Previous Experience Irrelevant

When I was younger I struggled knowing what to do with my life. After school, I had gone to Canada for a while and when I returned, made a rushed and poorly considered decision on a college course. Unfortunately, I chose badly and ended up dropping out at the end of the first year. The following few years saw me going through umpteen temporary positions, most lasting for just a few months, interspersed with periods of unemployment. 

The numerous positions I filled included a wide variety of activities, from glass-fiber molding to gardening, from billing account auditing to community education provision. It brought me a wealth of insights to a diverse range of functions and the opportunity to meet a wide diversity of people. It was a time of rich experience in my life and one of great learning.

The downside though, was that it brought me no nearer to knowing what I wanted to do. It also began to prove a problem when filling out job applications and resumes. There was never enough room to enter all my positions and it took an agonizingly long time to complete them while recruiters sat waiting to interview me.

Eventually I ended up becoming one of her Majesty's civil servants and worked in the HM Inland Revenue department where I found an aptitude for the work. After a couple of years working there, I decided to change sides and work in the private sector as a tax consultant. In doing so, I went along to one of the top agencies to find a suitable position. As part of the agency's services they constructed a resume for me to send to prospective employers. I was curious to see how they would handle my varied past, and was somewhat amused when I first saw the resume.

Along with my personal details, the agency had outlined my responsibilities at the Inland Revenue. Then on the bottom of the page was a short, simple sentence: "Previous experience irrelevant." In three words they had adeptly dealt with a problem that had been followed me for so long. The career "baggage," that I had for years carried around with me and so painstakingly regurgitated at each job application, was simply wrapped up and disposed of, no longer to be a concern. 

Since then, I have often thought about that phrase, "Previous experience irrelevant." It certainly has helped me in recent times crafting resumes and ensuring I only include relevant information. Irrelevant did not mean that the previous experience was of no use, or that I had not learned from it. Simply, it meant that it was not needed to define who I was or what I could offer now.


This phrase has a much wider application than just in job hunting. Often we seem to approach situations in other areas of our life in the same way. For instance we might begin new relationships by bringing out all the "baggage" of past relationships, thinking somehow we have to outline those past relationships to begin a new one. When really what we should be doing is simply stating to ourselves "Previous experience irrelevant." Again that does not mean there are not things to be learnt from our past experiences, that they were meaningless or of no importance. But it does mean that those past experiences do not have to define who we are now, or what shape the future might take.


My challenge to you is to examine how much of your past experiences you are allowing to define what the future holds. I recently saw a quote from Louise Smith, affectionately known as the 'first lady of racing,' that stated:

"You can't reach for anything new if your hands are still full of yesterday's junk."

Take the time to unload all of 'yesterday's junk' that you may be holding on to. And as you look to define what your future may hold, remember that simple phrase, "Previous experience irrelevant."