We moved during Christmas break to another state and even though we have moved several times, I am amazed 
at how much stuff we seem to accumulate between moves. We gave away many things before moving, so I feel good about what we kept as they are what we need. 
photo credit: akeg
Over the last several years of resume’ writing, I often see people who decide to pack up the whole house and dump it on their resume’. It is an arduous read and difficult to comb through to see how a person is really qualified for the career path they’ve chosen. I can PROMISE you that no employer or recruiter will read this much information! Your resume’ should, at most, go back 10-15 years. This current experience is what employers see as relevant to the present market challenges.
Now, look at your job descriptions and achievements. Make sure you are only writing a nice paragraph and including between 5-7 achievements per position. Have a trusted friend or family member read your resume’. Do they feel like it’s suffering from TMI (too much information)?
When you are reviewing a job posting for a position that you want, look at their requirements. If you have the applicable background and experience, include it on your resume’. And, yes, you do need to customize your resume’ to highlight the skills and achievements that you possess to support the requirements the employer wants. Just because you think that your management skills should show how you can run things smoothly for another industry, the employer is not going to take the time to read between the lines to see. It’s up to you to market yourself for each position. In today’s market, there is no longer a “one size fits all” resume’ approach.
Make sure your resume’ only has what’s required for the next journey. In other words, pack your suitcase 
appropriately for the location where you are headed. photo credit: zenobia_joy
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Hi, Kristen,
I would add one comment to your post about only including the most recent 10-15 years experience.
I helped a client re-enter an industry he had worked in earlier in his career. In his case, he needed to leverage earlier career work alongside current/recent volunteer work in the health care industry, so I had to include present BOTH recent and past experience in that industry. I used a cluster resume format, in which I “clustered’ his most relevant experience-paid and unpaid-in a professional health care titled section; and his other relevant professional experience in another section of his resume, appropriately titled. The strategy worked very well.
Best,
~Kathy Bitschenauer
Great post Kristen!
“Packing” your resume with the right amount of the right information is critical. It’s easy to get trapped into thinking that more is better. We have to remember that our resumes are marketing pieces, which ties right into your personal branding expertise. I can’t think of many products or services I bought because I read about the history of its development or read a volume about all of the features and services available. Why would someone hire you based on that same information?