Jane Porter of the Wall Street Journal career blog reports anecdotal evidence that some job-seekers are downgrading their C.V.’s.
A shortage of jobs and an excess of job-applicants made Ms. Konopka come to the conclusion that people don’t “want to hire anyone who is overqualified.”
The article goes on to highlight evidence that indeed, understating your credentials and skills may help you get a job during the recession.
This tactic may be risky though. Recruiters are increasingly relying on the web to gather extra information on candidates. (Go ahead, search your name now and see what digital footprints you have left).
The web, even in its short life, has an almost comprehensive memory. That VP job where you earned an award will not disappear so easily. Even if the website does not exist anymore, there are websites whose archives go back to the mid-nineties.
Therefore, and perhaps as always, the best option is to be true to yourself. That way, what you have written about yourself in your job application will match what the recruiter will find about you online.
Mediacodex 