Yet another resume question
 

A co-worker of mine is losing his grant paid position in late November and has been job hunting something fierce and keeps being told he is overqualified. He has a BS in Computer Science, a Master's in CIS and is working on an MBA. He has 5 years experience as a Programmer/Analyst, but mainly working in Access with a little bit of network administration type stuff. We were debating over whether NOT putting his masters degree/current grad work on his resume would be considered "lying" and grounds for dismissal if it later comes out that he has all these degrees. Even though he sounds way overqualified, he really isn't all that qualified. In computer land, he is a jack of all trades and master of none. I think he should leave some his education off. He thinks he'd get fired eventually if he does that. So, is under-representing yourself really considered taboo?

Dee

I would think like any other resume to only put information that applies to the position he is applying for. Also technically you do not have to sign anything for submitting a resume, it's the application for employment that he needs to not omitt anything on and he should be fine.

No it's not lying.

He should also look into a head hunter.

-Rudey

Only relevant degrees, certification and experience belong on his resume. Why is he going for an MBA? To switch career tracks? If so, he should look into career counseling with his program.

He's kind of a professional student. He is also considering a PhD with a goal of being a professor eventually. He's one of these guys who dabbles in a lot of different things. I think once he finds a niche, he'll settle into something. He just hasn't found it yet. He teaches one or two courses a semester now at a local college too. He's actually better at the management type stuff than he is at the computer technical stuff. He did the Disaster Recovery Plan for our little department and the presentation and development of it was excellent. His technical abilities are ok. He kind of wanders aimlessly in life, I think. He talks about doing all kinds of different things. He's also a volunteer fireman and is talking about being a volunteer police officer too. Like I said, jack of all trades, master of none!

Isn't being told that you're "overqualified" pretty much the same thing as when a guy tells you it's not you, it's him -- as in complete BS?

I would consider omitting anything from a resume a lie, for what it's worth.

Re: Yet another resume question
 

It may depend on the company, but no, I wouldn't consider it a lie.

No. Some companies fear hiring someone that is "overqualified" because they think that the likelihood that they'll stay for very long is low.

Or because they think your salary requirements will be too high.

I used to be a hiring mgr for my company and we would have considered it lying if someone had omitted the information. Our applicants were put thru a stringent background check and anything that was over or under represented, would automatically disqualify the applicant. It wouldn't matter if I liked the applicant - Home Office always had the final say-so. I work for a large national company - not sure if this is the type of company he is applying to. Not sure this is the answer you were looking for - sorry.

I think its so unfair when companies say someone is overqualified - meaning 'we would have to pay them too much' or 'they may take my job one day'. Best of luck to your friend.