume format.
It does not focus on your work experience that much anymore. The main focus here are your skills. It is a great choice for someone with little to no experience, but when you have 10 years of experience behind you, it is not the best choice.
No matter how great your skillset is, it is not worth it to shift the focus from your work experience. No matter that this resume format is far away from your needs, it is needed to present you the last one, which might be a better fit than the reverse chronological resume format.
Hybrid resume format
The last resume format is the Hybrid Resume Format. As you can guess from the name, it is a combination of the other two. If you want to show off your work experience, but you would want to also have some significant attention to your skills, that format might be the best fit for you.
It includes both reverse-chronological work history and a highly detailed skills section.
It’s mostly used for job positions that require expertise in a variety of fields, and you want to show that you are the right person for the job.
If that is the case, you might want to consider a Hybrid Resume, rather than a Reverse Chronological one. No matter what resume format you choose, your resume should absolutely have:
- Professional summary
- Work experience section
- Skills section
- Education section
What sections of your resume need special attention
Now that you have chosen your resume format, let’s focus on all resume sections you need to spend some extra time on.
Professional profile
Your professional summary is your chance to sell yourself to your potential employer. And with 10 years of experience behind you, you have a lot to offer. The professional summary is a short statement that presents your strengths, years of experience, and professional goals.
It might be hard, but try to keep it up to 3-4 sentences. It should only present a glimpse of who you are and attract the hiring manager to keep on reading.
Work Experience Section
In your resume for 10 years of experience, your work experience should be one of the most impressive sections.
Make sure you follow all the usual rules for writing this section correctly. Follow the reverse chronological order of your job positions and list all the important information about each company.
Don’t forget to add a bullet list with your responsibilities and achievements under each job entry.
That’s also a good place to mention any great accomplishments, like landing an important client.
Use hard numbers to support all your achievements to make them even more impressive. However, when listing your work history, you need to know when to stop. Usually, the work experience section should go back no more than 10 years.
You are right on the line, but that does not mean that you should list your internships from 10 years ago. Your work experience should be relevant to the job position, so make sure you only list entries after careful consideration.
Selected Achievements Section
When it comes to achievements, you can always list them under job entries in the work experience section.
But when you are writing a resume for 10 years of experience, you have a great new opportunity. As your achievements over the last decade are probably more than you can count, you can create a separate Selected Achievements Section.
That way, you can show them to the hiring manager in an easy-to-read way, and they wouldn’t have to hunt them down throughout your work experience section. Once again – don’t forget to back up your achievements with some hard numbers.
Anything can be measured in some way, and when you do, you can make it much more impressive for the reader.
Skills section
In the 10 years of experience you have, you must have acquired tons of skills. It might be a little tough to pick just a few to mention on your resume.
The best thing you can do is scan the job listing for any keywords you can use. Using them to present your skills on your resume can really improve your chances.
Another thing you can do here is show the employer that you are constantly improving your skillset. That can only make you an even more valuable asset for the company.
Education section
When you have 10 years of experience, your education would no longer be that relevant. However, that doesn’t mean you should leave it out completely.
You just need to cut out some irrelevant information. For example, your resume for 10 years of experience only needs higher education. That means that you only need to list any associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees you have.
Furthermore, you no longer need to mention any graduation dates. Having that much experience behind you makes some little details like these irrelevant.
How long should your resume be?
When you have 10 years of experience, it’s best to keep your resume to a single page. Although it may be a bit hard to decide what section to remove from your resume, the way to solve that problem is to think about the best achievements in your career.
While it may seem a bit hard to fit 10 years of experience on a single page, there’s definitely a way. In fact, it’s best to leave off all unnecessary and irrelevant information and focus your resume on the impact and achievements you’ve had in your previous positions.
Expanding your resume to two pages may seem like a good idea, but usually, you’d do that unless you have 15 and more years of experience, and even then you should consider the industry you’re applying to.
Takeaways for a resume for 10 years of experience
When you’re trying to fit 10+ years of experience on your resume, remember to focus on:
- Choose the right resume format.
- Focus on relevant skills and impact in previous positions.
- Don’t worry about skipping the education section if it’s not relevant to the job.
- Try to go with a single-page resume.
Make one that's truly you.
