Is it OK to leave jobs off your resume?
Sophia Koch
Updated on March 18, 2026
Can you leave a job off your resume? Yes you can. Resumes are flexible and should be considered as summaries of your most relevant experience, qualifications, and skills.
Should I leave certain jobs off my resume?
Key Takeaways. You Don't Need to Include Every Job on Your Resume: Highlight jobs that demonstrate your experience, skills, and fit for the role. Leave Off Jobs That Are Unrelated: You can also omit jobs that are more than 10 to 15 years old, to avoid age discrimination.Should I leave out irrelevant jobs on a resume?
Should I Include Irrelevant Work Experience On a Resume? Most of the time, yes. It's better to include irrelevant work experience (tailored to fit a specific job) than to leave it off your resume. You don't want to create gaps on your resume and often some experience is better than no experience.Can you leave jobs off your application?
No problem leaving it off there. Where you run into a problem is if the company asks you to fill out an application and asks you to list every job you had over the past 10 years or so. If you leave it off there, they still won't likely find out about it.What should I leave off my resume?
Top 15 Things You Should Leave Off Your Resume
- Long Paragraphs Without Bullets. ...
- Vague Descriptions. ...
- A List of Job Duties. ...
- Starting Phrases With 'I' ...
- Irrelevant Experiences. ...
- Empty or Flowery Language. ...
- Misspellings or Grammatical Errors. ...
- Personal Information.