How many years of work history should my resume cover?

For most people, the last 10 to 15 years of work is enough detail. That period shows your current level, the tools you use now and the results you achieved recently, which is what employers care about most.

Older roles still count, but they rarely need full bullet points. You can:

• Leave them out if they are unrelated and do not create a gap.
• List them as one line each with title, employer and dates.
• Group them under a heading such as "Earlier career" with a one-sentence summary.

Make an exception when an older role is directly relevant. If you are applying for a hospital management job and you ran a clinic 18 years ago, keep that role with a short bullet that shows the result. Relevance matters more than age.