The Herald carries a story about WINZ advising a jobseeker to ‘dumb down’ her CV by removing her Bachelor degree.
I removed my OS/2 Engineer and Lotus Notes certifications from my CV some years ago. There are some qualifications prospective employers just don’t want to know about.
Presumably you weren’t applying for a position totally unrelated to your degree/expertise though?
Comment by StephenR — May 6, 2010 @ 11:34 am
Well, yeah, if I were applying for a job at KFC, I’d remove the higher degrees from my CV and keep in the bit about working for Georgie Pie back in 1983-4.
Comment by MollyByGolly — May 6, 2010 @ 11:40 am
I’ve been coding in Fortran 90 and Pascal recently – would that be attractive to an employer, do you think?
Comment by cctrfred — May 6, 2010 @ 11:42 am
damn straight. try applying for analyst-level positions anywhere with a PhD and no experience…
Comment by che tibby — May 6, 2010 @ 11:48 am
yes when applying for a job in John Keys office, i deliberately took out my toilet cleaning and vomit cleaning qualifications as I KNEW I would be too highly qualified to work with him.
Comment by kerry — May 6, 2010 @ 11:49 am
unemployment rate drop mystery solved
Comment by Neil — May 6, 2010 @ 11:54 am
Does removing a politics degree *really* “dumb down” a CV?
Comment by scrubone — May 6, 2010 @ 11:54 am
Yep, I’ve had the same advice-and funnily enough it works. Seems like a BA in philosophy is a liability in the New Zealand job market. After all, who wants to hire someone who can think critically and clearly state their opinions?
Comment by Andre — May 6, 2010 @ 11:56 am
I’m thinking about reinstating my 220 yard backstroke certificate.
Comment by insider — May 6, 2010 @ 12:11 pm
I’ve still got blackboard monitor as one of my accomplishments on my CV.
Comment by Bearhunter — May 6, 2010 @ 1:13 pm
Gotta drop my x86 assembly and Forth skills then I suppose…
Comment by Berend de Boer — May 6, 2010 @ 1:15 pm
I played Panicky Idiot Number One in the Poseidon Adventure.
Comment by Paul Henry — May 6, 2010 @ 1:19 pm
OS/2 and Lotus Notes?
That’s it, I’m firing you from your columnist contract with the Melbourne Age for publicly ruining your reputation.
Comment by Thomas Beagle — May 6, 2010 @ 3:00 pm
In some cases, it is good advice. If an employer thinks you are over qualified, he may logically assume he will lose you in due course, if you find a higher paid job more suited to your quals. Then he has to go through the whole costly/time-consuming recruitment process again.
Much better for him to hire someone he thinks he can keep.
Just as likely, is that NZ business owners struggle with the concept of hiring someone smarter than you (see E-myth).
Comment by Pat — May 6, 2010 @ 3:54 pm
Should read “smarter than themselves”.
Comment by Pat — May 6, 2010 @ 3:55 pm
If an employer thinks you are over qualified, he may logically assume he will lose you in due course
… or wonder why the hell you’re applying for such a job (that is, why you aren’t applying for jobs more suited to your qualifications).
Not too much danger of that with a BA, though. But when hiring I have been peery of hiring those with Master’s or Ph.D qualifications or extensive industry experience applying for work well below their station.
L
Comment by Lew — May 6, 2010 @ 4:05 pm
Pat,
alternate hypothesis:
A degree ‘signals’ to employers that your salary/wage expectations are higher than someone sans-degree, all other things being equal. If the degree isn’t necessary for the job (as in the burger-flipper/checkout-chick case) it only serves to price you out of the market.
Comment by Phil — May 6, 2010 @ 4:09 pm
Not too much danger of that with a BA, though. But when hiring I have been peery of hiring those with Master’s or Ph.D qualifications or extensive industry experience applying for work well below their station
It’s easy enough to find yourself significantly overqualified and underqualified at the same time. In those situations, it’s best to leave the offending bits off the CV, or think carefully about something that gets you to where you need to be (easier said than done).
I think that NZ’s labour market is completely disfunctional and rewards incompetence (read: safety for HR and/or employers) over skills and the ability to do interesting things. Damned if I know what you’d do about it though.
Comment by George D — May 6, 2010 @ 6:29 pm
Yeah, because if I was an employer looking for short term staff I’d be terrified of them quitting after a short time.
No, wait, what…
Comment by moz — May 6, 2010 @ 8:36 pm
When I applied for jobs as a sub-editor on Auckland on women’s magazines awhile ago, I left out my overseas experience on well-known titles. But I kept in the Western Leader holiday work experience.
Comment by Justa Hack — May 6, 2010 @ 9:01 pm