Quick Answer
You don’t need to include every single job you’ve ever had on your LinkedIn profile. Focus on highlighting the most relevant work experiences that tell the story of your career progression and demonstrate skills applicable to the types of roles you’re targeting now. Old, irrelevant jobs from high school or college can usually be left off.
Should You Include Every Job?
Listing every job you’ve ever had on your LinkedIn profile isn’t necessary. Here are some guidelines on what to include:
- Focus on your most recent and relevant jobs, especially those within the last 10-15 years.
- Prioritize roles that allowed you to build key skills for your target field.
- You can exclude short-term jobs (less than 6 months) and jobs from early in your career that aren’t relevant.
- Make sure to include key accomplishments and responsibilities for each position.
- Tailor your experience section to support your current career goals.
The main purpose of your LinkedIn profile is to showcase your qualifications and background for networking and job searching. That means highlighting your most impactful and applicable work history. Early jobs like babysitting, waiting tables, or working retail don’t need to be included unless they allowed you to gain important transferable skills.
When to Exclude Certain Jobs
Here are some types of jobs you may want to consider leaving off your LinkedIn profile:
- Jobs from high school or college: Working at the campus bookstore or local coffee shop as a student usually doesn’t strengthen your professional profile. Focus on internships, co-ops, research projects, and other relevant experience instead.
- Short-term jobs: Temporary roles or jobs you held for less than 6 months can often be excluded, especially if you have other more substantive experience to highlight.
- Completely unrelated roles: If you have work history that is completely outside your target field or current career goals, it may make sense to leave that experience off.
- Roles with negative associations: If you were fired from a job or had a bad experience, you may choose to exclude it from your profile.
Use your judgment here. The more disconnected, briefly held, or potentially negative a job is, the more reason there may be to leave it out.
When to Include All Jobs
On the other hand, here are some cases where listing your full work history makes sense:
- You’re early in your career and don’t have a long work history yet.
- You’re making a significant career change to a new field or industry.
- You have gaps in your employment and want to demonstrate continuity.
- Your target roles require an extensive background check.
- You want to explain growth across different types of roles and responsibilities.
If your work history is limited or you’re pivoting to a new area, showing a progression across different jobs can tell a compelling story – even if some roles were in unrelated fields.
Just be sure to frame varied experiences in the context of transferable skills and career trajectory. For example, highlight how communication, management, or analytical abilities were built up over time across different industries.
Tips for What to Include
Follow these best practices for choosing what to highlight in your LinkedIn experience section:
- Lead with your current or most recent position.
- Focus on roles relevant to your target field and future career goals.
- Include details on your accomplishments, skills, and responsibilities.
- Tailor descriptions to use key words and highlight transferable skills.
- Emphasize growth and progression across increasing levels of responsibility.
- Be consistent with other application materials like your resume.
- Use at least 2-3 bullet points per job description.
- Keep it to roles from the past 10-15 years if possible.
Quality outweighs quantity when building your LinkedIn profile. A focused work history with impactful details will be more engaging for recruiters than an exhaustive list of every job you’ve held.
Should You Include the Duration of Each Job?
You have the option to list the duration for each position on your LinkedIn profile. Here are some things to consider:
- Showing dates can demonstrate continuity in your work history.
- It helps convey the time spent and progression at each company.
- But exact months may also draw attention to employment gaps.
- Leaving out durations gives you more flexibility in how you sequence positions.
- You still need to be honest. Don’t inflate time spent at any job.
Many people choose to include at least the years they held each role. For example:
Marketing Manager, XYZ Company – January 2015 – March 2020
Others opt to just list years if there were multiple short-term positions in one year:
Digital Marketing Consultant – 2017-2020
Listing months is optional. Make sure the overall picture your experience section paints is clear and compelling above all.
How to Frame Jobs from Earlier in Your Career
Here are some tips for including relevant positions from early in your work history:
- Focus on transferable skills built even in college jobs – leadership, communication, sales, etc.
- Explain how early roles laid the foundation for more advanced positions.
- Be brief – 2-3 concise bullet points max for early jobs.
- Group together similar shorter experiences into one entry.
- List internships and co-ops under a separate “Experience” section if possible.
Framing is key. For example, working at a restaurant could be positioned as developing customer service expertise and communication abilities.
When including early roles, keep descriptions brief and highlight acquired skills that translate to your professional goals.
