In addition to listing only 10 years of past work experience and no college dates, highlight accomplishments & communication skills for each position. You have manufacturing sales so most companies will want to see that you have the ability to bring them new business, i.e. include sales numbers, percentages, etc. Good luck!

It’s funny. When I moved from corporate to nonprofit and academia, suddenly my whole life experience became valuable. I’m 53 and my regular resume goes back to 2005, but my CV has work as far back as 1989, before I graduated college. After years of dropping an early job from my resume, digging back that far was at first hard to do but became an exercise in celebrating my accomplishments. And also a source of a lot of good stories that I could bring up in interviews even if I decided to leave them off. (I cataloged buttons at Chanel HQ back in 1991, during one longish temping stint). I think that even if you are planning to drop early experiences from your resume you should still be able to discuss relevant experiences if something comes up in a job interview. I’ve done a lot of freelancing over the years, so my resume has a section on clients where I highlight the most relevant and interesting sounding companies. It’s not dated so I can include earlier projects without calling attention to age. I remove companies where the project might be dated (Lotus Notes, anyone?). I have mentored people in their late 40s and early 50s, men as well as women, and they are all nervous about the age thing. I tell them to build confidence in their experience of working with people in general. Of having a long view of projects and markets. Of having faced and handled multitudes of situations and having the maturity to make calm, non reactive decisions.

I'm in my early 40's, and I feel like this is starting to happen to me. I think a lot of companies want fresh out of college types they can pay low salaries and seem to disregard experience. That being said, I do know people older than I am who have had no problem job hopping. So, it may be a matter of luck.

Oops --- make that "balanced" and not balance if you look me up.

Okay, I’m not in sales and don’t know your situation or anything about you … but … I am 78-years-old, and made my last job change (turned out to be very short-lived and my former employer re-hired me) 5 years ago at age 73, and before that was hired at age 66, and before that at age 64, and before that at … well, you get the picture. All that to say this: forget about your age. Look, you were hired around March in 2019, and you were in your 50’s then, right? So now you’re a year older, right? If you could get hired in 2019 in your 50’s, why should it be any different in 2021? I just retired (July) after 20 years in the career-development and job-searching field, and it sounds to me (again, speaking from ignorance here) that you’re discouraged, befuddled, a little scared … and overreacting. You say you are in sales. You say you are good at sales. So, let me ask you this: Do the people who are buying from you care how old you are? Have you ever gone to a business person to sell them something, something that actually and legitimately can help them get customers, make money, or solve a problem, and they agree that they need and want the product or service, but then, at the very last moment they say, “We just found out you’re in your (pick a number)’s, and therefore we don’t want what you’re selling”? Ain’t gonna happen. You have a product to sell, which is, of course, yourself. You say you’re good at sales. If you are, then go out and sell yourself. Or sit at home, spend all your time on Facebook, LinkedIn, maybe even FairyGodBoss, reading all the posts from all the people complaining about ageism and worrying that “I’m too old, no one will hire me.” Haters gonna hate, discriminators gonna discriminate, and there’s nothing you or I can do about that. But c’mon, you’re in sales, right? You’re good at sales, right? So get out there and sell (and just keep overcoming all of Katrina’s objections, keep pointing out the features and benefits, until Katrina finally buys what you’re selling). Oh, by the way, you’re talking here about updating your resume. Wrong focus. And if you’re thinking of applying to advertised jobs (with a wonderful resume). Wrong approach. You should be thinking networking plus informational interviewing. Applying to advertised jobs is like cold calling. Networking and informational interviewing is like warm leads where you’re referred by a prospect’s trusted acquaintance. Look me up on LinkedIn (use the words “balance” and “no” as part of your search), shoot me an email, and I’ll send back a resource guide that lays it all out. PS – You’ll run into hundreds of people who will give you all kinds of suggestions on how to “age proof” your resume. If it were me, I’d forget about all that (my resume begins in 1967) and simply be the salesperson you claim to be.

I'm 51 and was furloughed in July due to Covid. Just found out last month that my job would not be reinstated, even though the company needs my skills. They are dumbing down the job and giving the opportunity to a younger while man. I worked for this company twice and the same thing happened to me before with them during the last recession. I've been trying to start my own business, but really miss the corporate world and the opportunity to collaborate with others in an organization. I've tried applying for jobs but in most cases, haven't even gotten a response. I agree with an earlier comment about the recruitment and applicant tracking systems that companies use these days to parse resumes. I don't know what I need to do to "break through". I really want some help with my process as a candidate, but don't know how to access the services of a really accomplished headhunter or recruiting firm. Anyone have any recommendations?

Please don't allow your age to get in YOUR way. It's state of mind. You sound like a very young 50 something. My advice is some good self-talk and an amazing resume and cover letter. If you believe your age is an issue, your age will be an issue. If you believe age is just a number, age will be just a number. All the best to you on your job search. Wherever you choose to land, know that the company that chooses you will be the lucky one.

Truly. I'm in my 60s and have received several offers at increased salary in the past 3 months. I'm transitioning to retirement so I'm trying to turn full-time employment into project consulting so I only work 1/2 the year. My problem is the companies keep sweetening their offers in hopes I come on as full-time instead. I have decided to stick to my plan, increase my "ask" with the condition that the project support I offer has a firm start date AND end date. I am currently making headway with one company and am hoping to close that deal by the end of the month. I want this to be my time to enjoy life other than work and to do that I need much more time.

I'm in the same boat and, when reworking my resume, got conflicting advice about listing experience older than 10-15 years back from two different executive search pros. One said I should include everything on my resume, including an internship I had almost 30 years ago! The other said -- and I followed this advice -- to create a section below the Professional Experience part of your resume called Early Career. There, list the 2-3 positions you've held that are most applicable to what you're applying for or most meaty/impressive, along with city and state. No dates. Good luck and stay positive! You got this!

Look at how many things you list on your resume sound funny but if jobs you had back in early 1990s really do not matter cut them. Also do not list the year you graduated college no need. This way you keep to newer experiences and makes your time line look shorter. That way when applying they do not use age as a metric site unseen which sadly is against the law many companies do anyway.