For
a Degree of Comfort: Degrees Vanish from
CVs
In
a gloomy job market, professionals hide qualifications while applying for jobs
beneath their skills & experience
Back in the US, Viresh S (name
changed) was heading R&D at a pharma company. Laid off when recession hit
the US, he started hunting for a new job at home. He had to do the unthinkable
to get hired by an Indian contract manufacturing firm — conceal the fact that
he was a double PhD and downplay the full extent of his work. He made his CV
lighter and took a massive paycut…but at least, he found a job. Had he painted
the real picture, he wouldn’t have got the job, ruled out as ‘overqualified.’
This is quite a comedown for professionals who are more used to flaunting their many qualifications on their visiting cards, and often, even in wedding invitations. But, it is a new reality in the Indian job market, even as the nation sinks deeper into the throes of an economic slowdown.
James Agrawal, country head of BTI Consultants, the C-level search arm of leading HR firm Kelly Services, recounts two more recent cases: a senior insurance professional who did not mention his second MBA and a manufacturing professional who did not mention a role he handled briefly for a year. Both were applying for jobs beneath their skills and experience. “The ‘understatement phenomenon’ has actually emerged in a big way in the last one year,” he says, estimating that 4-5% of senior-level professionals are ‘dressing down’ their resumes.
Nina Chatrath, senior partner at executive search firm Transearch India, estimates that the number of people underplaying or hiding their qualifications has increased by 50%. “It’s become the need of the market. There are EMIs…family to take care of, you need to remain employable,” she says.
Recruiters say professionals understate resumes by hiding qualifications in unrelated fields, job description and responsibilities in previous jobs that may merit a bigger present-day role, and even their salary or total compensation. In the BPO segment, for instance, most organisations don’t hire MBAs. Hence, many candidates omit it from their resumes. Some BTechs apply as twelfth-grade passouts.
“With the job market slow and uncertain, we see an increase in profiles where people have either downplayed/ reworked on the experience level or have changed their resume to a more functional one,” says Sanjay Pandit, managing director, Manpower India. Understatements Harder to Spot
Manpower is a staffing and placement firm. “It happened during the 2008-09 recession in the US when even very well-qualified people decided to opt for basic jobs. It’s happening now in India as well,” says Randstad India MD & CEO E Balaji.
He says the phenomenon can become bigger since Indian professionals have tended to accumulate degrees and academic qualifications, which mostly remain ornamental in their resume.
Headhunters and recruiters say it is harder to detect when candidates understate their credentials. Exaggerated claims, which were and often still are big problems, are easier to spot.
This poses potential risks for employers. Such professionals may use the job as a temporary stop to tide over the bad phase, only to move out when the market improves, Essar Group President (HR) Adil Malia says. “Organisations do not want to be parking lots.”
Shiv Agrawal, managing director, ABC Consultants, differs: “Anybody can quit a company anytime. So, there is no point getting bothered about a person understating.”
But is this tantamount to cheating? At least one HR chief takes a permissive view. Pradeep Vaishnav, senior director (HR) for drug major Sanofi-Aventis India, feels companies should not bother if the professional has not harmed or impacted the business. “If everything is fine, companies can just regularise their records and forget about it.”
This is quite a comedown for professionals who are more used to flaunting their many qualifications on their visiting cards, and often, even in wedding invitations. But, it is a new reality in the Indian job market, even as the nation sinks deeper into the throes of an economic slowdown.
James Agrawal, country head of BTI Consultants, the C-level search arm of leading HR firm Kelly Services, recounts two more recent cases: a senior insurance professional who did not mention his second MBA and a manufacturing professional who did not mention a role he handled briefly for a year. Both were applying for jobs beneath their skills and experience. “The ‘understatement phenomenon’ has actually emerged in a big way in the last one year,” he says, estimating that 4-5% of senior-level professionals are ‘dressing down’ their resumes.
Nina Chatrath, senior partner at executive search firm Transearch India, estimates that the number of people underplaying or hiding their qualifications has increased by 50%. “It’s become the need of the market. There are EMIs…family to take care of, you need to remain employable,” she says.
Recruiters say professionals understate resumes by hiding qualifications in unrelated fields, job description and responsibilities in previous jobs that may merit a bigger present-day role, and even their salary or total compensation. In the BPO segment, for instance, most organisations don’t hire MBAs. Hence, many candidates omit it from their resumes. Some BTechs apply as twelfth-grade passouts.
“With the job market slow and uncertain, we see an increase in profiles where people have either downplayed/ reworked on the experience level or have changed their resume to a more functional one,” says Sanjay Pandit, managing director, Manpower India. Understatements Harder to Spot
Manpower is a staffing and placement firm. “It happened during the 2008-09 recession in the US when even very well-qualified people decided to opt for basic jobs. It’s happening now in India as well,” says Randstad India MD & CEO E Balaji.
He says the phenomenon can become bigger since Indian professionals have tended to accumulate degrees and academic qualifications, which mostly remain ornamental in their resume.
Headhunters and recruiters say it is harder to detect when candidates understate their credentials. Exaggerated claims, which were and often still are big problems, are easier to spot.
This poses potential risks for employers. Such professionals may use the job as a temporary stop to tide over the bad phase, only to move out when the market improves, Essar Group President (HR) Adil Malia says. “Organisations do not want to be parking lots.”
Shiv Agrawal, managing director, ABC Consultants, differs: “Anybody can quit a company anytime. So, there is no point getting bothered about a person understating.”
But is this tantamount to cheating? At least one HR chief takes a permissive view. Pradeep Vaishnav, senior director (HR) for drug major Sanofi-Aventis India, feels companies should not bother if the professional has not harmed or impacted the business. “If everything is fine, companies can just regularise their records and forget about it.”
WRITANKAR
MUKHERJEE & SREERADHA D BASU ET 120810
No comments:
Post a Comment