Leaving information off a resume

[Trematode]

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Hi all!

I wanted to get an opinion on this.

I've recently been told that if I want a chance at gaining employment at a minimum wage job (fast food, retail, waitress, etc.) that I should leave information related to my education off of my resume.

Just a little bit of background on me:

Graduated with a BSc Honours (which means I undertook a research project, presented it, wrote a thesis and had at least a 75% average upon graduating)
Worked in 3 academic jobs
Did a lot of volunteer work related to the field I want to go into (vet med)

Other information: worked in fast food on and off for 5 years. Did some volunteering not related to academics.

I have a feeling that I will be looking for work come September. I have already discovered that jobs in my field are difficult to come by. I need to pay off some of my debt, so I will be leaping at any opportunity to work.

Before landing my current job, I applied for a cell phone company, a coffee shop and a clothing store. I did my best to try to sell myself in the cover letter (how well I handle responsibility, interact with customers and coworkers, etc.) and tried to explain that I was looking for long-term employment. No call backs, but my "sample size" was pretty low. 😛. I had applied for some academic positions, but I was not as qualified as they requested and received no call backs.

I was told that if I omit my education off of my resume, I may have more luck at getting an interview. Apparently, if someone reads that I Biology degree, they will automatically assume that I will quit the job to go back to school or quit because a job in my field has come up. So why bother interviewing me?

I am proud of my education and am extremely hesitant to leave key pieces of information like that off of my resume.

Any thoughts or advice?

 

[Emiloo4]

Hi all!

I wanted to get an opinion on this.

I've recently been told that if I want a chance at gaining employment at a minimum wage job (fast food, retail, waitress, etc.) that I should leave information related to my education off of my resume.

Just a little bit of background on me:

Graduated with a BSc Honours (which means I undertook a research project, presented it, wrote a thesis and had at least a 75% average upon graduating)
Worked in 3 academic jobs
Did a lot of volunteer work related to the field I want to go into (vet med)

Other information: worked in fast food on and off for 5 years. Did some volunteering not related to academics.

I have a feeling that I will be looking for work come September. I have already discovered that jobs in my field are difficult to come by. I need to pay off some of my debt, so I will be leaping at any opportunity to work.

Before landing my current job, I applied for a cell phone company, a coffee shop and a clothing store. I did my best to try to sell myself in the cover letter (how well I handle responsibility, interact with customers and coworkers, etc.) and tried to explain that I was looking for long-term employment. No call backs, but my "sample size" was pretty low. 😛. I had applied for some academic positions, but I was not as qualified as they requested and received no call backs.

I was told that if I omit my education off of my resume, I may have more luck at getting an interview. Apparently, if someone reads that I Biology degree, they will automatically assume that I will quit the job to go back to school or quit because a job in my field has come up. So why bother interviewing me?

I am proud of my education and am extremely hesitant to leave key pieces of information like that off of my resume.

Any thoughts or advice?

I'm not gonna lie... I did this. When I graduated I couldn't find ****e the first few months and I had no one to help me with bills. I took my degree off my resume and was offered several positions. Call me whatever you want, but I had to do what I had to do. Employers don't want to hire someone that will walk away as soon as they find something better... at least that's what I was told, and it worked for me

 

[Abnerrs]

I agree with Em. If you need a job, you do what you have to do, and I have always heard employers don't like to hire "overqualified" people. I have heard for a few reasons. The people will think the work is beneath them or because the employee will leave for something better ASAP.

 

[Camelidcrazy]

Can I tell you that I helped with the hiring for a biotech company when I was a supervisor and know for a fact that several managers suggested we hire high school graduates without college degrees to increase their longevity with the company (not to mention they could offer lower pay)? These were highly skilled technical jobs and it was pretty disgusting to hear these suggestions when I personally busted my hump for my degree.

I'm sure this isn't the case all around. The company I worked for had some very sketchy business practices in general. I think not all employers look negatively at hiring 'underemployed' individuals. But the mentality definitely exists and you should make your decision on a case by case basis. For example, maybe keep applying for the positions in the field you want with your full resume but omit some of your 'irrelevant' experience (eg Bachelors degree) for the lower level positions. Everyone's gotta eat.

