When to Remove Internships From Your Resume

When it comes to crafting a compelling resume, knowing what to put on the page is only half the battle; understanding what to omit can be equally pivotal. As a fresh graduate or someone early in their career, internships are a valuable addition to your professional narrative. Yet, as you accumulate experience over the years, you might wonder when is the appropriate time to remove these internships from your resume. The answer to this question isn't a straightforward 'one-size-fits-all' – rather, it relies on a balance of relevance, space, and career progression.

Understanding the Value of Your Internships

Always consider the relevance of your internships to the jobs you apply for. If the internship accurately reflects your skills pertinent to the prospective role or helps paint a picture of your career progression, it’s definitely worth keeping. Conversely, drop an internship if it confuses your career narrative or the skills required for it greatly contrast with those required in the desired job.

Moreover, recognizing the potency of your past internships is crucial. As a general rule, emphasize your most recent and substantive experiences. If you've secured an entry-level job and it absorbs your resume space, consider making this job your primary focus instead of your internships.

Resume Real Estate and Content De-Cluttering

The 'one-page-resume' norm for early career professionals forces us to be discerning about the content we include. As you ascend in your career ladder, you may begin to run out of space on your resume and need to start eliminating older, less relevant experiences. Consolidate your internships into a single section or prioritize your most relevant and recent experiences. Eventually, you will move to a 2-page format, and internships will be a thing of the past.

Recency Matters

As a general guide, keeping experiences that fall within the last 10 to 15 years on your resume is advisable. This keeps your resume current and relevant, avoiding possible age bias in the hiring process. Therefore, if your internships fall within this timeframe and meet the relevance criteria, you can choose to keep them.

Your resume is a self-marketing tool, continually evolving as you advance in your career. Remember, each element, including your internships, should add value and reinforce the overall narrative of who you are as a professional.