Dumb and dumber?

Gerade in Zeiten der Rezession ist der Arbeitsmarkt angespannt. Ist es da sinnvoll, Wissen und Können im Lebenslauf (auch auf Englisch) aufzuwerten oder herabzustufen, um bei der Stellensuche  weiterhin im Rennen zu bleiben?

QUALIFICATIONS: Claiming to be better educated or more experienced than you are is known as “padding” your CV. Career experts advise clients not to do this. Pretending to be less educated or experienced, on the other hand, is called “dumbing down” your CV. And that may be OK, at least in a recession, when jobs are hard to find.

“You see it in tighter economies, when there isn’t the same level of opportunity,” says career coach Alan Kearns of CareerJoy in Toronto. “A lot of times, I see it when people are changing sectors or they need cash flow. But at least they’re staying in the game,” Kearns told CBC News.

“I think there is some good value in dumbing down résumés when looking for work,” Kearns adds. “When you say 'dumbing down', it’s actually telling the story that’s relevant to the opportunity.”

Employers may be hesitant to hire people they feel are overqualified, fearing that these employees will quickly become bored and leave. Kearns warns: “The bottom line with the whole job search is that you don’t get yourself into a situation where your employer is going to be disappointed with you.”

"Don't get yourself into a situation where you disappoint your employer," warns Alan Kearns.

Jean Zacher, owner of JobCanada.org, has mixed feelings about dumbing down CVs. “I don’t see anything wrong with leaving out information,” she says. “If you’re applying for a job that you’re overqualified for, you still should put down what you’ve done. You don’t necessarily put down the whole story. You need to explain why do you want this job, this specific job.”

Still, Zacher says there is no need to put all of your expectations permanently on hold. “I understand we need dollars, and many of us have had to do things we don’t want to do, but maybe you should be looking at the employment agencies and taking temporary placements until you can find what you really want.”

Alan Kearns says dumbing down a CV is quite different from padding it. “Padding a résumé means employers are bringing you in and expecting you to have a certain skill set. Dumbing down is just positioning yourself at a layer below your potential. The employer is actually going to get more value.”