I don't know. I think that things not directly relevant are relevant in another way. My days with a second job waitressing at the Country Club show I'm not afraid to work. My experience in technical QA relate to my ability to document, and my attention to detail...etc.

You don't want to go overboard, but most experience is relevant in some way.

Exactly.

This year, a new question I've been asking in all my interviews is "have you left anything off of your resume? We're seeing a lot of candidates leaving off their jobs working at Starbuck's or waiting tables because they are not able to fit everything on one page. Is there anything you've left out?" (Primarily for entry level positions)

Probably 3/4 of the answers are affirmative, and they are leaving off jobs that show they are willing to work hard. Menial jobs, sure, but they show that you aren't lazy. I think it's bad advice that you should only include experience that's directly relevant. You never know if the guy looking at your resume thinks drummers make the best sys admins because they've got rhythm.

It annoys me that people leave major stuff off their resumes. They should put it all on there and let me decide if it's good or not. I'll probably decide it's good.

I've interviewed older 2nd career candidates too, and I'd like to know what they did in the past. If it's not relevant, I'll ignore it. But if it is relevant in some way that might not be obvious, it will make them that much more appealing.

@all: Thanks for your help!
 

I think I've got an idea of how I'm gonna do this:

By listing job history in reverse chronological order, my current position becomes my major skill set area. This will be the largest section, full of all the neat stuff I do.

Next, my transitional position, and original fileroom position can show background and fundamentals specific to the department/workflow where the system is used. It's important that I know how the dept works from several angles; I know how the dept ran before the system was implemented. And most importantly, when we got the system I instantly displayed an aptitude for it, and within a short time I was running it.

Before I worked here I was in construction, which can be spun as a useful skill set as well. Construction is used as a metaphor for Project Management. It's totally relevant. I know how to plan and gather the tools and resources needed to accomplish a specific task most efficiently. Project Management.

Before that, perhaps a combination section. One lump of related crap jobs I did. One skill set, several employers. Maybe two lines.

The drumming thing works into a "community service" section, as I have been playing at charity shows here at work, and have worked with several churches over the years. See, I'm a good guy. I have productive interests outside of work.

Education. I was in school like 15 years ago, but now that I have a career I'm back to do something specific with my education. Also, I have worked with vendors and consulting firms, giving site visits of our facility as a part of a course on this type of system. So, in a way, I've been involved with providing education in my field. I just now thought of grouping that experience with education. Think that would work? Where should I put that?

....I don't know how to write resume in other country, but in china, when you write resume, you'd better write your work experiece perticularly. and give detailed what you had done in your past job experiece, what role you are in your position. and of course your accomplishments-----this is extremly important! they will be the best thing to reveal your ability!

a good konwledge background is wonderful ,but if you do not attend university study will not a big problem. our employer just want to find the most suitable employee for the job. especially those who can do the job directly!or have some relevant experience.

if the employee do not have any relevant experience, you'd better get to know clearly the main tasks of the job you apply, and try your best to find out the relevant between your extra-job and this job.

i think interview is much more important than resume, and in resume, work experience is much more important than educational background!

....i don't know whether i express clearly...==||||

I've literally looked at thousands of resumes as a recruiter, headhunter, sales manager, etc. I would make the resume along the lines of:


Mr Funny Name
123 buttcrack st
Moscow, TX 47198

Experience

XYZ company 2000-Present

Current job title 07-08
*Mad skill one
*Mad skill two
*Mad skill three
*Mad skill four
*Big accomplishment

Previous job title 05-06
*Mad skill
*Mad skill
*Mad skill
*Big accomplishment

Previous job title 04-05
*mad skill
*mad skill
*Big accomplishment

COK Company 03-04
Job title

BOLS Company 02-04
Job title

TYT Company 01-03
Job Title

Education
Currently working on _____degree
Any, and I mean Any certifications you do have
OJT
Self education (you obviously learned the skills you have, point out the systems you've learned in comparison to some class)

___________________________________________________
Create a separate cover page for each job you send the resume. It can be a generic letter, with just a bit of customization for the company. Should state why you want to move (advancement, opportunities for further growth, possible better training opportunity)

___________________________________________________
Place most of your emphasis on your current job since it is the only one that you want to build upon. Show a progression of responsibility and authority from job title to job title. Previous jobs are mentioned as company name and title only, just so they can see you have and have been working for years. You are encouraging them to ask you about your choices without wasting valuable resume space with unrelated skills stuff.

That's exactly what I want to see in a resume. Lookout did a better job of describing it.

Thanks, lookout. And thanks, everybody, again.

For my job, there is no university degree. It doesn't exist.

My current title calls for:
I have the experience, and I'm about halfway through an associate's in networking.

Everything I have is self education/OJT, and that will be made obvious in the "mad skills" section.
I obviously have to know how to do what I'm already doing; I'm just not sure how to describe that "in comparison to some class" ...

I'm struggling with education as a section. My education is in my job history. I don't want to have a weak-looking section.

That's a degee.

List your OJT in your education section as exactly that:

On Job Training
*adh+
*buttkissing 202
*world fixing
* etc.

I want to thank you all again for all your advice. Many of you guys on here I consider role models in the IT field.

I have this thread open, both pages on a separate tab, while working on my resume while my daughter is taking a nap and my wife is at the store with little man.

I do so many different things it's a huge organizational task to list it all out. Haven't done that since my review two years ago, where they took what I typed up and copy/pasted it as my job description.

Now I'm trying to condense it into a list of concrete skillsets and accomplishments.

I wish I could just write "I will learn whatever system you have, because, look -- that's what I do!"

You're welcome, sweetie! :)

Different formats were proposed. You must decide what about yourself to sell. For example, do you sell your stability of employment? Then list the various types of jobs with how you worked those jobs until whatever. Do you sell your ability to grasp or grow in a job? Then sell how you took on new responsibility and how you did more than work a job - how you trained yourself. Do you sell yourself with experience to adapt to any jobs - from construction to flipping hamburgers to data processing, etc. Again, then sell that experience noting how each job was so different and how you adapted no matter what the job.

IOW before the resume format is selected, first decide what it is you want to sell yourself on. Chances are the resume may be written from different perspectives. Only then may it become apparent what is the best way to sell yourself.

You're right, tw, the entire format must be dictated to best display what I am offering in myself.

I've been doing some descriptive writing. It's late, and I have no idea how this opening paragraph sounds:
I'm aching to say "And I was a FILE CLERK at this place five years ago..." but I don't know how, or if I should, phrase that.

"I have risen to this level of responsibility..." is the closest thing I've come up with, without saying something that might be a turn-off.

Or write all the available formats and pick which one tells the story best. If you find yourself struggling with a format, it's probably not a good one for you.

Wait, you're impacting workflow in a place where there's a complex interplay? You're clearly pro-active, and adhere to best practices with deep knowledge capital in an impactful environment. Our human resources representative will contact you in short order so we can determine synergy going forward.

So what you're saying is, I should do the whole thing in Iambic Pentameter?