Work and Income has been asked to explain claims that it told a woman to “dumb down” her CV to boost her chances of landing a job.
Napier woman Natalie Meehan said she was told to delete reference to her political science degree and apply for jobs at Pak’n Save supermarket and fast-food outlet KFC.
Work and Income has confirmed its staff suggested she remove reference to the degree.
The advice has “mortified” Ms Meehan, who says Work and Income staff feared potential employers would be intimidated by her CV. “I am really proud of my achievements and I don’t want to delete them. I’m just a kid wanting to start my career and that wasn’t the kind of advice I was expecting. I was told to make my CV look like I had no skills.”
Full article from Stuff
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Sadly, while this is an extreme example, jobseekers know this to be commonplace. People are told they are “overqualified” - if they even get a response.
It is especially difficult for older people, people returning from overseas and new migrants - people with impressive career records but who cannot get past HR idiots. These goofs are most concerned that the candidate will quickly leave for a better position (if its a good organisation there is always space for a good person and they’ll be able to contribute quickly) or will expect very high pay (often the candidate is quite realistic about their market price).
There is no “skills shortage” in NZ. The real problem is HR policies. HR people hire the low risk person, not the best person for the job.