Should You List Every Position at One Company?
If you took on different jobs and responsibilities while progressing at one company, you don’t need to list every separate internal role. Instead, focus on the scope of your position when you left the company.
For example, if you started as a Marketing Assistant and got promoted to Marketing Manager at the same organization, summarize it like this:
Marketing Manager, XYZ Company – March 2015 – January 2020
– Began as Marketing Assistant, promoted to Manager in 2018
– Expanded marketing analytics capabilities and increased qualified leads by 30%
– Managed team of 5 marketing specialists
The bullets should reflect your overall accomplishments and seniority towards the end of your time there. Listing every internal promotion isn’t necessary.
Should You List Your Current Job as Present?
It’s fine to simply list your current role as the “Present” end date. For example:
Director of Sales, ABC Corporation – August 2020 – Present
This approach clearly indicates you currently hold that position. Just make sure to update it once you move on to a new role.
Some people choose to put specific months to indicate how long they’ve been in that job so far. Either approach works.
Should You Say You Currently Work at a Company if You’ve Been Laid Off?
If you’ve recently been laid off but are still doing some project work for the company, it’s up to you how to list your status.
Options include:
– Marketing Manager, XYZ Company – January 2018 – Present
(Note: Laid off June 2020 but still completing select marketing projects)
– Marketing Manager, XYZ Company – January 2018 – June 2020 (Laid off)
Currently: Completing transitional marketing projects
The best approach depends on your individual situation and relationship with the company. Make sure your profile and resume both clearly communicate your current employment status.
Should You Still List a Job if You Have an NDA?
If you signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) at a previous job, you still need to list that work experience on LinkedIn – but avoid disclosing confidential details covered by the NDA.
For example:
Lead Engineer, Confidential startup – January 2017 – February 2019
– Developed proprietary forecasting models and algorithms for supply chain optimization.
– Headed quality assurance testing and process improvement initiatives.
– Oversaw deployment of software systems and data analytics tools.
You can summarize the general responsibilities and skills from a role without naming specific projects or intellectual property that would violate an NDA. Just make sure you aren’t sharing anything deemed confidential by that employer.
Key Takeaways
Include enough roles on your LinkedIn profile to showcase your most relevant skills and career progression – about 10-15 years’ worth of positions is ideal. Early jobs or short-term gigs often don’t need to be listed unless they allowed you to notably develop key abilities. Remember to focus on showcasing transferable skills versus just titles or companies. Crafting an impactful, concise work history tailored to your professional goals is key.
Examples of Jobs Worth Including or Excluding
Jobs Worth Including
- Recent roles in your target industry
- Positions that allowed you to build key skills
- Internships and co-ops relevant to your field
- Leadership roles demonstrating increased responsibility
- Roles supporting a career change narrative
- Work history that fills resume gaps
Jobs Worth Excluding
- Unrelated high school or college jobs
- Short-term temporary roles
- Early roles with no transferable skills gained
- Potentially negative work experiences
- Internal promotions at the same company
- Roles with confidentiality issues
Keep your LinkedIn profile focused on the experience that best showcases your abilities for future roles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I include my retail jobs from high school/college?
Most likely not, unless you held a notable position like shift manager or team lead. Focus instead on internships, co-ops, research, or other roles more directly relevant to post-college career goals.
What if I have gaps between jobs – should I still list them all?
Addressing employment gaps minimizes any confusion. Briefly list jobs leading up to gaps and emphasize transferable skills gained. Explain gaps briefly in your profile summary if needed.
How far back should I go? What about jobs from over 15 years ago?
Prioritize positions from the last 10-15 years. Only highlight roles from further back if highly relevant to telling the story of your capabilities.
Should I list jobs I was fired from or had issues at?
Use judgment here. Leaving off toxic job situations can be appropriate in some cases. But include enough experience to avoid resume gaps and be prepared to briefly explain if needed.
What if I don’t remember exact dates of previous roles?
List approximate date ranges for jobs if needed. But avoid exaggerating durations. Integrity matters, so be as accurate as possible.
Conclusion
Deciding what to include when building your LinkedIn profile boils down to showcasing the experiences most relevant to your career narrative and future potential. Focus on highlighting transferable skills gained from your most impactful roles while streamlining distracting or unnecessary work history details. Crafting a focused, authentic profile tailored to your professional aspirations will serve you best in the long run.