I feel it is time for me to reshuffle the work experience section on my resume. This has become necessary because I perceived that employers do have conflicting thought on my work experience.

I actually graduated in the year 2011 but I had gained 6+ years experience from my previous role as a Hotel Receptionist. In 2012, I resigned to participate in the National Service Scheme.

I currently work as a Customer Care Rep with 1+ years experience. I included these jobs in my resume which sum up to 9+ years work experience.

I observed that some people including Interviewers raise eye-brow when they noticed I already had 9+ years experience while I graduated 2011 which I have to start explaining how I gained it. My concern is that not all employers will give me opportunity to explain this.

I feel I need to omit the roles I held before I graduated. Moreover, most people do not include Every Job they've held on their resume.


Excerpt of my work experience as appeared on my resume;
* Volunteer Admin Assistant 2015 - Till Date
* Customer Care Rep 2014 - Till Date
* Teacher-NYSC 2012 - 2013
* Receptionist 2005 - 2012

Recently, I had an interview for a Client Service Officer position and the interviewer noticed the Volunteer role & the Customer Care Rep position. She had to pause and asked why I hold dual employment. I told her the Admin Assistant position in an NGO is an unpaid job and it's part-time. She ended the interview saying; she's going to get back to me. I know that the end of that employment for me.

Will it be necessary I omit the NYSC & Receptionist roles or there's a better way to write them on my resume?
Should I remove the Volunteer position from the work experience?

Do I need to remove unrelated job experiences from my resume whenever I applied for specific job title?

Kindly advice before I commit further blunder.

Start building up from your NYSC ...thats where your work experience should start from...

Then while you are at an interview , "tell me about yourself" you say the needful but also add that you were volunteering while in Uni then you can go ahead and list those roles, linking them to your undergrad study , and how it has shaped work ethics and ability to handle responsibilities in any given organization.

Too much information can be confusing. Draft your CV according to the role you are applying for.

Less is More!!!

But exclude it from your cv.

But in the end, that's my opinion!!!

makky04:
Start building up from your NYSC ...thats where your work experience should start from...

Then while you are at an interview , "tell me about yourself" you say the needful but also add that you were volunteering while in Uni then you can go ahead and list those roles, linking them to your undergrad study , and how it has shaped work ethics and ability to handle responsibilities in any given organization.

Too much information can be confusing. Draft your CV according to the role you are applying for.

Less is More!!!

But exclude it from your cv.

But in the end, that's my opinion!!!

Thanks u! I really appreciate. I will do the needful.

Eddodoh

I disagree with the above comment. Your CV should always contain relevant information. Not everyone will give you a chance to drone on and on about yourself during an interview. So it is very important you state clearly in your CV everything you think employers/interviewers might find useful, and that includes relevant work experience. It doesn't matter if you started working before you graduated - if anything, that says a lot about the kind of person you are. I agree that it would cause any employee to raise their eyebrows, but as long as you have evidence to back that claim, I do not see anything wrong in putting it up on your CV. What you have on your CV determines the kind of questions you will be asked during an interview. Any brilliant interviewer would be curious about why you decided to work through school. They would see you as someone who can handle many things at the same time - and that's a good attribute to have.

The only thing you need to be concerned about while drafting your CV is making sure the information provided are brief and straight to the point. Avoid irrelevant information. Work experiences, especially those that would paint you in a good light, are not irrelevant. As long as your CV doesn't exceed three pages, you're good.

Craven:
Eddodoh

I disagree with the above comment. Your CV should always contain relevant information. Not everyone will give you a chance to drone on and on about yourself during an interview. So it is very important you state clearly in your CV everything you think employers/interviewers might find useful, and that includes relevant work experience. It doesn't matter if you started working before you graduated - if anything, that says a lot about the kind of person you are. I agree that it would cause any employee to raise their eyebrows, but as long as you have evidence to back that claim, I do not see anything wrong in putting it up on your CV. What you have on your CV determines the kind of questions you will be asked during an interview. Any brilliant interviewer would be curious about why you decided to work through school. They would see you as someone who can handle many things at the same time - and that's a good attribute to have.

