It's ok to omit the masters degree from your resume if it helps your chances, writes Jim Bright.


Louise from Sydney has problems with being overqualified.

She writes: "Hiring a master-degree candidate means an employer has to pay more than hiring a diploma or bachelor-degree qualified person. Secondly, a candidate like me with a masters degree is overqualified for many junior positions, in particular, reception work.

It was suggested not to mention this degree but how can I explain what I did during these two years? I want to be honest and I never regret studying as I learnt so much. But I just cannot get anywhere if I put it on my CV."



The issue of being overqualified is one that regularly raises its head. The frequency at which this issue recurs suggests to me there is either a very real problem here or the belief that you can be too qualified for a role is a more widespread myth than the kidney snatchers lurking in nightclubs.

I ran into this problem myself in the late 1990s when a prominent owner of a recruitment company told me proudly he would never employ a PhD-qualified candidate (because they found problems with solutions rather than solutions to problems).

His view, I discovered, was based on a tiny sample of negative personal hiring experiences. Ironic really, given his company's central business proposition was removing personal biases from the selection process!

Part of the problem for Louise is to work out whether she is getting genuine feedback from employers about her qualifications or whether she is being given the kiss off.

When someone is rejected for a position, it is not unlike being dumped in a relationship – both parties are groping around for a plausible narrative that explains what has happened.

The dumper, or employer, wants to move on and avoid any long, drawn-out entanglements and they also want to avoid legal action.

With these factors in mind, it is hardly surprising the easy way is to reject the candidate by flattering them with comments about their qualifications.

The rejected person, in trying to make sense of all of this, can often end up clinging to superstitions. Behaviourist Burrhus Skinner demonstrated convincingly that you can make pigeons superstitious simply by giving them random positive feedback.

The challenge for the job hunter is to avoid constructing erroneous associations between their behaviour at an interview, their resume or qualifications and the outcome of the selection process.

To put it bluntly, in the same way the dumper ends a relationship by saying "it's me, not you" rather than "you smell", the recruiter may be saying "it's your qualifications" rather than saying "I am having a relationship with the other applicant so I had to give them the job".

Perhaps the most important factor Louise has to remember is the fit between the candidate and the job.
If she is going for roles where a masters degree does nothing to increase the fit, or even reduces it, then she should consider leaving the masters off her resume.

Arguing that "she learnt a lot" cuts no ice – rather, it tends to reinforce the impression that she is seeking the intellectual stimulation offered by a masters degree and hence, would raise genuine questions in the recruiter's mind about whether she would be satisfied doing work that does not require that level of intellectual engagement.

So if Louise is going to go for roles where the qualification reduces the fit, she can explain the two years of her masters degree by listing any voluntary or part-time work she did to support her study (just omit that it was supporting study).

If Louise travelled at all during those two years she could simply (and truthfully) say she spent time travelling between date X and date Y.

Remember my golden rules (from Resumes That Get Shortlisted, Allen and Unwin): "If it increases the fit between you and the job, include it on the resume. If it decreases the fit, omit it."


Jim Bright - Jim Bright is professor of career education and development at ACU National and a partner at Bright and Associates, a career management consultancy. Email him at brightside@jimbright.com