How long does a previous employer keep your info on file?

[FitChick]

I'm updating my resume. Conventional wisdom states that you should only list jobs from the past ten years. I worked at a Fortune 500 company in 1995. Would they still have my files if a new employer contacted them or are they generally purged after ten years or would a prospective employer not care because it's so long ago? I'm not sure whether to bother including that job on my resume.

[asharpe]

Well, the IRS suggest that one keep records for 7 years. I don't know about this company, but I think 7 years is a good guess (and if this company digitizes all information, then it'll be there forever).

 

How many jobs are you putting on your resume? If you put your most recent employers first, you might not need to put this other employer on your resume. But it's always a good idea to put references from that company written down somewhere just in case they ask for it