The only thing you need to be concerned about while drafting your CV is making sure the information provided are brief and straight to the point. Avoid irrelevant information. Work experiences, especially those that would paint you in a good light, are not irrelevant. As long as your CV doesn't exceed three pages, you're good.

That's all. Case closed.

Craven:
Eddodoh

I disagree with the above comment. Your CV should always contain relevant information. Not everyone will give you a chance to drone on and on about yourself during an interview. So it is very important you state clearly in your CV everything you think employers/interviewers might find useful, and that includes relevant work experience. It doesn't matter if you started working before you graduated - if anything, that says a lot about the kind of person you are. I agree that it would cause any employee to raise their eyebrows, but as long as you have evidence to back that claim, I do not see anything wrong in putting it up on your CV. What you have on your CV determines the kind of questions you will be asked during an interview. Any brilliant interviewer would be curious about why you decided to work through school. They would see you as someone who can handle many things at the same time - and that's a good attribute to have.

The only thing you need to be concerned about while drafting your CV is making sure the information provided are brief and straight to the point. Avoid irrelevant information. Work experiences, especially those that would paint you in a good light, are not irrelevant. As long as your CV doesn't exceed three pages, you're good.

In other words, u r saying dat I shld leave my work experiences as it is.

Whatever work experince you include should be RELEVANT to the role you are applying for. You seem to have experince working with people, this would be good when applying for customer focused roles.
If you however applied for a role, say in employee compensation and benefits (A part of HR), you would be basically considered an entry level applicant. Ergo, listing all the work experince for such a role MAY not do any good.

My 2cents

bodeoni:
Whatever work experince you include should be RELEVANT to the role you are applying for. You seem to have experince working with people, this would be good when applying for customer focused roles.
If you however applied for a role, say in employee compensation and benefits (A part of HR), you would be basically considered an entry level applicant. Ergo, listing all the work experince for such a role MAY not do any good.

My 2cents

I sight U!!! Thanks

I really need to get things right before I start sending another round of CV out for job application.

It's conflicting getting different opinion from people. I have always include all my work experiences though.

More so, I'll like to know ur take on d pre-grad work experiences.

Hey the problem isn't your experiences brother....... The dual position you are holding is very wrong, that's where the problem is.

Voluntary or not, no company would like to welcome you on board and see you have a divided attention by doing another job like you have it in your cv.

If you belong to a company, they want to see the results of the money you are paid and not jumping into job when they need you to concentrate.


Please if you really need a job, remove the volunteer job and keep that to yourself.

That's all I feel........

Hi, was once in a state of mind similar as yours before.
1st and foremost, most if not all employers will prefer you to start counting your experience from "after school" which is called Post Graduate Employment History.
Yes, its when they specifically tell you to input/add your volunteer/extracurricular experience, then you can add post you have held in school whether by aluta(dept/su) or siwes/it.
All work experience b4 undergraduate dnt really matter.
Brief history abt my pathway, i worked for more than 2yrs as a primary school teacher after my WAEC then i gained admission into a tertiary institution while holding post as my dEpt PRO. Proceeding to nysc too, i was my ppa clo which i did quite all right.
All am tryin to emphasize is what realy counts in my year of work experience is the job as a secondary school teacher in my ppa, while includin post i held in school(pro) and ppa(clo) as extracurricular activities excludin the years i spent as a pry skul teacher.
In summary, your after varsity experience serves as the primary work experience(post graduate) while post held can serve as extracuricular activities. Put in mind that if you did your siwes/it in a reputable firm it can literaly serve as additional work experience.
Am also an intending hr specialist. MBA on ma mind.

