Employment History v. Resume for Application

UEconomist

Hi,

Wondering whether anyone has encountered this in their application cycle and could offer some guidance. Is it preferable that we list all employment history in the application regardless whether its in our resume or not? Or should it only mirror what we include in our resume? I've held many jobs through undergrad and after graduating but some (ie. working as a bookseller in barnes and noble) may not be relevant to include? Or are they?

Thanks!

1LBound

I'm curious about this, as well. Some guidance would be greatly appreciated!

stepharizona

From every thing I have read and seen it can very from application to application. Some schools say to list all, some say past 5 or 10 years. I have never encountered one that only said relevant on an application, like you might find on a typical resume. But even then, law school resumes are slightly different and all have their own guidelines.

For example, one school wanted you to list the hours you worked during the school year (if any) and list all jobs (paid and unpaid). The best thing you can do is read what each school desires. If they give no instruction, I would list all employment.

Cant Get Right

I think it would also just depend on where you're at in life. If you're coming straight out of undergrad, for example, it would probably be good to include every job (although there is strategy in selecting when not to include a job). For me, I'm older and have had a whole career since my high school jobs, so in my case, listing all of my jobs probably wouldn't be as appropriate. Work builds a lot of character though, so construct your resume in a way that highlights your work experience as effectively as possible.

Pacifico

The best course of action is to fill out the employment history in the app as completely as possible for whatever period is requested. Then make sure you have all your best stuff on your resume, but of course that will be edited down for length depending on requirements. I had probably six jobs on my employment history that didn't make the cut for my resume. The benefit to the employment history is that it can help paint a more complete portrait if you worked all through college or something along those lines. Don't ever leave employment history blank because you think it is redundant (a good rule of thumb across the entire app). And don't have anything on your resume in terms of work history that you don't put in the app.

Nicole Hopkins

@UEconomist said:
Or should it only mirror what we include in our resume? I've held many jobs through undergrad and after graduating but some (ie. working as a bookseller in barnes and noble) may not be relevant to include?

EXTREMELY relevant if you worked during school! And otherwise as well. List any jobs you've had since day 1 of freshman year of college if they lasted more than 3 months.

UEconomist

Does the clock need to start ticking day 1 of freshman year of college for where the line is drawn for inclusion of work experience? I didn't start freshman year until January but the prior September to December I spent the time doing an unpaid internship with a notable congressman. Can I include it even though I was not yet considered a college student?