One of the inevitable questions for someone with a lot of work experience is if all of those previous jobs should be included on a resume. The answer should depend on the circumstance. As a general rule, it's best to remember that a resume should always be tailored to the job you are applying for.

Remember this: employers want to see relevant experience, not just experience for experience's sake. Upon college graduation, I had a lot of work experience compared to most of my peers. When I was fourteen, I started working at Six Flags Magic Mountain. When I turned eighteen, I started working at Home Depot. I then did a little stint with ADT Security, knocking on doors, until I finally transitioned to architecture internships while in school.

Frame other's perception of you

When I started applying to full-time jobs, I put all of that experience on my resume. Later, a mentor helped me see how the presence of those non-architectural jobs on my resume diminished my perceived value to an employer. He told me it was better to include only my internships and to omit the previous employment.

His point was that, because I had interned at architecture firms before graduation, there was no reason to include experience that had nothing to do with my future work in architecture. He told me, including these jobs would distract from the more relevant work I did at my internships. "You have to frame and design how an employer will perceive you," he said. So that's what I did.

See your work experience as strategic content rather than banal information

I did still use my non-architectural experience, but not on my resume. In my interviews and ultimate salary negotiation out of college, I highlighted how different I was from my peers. While most of them would be starting their first job after college, I had developed a work ethic and familiarity with working on a team from a young age. This, I told my future employer, I believed to be of value to them, even though my early experience was not directly related to architecture.

Then, I talked about the architectural experience, little as it was, on my resume. My work experience became like chess pieces, there at my disposal when I needed them. The resume helped me get in the door, highlighting my relevant architectural experience. Once inside, I could use my earlier experience to communicate something that set me apart from the other applicants.

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When deciding if you should omit a piece of experience, ask yourself if it's relevant to the opportunity in question and if it helps you communicate the appropriate image to your prospective employer.