Good luck!

 

[orca2011]

I definitely think I got turned down from jobs at some places that had a minimum requirement for a high school diploma or GED because I have a B.S. in Biology. My mom even told me that I most likely didn't get called back because I had a degree despite basically lying in interviews saying I had no idea what I wanted to do with it, even though I knew I'd be going to vet school starting fall 2013. It totally sucks because while I understand why they do it, I think it's stupid at the the same time.

Honestly, if you feel it needs to be taken off, do it and see what happens. Can't remain unemployed with the debt from undergrad that a lot of us already carry.

 

[Trematode]

It's just crappy to think that I may have been turned down because I am educated. That sounds like a form of discrimination. Personally, I would rather hire someone overqualified than some who does not have an education. I know I am not looking forward to working a shift made up of 15-21 year olds that are rude, lazy and gossipy at work. .

Thanks for the advice. I wasn't sure what to do in this situation. I had thought that omitting important information like schooling and most recent employment was frowned upon.

All of my jobs since 2010 have been academic. Do I just omit them from my resume and pretend I have been unemployed for 2 years? Or do I word my job descriptions differently to downplay on the fact I was a research assistant, student researcher and summer intern.

 

[StartingoverVet]

It's just crappy to think that I may have been turned down because I am educated. That sounds like a form of discrimination. Personally, I would rather hire someone overqualified than some who does not have an education. I know I am not looking forward to working a shift made up of 15-21 year olds that are rude, lazy and gossipy at work. .

Thanks for the advice. I wasn't sure what to do in this situation. I had thought that omitting important information like schooling and most recent employment was frowned upon.

All of my jobs since 2010 have been academic. Do I just omit them from my resume and pretend I have been unemployed for 2 years? Or do I word my job descriptions differently to downplay on the fact I was a research assistant, student researcher and summer intern.

There is no such thing as "discrimination" due to being educated. It is not protected under law.

So if companies have experience that college grads are more difficult, don't last as long, or don't work as well, then they are completely justified to do so.

And omitting information from a resume is not lying. You can do that as well. Just be prepared for questions about what you did during the 4 years you were in college. Not everyone hiring is a *****.

Good luck.

 

[sooprnova]

Leave it off so you can get hired. Omitting it doesn't take the degree away from you, and it doesn't make it mean any less. The purpose of a resume is to put you in the best light possible for the hiring manager.

I did the majority of hiring for my location of my company for a few years, and I was hesitant to hire those with tons of experience or those who just came from a higher level position. Even though the economy was/is in the tank, it was my experience that those people had significantly lower job satisfaction and they were more likely to leave within a year, meaning we would just waste time and training resources on them.

When I left my first career to go back to school NOBODY would hire me. I was applying to sling lattes with six years of upper level management experience on my resume. I finally sucked it up and downplayed a lot of my experience, left off some key responsibilities, and viola, started getting callbacks and interviews.

Understand that your resume is not you. You have done amazing things and busted your tail to get a killer degree - leaving that off of your resume doesn't mean it didn't happen!

Good luck!

 

[bbeventer]

I agree with everyone else. A resume isn't supposed to be inclusive anyways. So if you need to leave off your B.S. to get a job, do it.

It is funny I just saw this happen to one of my friends, she was having trouble getting a job because she was over qualified with a B.S.

Good Luck Trematode!!

 

[Trematode]

Thank you all!

 

[LetItSnow]

I am proud of my education and am extremely hesitant to leave key pieces of information like that off of my resume.

Any thoughts or advice?

Sure. I mean this gently, but: Is the point of the resume to highlight every accomplishment in your life, or to get you an interview/job?

I'm not saying you shouldn't be proud of your education. But that doesn't mean you have to promote it at every opportunity. A resume should be highly tailored to the job for which you're applying. If it makes sense to leave it off, then you should.

Remember that the only 'key pieces of information' on a resume are the pieces that the potential EMPLOYER thinks are 'key pieces of information'.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Sure. I mean this gently, but: Is the point of the resume to highlight every accomplishment in your life, or to get you an interview/job?

