Nicholas Carroll, author of
The Layoff Survival Plan, wrote up a
guide on how to downgrade your resume. Although it may seem counter-intuitive, rewriting your resume to minimize your education and work experience can be helpful in our current economy. To save money, corporations have been laying off employees with Master's degrees in favor of new hires with Bachelor's, whom they can pay less.
Here are Carroll's main tips:
- Remove your highest degree from your resume. HR departments only check whether you're pretending to have a degree you haven't actually earned, so it's unlikely you'll get caught.
- Rewrite your job titles. Again, this is relatively harmless, as Carroll claims most employers don't even call for references anymore, and job titles are pretty subjective to begin with. If you were a director, become a manager; if you were a manager, call yourself a "team leader."
- Cleanse your online info. Potential employers will do some cursory online checking, so you'll want to review your Facebook and Linkedin pages, and at least the most recent entries of your Twitter and/or personal blog.
- Be your new resume. You have to sell your downgraded resume during an interview. According to Carroll, you shouldn't be afraid to say you don't know the answer to a question, or at least hesitate.
Do you know anyone who's gotten hired by downgrading their resume? What do you think of these suggestions?
Comments (13)
I can understand the resume downgrading, though it still seems a bit iffy to me. With a downgraded resume, I'd feel less likely to get an interview.
In the interview, I would assume one would want to shine, not hesitate. Just because you're well prepared and know your information doesn't mean you have to be paid more. That goes with the price negotiations (unless I'm mistaken).
Either way, I don't plan on going to graduate school, so I guess that works in my favor (according to this) =P Shouldn't matter much though, I don't want to be an accountant either.
Really????? My dad CAN'T get a job because he DOESN'T have a masters degree. He's in graduate school, working his 48 year old butt off to get a masters in engineering, taking out student loans to pay for it, because he hasn't had a job in a year - everywhere he's applied at tells him he needs a masters.
This article is depressing indeed. All those years and thousands of dollars spent gaining higher education, just to be imagined away because an employer might find it inconvenient?
@inconceivable_alicia@xanga - I guess it depends on what career you're in -- good for your dad for going back to school though.
my dad always told me that in an interview never display all of your degrees at once because they may say that you're too experienced or what have you and not hire you. so this sounds similar. since i don't have a lot of management experience, i just tweak my job duties to fit with the job i'm applying for
I don't know anyone who has been hired by downgrading their resume/cv etc.
I don't know anyone for whom this worked, but I know I've missed interviews and positions because I was too senior before I took a break to be a full time mom.
so tell me why so many people who cannot find jobs are going back to school to get GRADUATE degrees. so after they take all those loans out to get a graduate degree, are you telling me that they should not add that to their resume? This is silly.
I don't agree with the downgrading resume. Now employers actually want to hire better candidates. The job requirements are actually tougher than previously. However, I think this would only work if a former director is looking for a job like in Starbucks or fast food chains.
I do agree about cleaning the online profile...facebook, xanga, etc. You don't want the HR seeing you puking or getting drunk or making out with others. But it would be nice if the pictures are taken from trips or family gathering or even community work to showcase their personality.
I always suggest revising your resume to match the job requirements your applying for, plus something more to make you stand out in the crowd.
"Bullsh*t" is what I have to say. Why try to hide your accomplishments? I am proud of what I have done and I want it to show it off. Besides, if they want to hire out a firm to do an official background check, then there's nothing stopping from finding out the truth. If they find out that you are hiding something, some firms see that as an integrity issue and that may backfire on you. On top of that, I make sure that I let potential employers know that I am more than willing to negotiate my pay, as long as I am making money, I don't care how big the salary is as long as it is reasonable compared to industry standards.
Dang, I wish I had known this...when I was hired as a school bus driver, it actually took a little convincing on my part because I had just graduated college and have a bachelor of science degree...my now-boss wondered why the heck I wanted to be a bus driver rather than actually get a "real job". Oh well, I am glad they hired me...at least I can't be outsourced.
When I was applying for jobs, companies wouldn't look at me because I was "overqualified" for the sorts of positions I was looking for (assistant, secretary, etc). It was quite fustrating.
i say...why wait for the job to come to you? this is the time to create your own job.