Adesolomon2014:
Hi, was once in a state of mind similar as yours before.
1st and foremost, most if not all employers will prefer you to start counting your experience from "after school" which is called Post Graduate Employment History.
Yes, its when they specifically tell you to input/add your volunteer/extracurricular experience, then you can add post you have held in school whether by aluta(dept/su) or siwes/it.
All work experience b4 undergraduate dnt really matter.
Brief history abt my pathway, i worked for more than 2yrs as a primary school teacher after my WAEC then i gained admission into a tertiary institution while holding post as my dEpt PRO. Proceeding to nysc too, i was my ppa clo which i did quite all right.
All am tryin to emphasize is what realy counts in my year of work experience is the job as a secondary school teacher in my ppa, while includin post i held in school(pro) and ppa(clo) as extracurricular activities excludin the years i spent as a pry skul teacher.
In summary, your after varsity experience serves as the primary work experience(post graduate) while post held can serve as extracuricular activities. Put in mind that if you did your siwes/it in a reputable firm it can literaly serve as additional work experience.
Am also an intending hr specialist. MBA on ma mind.

Splendid!

YES!

As long as it would give you an edge. It's important.
If I'm gonna interview you. The dates must tally. You can't just be idle for long a period after leaving a particular job without concrete explanation.

So YES it does matter!

Question!

Brilliant responses so far.
• Let your experience start from when you graduated.
• Avoid irrelevancies.
• Most organizations would rather require all your attention; dual engagements are unacceptable.
• Any other information before graduation may be mentioned during interview if the atmosphere warrants that.
• Tailor your CV to conform to the job requirements.

Professional Advice:
Always include the specific months for each work experience. Make it easy for the recruiters to easily decipher your information without asking too much questions. E.g.:

St. Paul College - Yaba, Lagos
Subject Tutor (NYSC - Place of Primary Assignment)
November 2012 - October 2013

You may visit my site to see specific unique samples that can be of guide:
www..com/cv-samples

Not every.

No.

1, At some point as you progress, some past jobs become irrelevant. I don't need to put my NYSC experience on my CV again. I had it there 8 years ago.

2, Except the job I'm applying for relates to investment banking, I don't put my few months experience in investment banking 9 years ago on my CV again.

3, If you change job every 6 months and have like 10 past experiences with different companies, leave out some, (like when you were shop keeper in a supermarket, when you were filling station attendant, etc) else it will make your CV unwieldy.

yep

All these wahala just to look for work! I am no longer interested in paid Job joor...Just waiting to start this so called nysc and hit d street fully...

Yes, as long as the experience gained is related to the post applying for. otherwise no

Observibg

Dragnet, SHL, Workforce PQ & answers are on this thread
https://www.nairaland.com/2685888/myjob-mobile-app-android

The post graduation experiences are the relevant ones

I am overwhelm at the quality of response coming in especially from career gurus like Jarus, Benjom, e.t.c.

Thanks to y'll!!!

Dis z one decision dat baffles me for a very long tym.
However, the diverse opinion still pose a challenge.

Eddodoh:
I feel it is time for me to reshuffle the work experience section on my resume. This has become necessary because I perceived that employers do have conflicting thought on my work experience.

I actually graduated in the year 2011 but I had gained 6+ years experience from my previous role as a Hotel Receptionist. In 2012, I resigned to participate in the National Service Scheme.

I currently work as a Customer Care Rep with 1+ years experience. I included these jobs in my resume which sum up to 9+ years work experience.

I observed that some people including Interviewers raise eye-brow when they noticed I already had 9+ years experience while I graduated 2011 which I have to start explaining how I gained it. My concern is that not all employers will give me opportunity to explain this.

I feel I need to omit the roles I held before I graduated. Moreover, most people do not include Every Job they've held on their resume.


Excerpt of my work experience as appeared on my resume;
* Volunteer Admin Assistant 2015 - Till Date
* Customer Care Rep 2014 - Till Date
* Teacher-NYSC 2012 - 2013
* Receptionist 2005 - 2012

Recently, I had an interview for a Client Service Officer position and the interviewer noticed the Volunteer role & the Customer Care Rep position. She had to pause and asked why I hold dual employment. I told her the Admin Assistant position in an NGO is an unpaid job and it's part-time. She ended the interview saying; she's going to get back to me. I know that the end of that employment for me.

Will it be necessary I omit the NYSC & Receptionist roles or there's a better way to write them on my resume?
Should I remove the Volunteer position from the work experience?

Do I need to remove unrelated job experiences from my resume whenever I applied for specific job title?