I'm not saying you shouldn't be proud of your education. But that doesn't mean you have to promote it at every opportunity. A resume should be highly tailored to the job for which you're applying. If it makes sense to leave it off, then you should.

Remember that the only 'key pieces of information' on a resume are the pieces that the potential EMPLOYER thinks are 'key pieces of information'.

👍 Smart old man is SMART!

One of the first things I was taught about resume writing is that it is not (as most people do) one size fits all.

You shouldn't just write a resume and send it to a ton of places.
You should write a resume for each place that you apply, making sure to include what will make you most attractive to your employer.

It is all about marketing, just like your PS, or your interview, etc.

Too many people have this rigid sense of what is the "right" way to do things. Screw that. I guarantee their "right" changes when expediency demands it..

oops... i am ranting... must stop..... <end rant>

 

[Tonkamoo]

One more reply agreeing with most of the posts above. Your resume should be tailored to the job you are applying to, and portraying you in the best light for that job. The purpose of it is to show why you are qualified.

My first career was in software before starting vet school, thus I have two resumes made up. I have a software resume that highlights my 5 years working in industry and barely mentions anything animal related. I also have an "animal" resume - that highlights all animal experience - volunteering, jobs etc, and really minimizes the software jobs. When I was applying for a vet assistant job I figured the details about the software experience really wasn't relevant or helpful in explaining why I would make a good vet assistant.

Make your resume and cover letter sell yourself!

I wonder if just leaving out your major, but including the degree would help at all? Then at least you wouldn't have a 4 year gap on your timeline.

 

[Trematode]

Got a question:
I am thinking of applying to a vet clinic. My resume is slightly too long since I added my newest job. I up-played my veterinary experience. I downplayed my fast food experienced (just put that I worked at DQ in these areas at these dates).

Wondering if my research should be up-played or downplayed. For one of my jobs, I used microscopy and attempted some historical techniques which I feel is relevant to a vet job. The rest of the stuff: apple and grape genetics and molecular biology, I feel can be left off.

 

[Trematode]

I think I am confused because I was always told to include everything much as possible to "sell myself" to an employer. Thats why leaving big accomplishments off seemed barbaric to me. I understand what I have to do now though.

 

[LetItSnow]

Got a question:
I am thinking of applying to a vet clinic. My resume is slightly too long since I added my newest job. I up-played my veterinary experience. I downplayed my fast food experienced (just put that I worked at DQ in these areas at these dates).

Wondering if my research should be up-played or downplayed. For one of my jobs, I used microscopy and attempted some historical techniques which I feel is relevant to a vet job. The rest of the stuff: apple and grape genetics and molecular biology, I feel can be left off.

I think I'd emphasize it.

Length isn't TOO big of a deal, as long as there's a good reason for the length. It's when it starts to feel like "Ok, this person is just adding stuff to make it longer" that it gets super annoying. I used to round-file those resumes without a second thought when I was hiring - it just gets so tiring to go through hundreds. Probably missed some great candidates that way, but oh well. All my hires did fine.

 

[Bracco Pointer]

Trematode, I think especially if you are applying to a vet clinic as a pre-vet (rather than just to have a paying job), then the research is important. The vet will look at your resume and think "oh, wow, Trema knows what she wants and is willing to work for it."

 

[nyanko]

I wouldn't devote too much space to the technical aspect of the research for a clinic job resume, personally. And this is coming from a research-oriented person. Those technical skills are pretty unimportant for a clinic job. The technical skills from working in other clinics/with animals are what's important.

The important thing about the research from the clinic's standpoint is what your actual independent intellectual contribution to it was. That says more about your potential as a mentee of sorts for the veterinarian, which is more along the lines of what a pre-vet veterinary assistant in a clinic should be. Yes, you need to do the tech stuff to get paid, but if they're going to evaluate you for vet school admissions they want to see that you're willing and able to go beyond those things. And the scientific thinking that goes along with research will more closely represent that desire than talking about how you extracted DNA and made slides and set up PCR and gels and stuff.