The New Résumé: Dumb and Dumber

[tj2001]

Wall Street Journal
May 26, 2009
The New Résumé: Dumb and Dumber
Job Seekers Play Down Their Credentials to Avoid Looking Overqualified
By JANE PORTER

Kristin Konopka sent out nearly 100 copies of her résumé in January in search of receptionist work, but got only one callback. That's when Ms. Konopka, a 29-year-old New York actress and yoga teacher, took her master's degree and academic teaching experience off her résumé.

The calls started coming in. The slimmer version of her résumé landed in 30 in-boxes and earned her three callbacks and two interviews. "It definitely picked up the interest," says Ms. Konopka, who realized quickly that people don't "want to hire anyone who is overqualified."

Securing work in a tight economy means more job seekers might find themselves applying for positions below their qualifications. Many unemployed professionals are willing to take paycuts for the promise of a paycheck. But to get a foot in the door, candidates are gearing down their résumés by hiding advanced degrees, changing too-lofty titles, shortening work experience descriptions, and removing awards and accolades....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124328878436252195.html

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Pretty soon, every job seeker will have to remove EVERY college degree from their resume!

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. The snip of the article doesn't say what kind of jobs she was applying for

or what that Masters Degree is in. Hard to draw any conclusions about this. However,
for all the talk about the future depending on educated americans, there seem to be
damn few opportunities but plenty of platitudes!

[tazkcmo]

2. From the article

Kristin Konopka sent out nearly 100 copies of her résumé in January in search of receptionist work

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. If all she was applying for was receptionist jobs then, sure, she was

overqualified. If she really wanted/needed to take a job like that then it would be a good idea to hide the degrees. 100 resumes for receptionist jobs only?