After sending out 1000+ resumes with not a single job offer, a job seeker concluded that he needed to lie on his resume. In his case, he felt he was overqualified and therefore needed to dumb down his resume to get some interviews. It’s my estimation that he’s looking in the wrong place for a solution.
Lying on the resume isn’t the issue here.
From listening to you say you’ve applied to 1000+ jobs and are willing to take any job from a director to a security guard, you’ve got me thinking you’re not sure what you want to do next.
This lack of commitment to a defined career is most likely coming through as a symptom on your resume and perhaps in the interview. Hiring managers hate having to figure out what it is you’d like to do with your life and career. They want you to tell them, flat out from the beginning. And they want you to have the evidence (i.e. your past accomplishments) to back up your proposal.
It’s not going to matter if you lie or not on the resume if it’s unclear what type of position you want to obtain in the first place. And simply changing the “objective” is not enough. Your entire resume needs to be focused on one (or a handful at most) job goal(s).
And, by the way, it’s fine to desire a job just for the paycheck. We all have responsibilities to take care of. But if this is the case, are the jobs for which you’re applying addressing your other values such as a shorter commute, flex time for family, working with like-minded people, securing benefits, or teaching you a new skill?
If not, the employer knows something you don’t: You’ll be leaving your new job within a few months. Or worse, you’ll stay at your job and just be going through the motions with very little, if any, enthusiasm for the work. In either case, the employer will regret hiring you and you’ll regret taking the position.
So, in light of this information, I have to ask: When was the last time that you applied for a job you really wanted?