Kindly advice before I commit further blunder.

I feel it's not a bad idea ie if u don't have anything to hide from a particular place uve worked b4....ur cv starts getting important from ur NYSC..anything b4 dat is either industrial attachment, holiday job or internship, dnt get me wrong am not saying pre-NYSC isn't important....but u may or may not have special advantage than someone that doesn't have any pre NYSC job experience...but anythin from NYSC should be on the cV...if u don't put it...ur interviewer will notice nd they will be curious why u have a gap after NYSC..cos they wanna know if u were just plain jobless,sitting at home doing noting waiting for job(which might represent unseriousness)...or maybe u were sacked or did something wrong at that former work place nd u don't want ur new employer finding out....all in all..theres no wasted or irrelevant experience...if u were not sacked for incompetence or fraud...let that experience be on paper well explained.

great comment so far.... lesson learnt kudos to all contributors

makky04:
Start building up from your NYSC ...thats where your work experience should start from...

Then while you are at an interview , "tell me about yourself" you say the needful but also add that you were volunteering while in Uni then you can go ahead and list those roles, linking them to your undergrad study , and how it has shaped work ethics and ability to handle responsibilities in any given organization.

Too much information can be confusing. Draft your CV according to the role you are applying for.

Less is More!!!

But exclude it from your cv.

But in the end, that's my opinion!!!

What about exemption? Will it count before or after the date of receiving the exemption cert? Thanks

Eddodoh:

Recently, I had an interview for a Client Service Officer position and the interviewer noticed the Volunteer role & the Customer Care Rep position. She had to pause and asked why I hold dual employment. I told her the Admin Assistant position in an NGO is an unpaid job and it's part-time. She ended the interview saying; she's going to get back to me. I know that the end of that employment for me.

That HR woman no sabi recruitment. If I were her, I'll employ you for taking up a probono work. It means you are selfless and willing to take up more task. It's very possibly she'll still call, because honestly volunteers work is great for CVs. Naija HR dem, frustrating youths since 1904:

I wanted to stomp in here saying Yes! Include all your experience(s) in your CV, but even though I'm still relatively all in for including all your experiences, I think what's particularly important is the sector or industry you're working in.

I'll give a personal example.

I graduated from the University in 2013. Prior to this I'd been working in a media firm as far back as 2004. I was working from 2004-2012 majorly in different roles that bordered on creative design (motion graphics design, graphics design, video editing, script writing and concept development)

Now even though I read microbiology in school, I realized I had more flair for the creative arts than for sciences. It just makes sense that if I'm applying for, let's say, a graphics designer role; I include all my experience (pre-graduation) because if my CV only had experiences from after my graduation, It would:

1) Limit my perceived relevance in the industry I'm applying for

2)It would not shed tangible light on my experience - linked ability in graphics designing

3)It would keep me from applying for jobs that attach the minimum level of experience that I have, even though I'm very skilled in the field.


So in essence , it's all about the industry or sector you're applying for.

Furthermore, as someone said... Only add the job experiences that matter to the role. When I was serving I worked as a teacher. For someone like me, putting this experience in my CV is totally irrelevant so I avoided it.


Cheers.

Benjom:
Brilliant responses so far.
• Let your experience start from when you graduated.
• Avoid irrelevancies.
• Most organizations would rather require all your attention; dual engagements are unacceptable.
• Any other information before graduation may be mentioned during interview if the atmosphere warrants that.
• Tailor your CV to conform to the job requirements.

Professional Advice:
Always include the specific months for each work experience. Make it easy for the recruiters to easily decipher your information without asking too much questions. E.g.:

St. Paul College - Yaba, Lagos
Subject Tutor (NYSC - Place of Primary Assignment)
November 2012 - October 2013

You may visit my site to see specific unique samples that can be of guide:
www..com/cv-samples

I learnt a lot from your site. Thank you very much.

Career posts like this hardly make it to front page. Hmm

Remove the volunteer experience. As an interviewer I will not shortlist you if I see you are working with 2 separate organisations at same time on your chance.
You can mention your volunteer experience at the interview if it is relevant...

Dis thread need to be put on FP