Many job applicants actually create a resume and employment cover letter that over-qualify themselves for the job they are positioning for in their respective job searches. It is important to understand that making yourself over-qualified for a job, your chances of being hired by a company will decrease instead of increasing. Consider the following resume tips concerning how to “dumb down” your resume.
Step-Down Resume:
The step-down resume is also referred to a dumb-down resume because it requires the writer to “dumb-down” his/her experiences so that, as a candidate, he/she does not get disqualified from consideration for a position for being overqualified.
The step-down resume is a counterintuitive process. When we think about writing a resume, we naturally want to put forward all of our wonderful accomplishments in the most hard-hitting and attention-grabbing manner possible. The step-down resume drastically “tones down” the accomplishments by attempting to have the person appear as an excellent choice as a “comparable candidate.”
Many job seekers never get called for interviews because they are considered overqualified for the positions they apply for. It is critical that you know the level of position that you are applying for and that your resume is appropriate for that position. If you have been operating at a high management or professional level and you are applying for a lower-level position, you will need to rewrite your resume to accurately describe your previous positions in terms that are truthful, but just not as impressive as they might normally be written.
Unfortunately, in the current business environment, many companies do not respect people with multiple years of experience and/or higher-level positions. The perception is often that an experienced person or a person with a high-level position will want too much money for the job that is open.
There is also the perception of, “What’s wrong with this person if he is applying for this type of job in a company our size?” This is an important reason for effectively addressing compensation and other issues in a cover letter if you are applying for positions that may be considered a step-down in title, duties, or size of company.
The result of perceptions about people looking for a step-down is that they get classified as “overqualified.” The overqualified tag is often applied to people who oversell their responsibilities and accomplishments for the job they are applying for.
As an example, a Vice President of Finance in a $500 million dollar company may simply be doing the job of a Controller in any other company, but because of the corporate structure the title has a “VP” in it. If this VP applies for a Controller position in an $8 million company, this VP had better use comparable titles as the titles on the resume and list responsibilities and accomplishments that sound less high-end and more hands-on.
Additionally, the VP will need to address compensation in a cover letter because the resume may give the perception that a senior person wants “senior dollars.” With this perception, most employers believe that when a high paid person accepts a lower paying job, the person continues to look for a job that will replace the salary that he/she has lost.
The point is that if you are applying for positions that may appear to be a step-down from current or previous positions, you need to write your resume in a fashion that does not make you appear overqualified and you need to address any perception issues in a cover letter.
It is important to realize how great of an effect a step-down resume can have on your chances of being hired for a job you are too qualified for. Doing this will allow your job search to be easier because of a more suitable job resume for a position, and will give you a great chance to shine during the structured interview if you are over-qualified.
