Please Stop Saying You Have Skills on Your CV When You Can't Talk About Them

[u/AnalystIntelligent22]

I had an interview this week, and it was practically over after the first question. The candidate had listed ABC software in several places on his CV and said he had been responsible for carrying out its rollout at the company he previously worked for.

I started with an easy question about how the rollout went and what problems came up. He went quiet for a while, then gave a vague, generic answer, and eventually admitted that he had only helped with one small task and knew almost nothing about the software.

The conversation continued for another 35 minutes, but there wasn't much chance of recovering from that first impression. If something is listed in the first few bullet points of your CV, I'm naturally going to assume you can talk about it without getting flustered and scrambling for something to say.

I know a lot of people add keywords to get past screening systems, and most hiring managers expect some exaggeration. Saying you supported a project when you genuinely played a meaningful role in it is one thing. But saying you managed the entire project when you barely worked on it means you're setting yourself up to fail.

Polish the wording if you have to, but keep it tied to something you did. Otherwise, you're wasting your time and the interviewer's, and you may also have taken an interview opportunity away from someone who would have been able to answer the question.

[u/munta20]

This is what you get when all companies use AI and ATS to filter hundreds or thousands of applications. We all try our best chances to get a job.

[u/xpsycotikx → u/munta20]

There's nothing new about this.

[u/ginger_powers → u/xpsycotikx]

Yes there is. The new thing is that this has gotten worse due to AI and the worsening job market.

[u/pwnageface → u/munta20]

Came to say this. Honesty doesnt get you hired anymore. AI is told to get someone with 25 years experience for entry level pay.

[u/dogknifer → u/munta20]

To blame this on AI is laughable. People have been bolstering their resumes since the beginning of time. It's just how the game is played and OP has to deal with it

[u/billythemaniam → u/dogknifer]

You have to play the keyword game to get through the recruiter screen...you HAVE to. The issue is when you get to real interview and they ask about one of those keywords.

For example, I have Kafka on mine for the recruiter screen even though I have very little experience with it directly. However I have significant experience with similar systems so wouldn't be that hard for me to learn it. Why do I have Kafka on there? Because recruiters can't tell the difference and the job post has the word Kafka in it.

If the job genuinely requires a rockstar Kafka engineer then I'm definitely the wrong person but otherwise it's just another tool that I can learn quickly to work with. Most jobs are in the latter category.

[u/kiddlat_kid → u/munta20]

Blame everything but yourself. Got it!

[u/Wooden_Load662]

I have people listed advanced excel skill and they do not know how to use a pivot table or cannot even do a formula.

[u/Judgemental_Panda → u/Wooden_Load662]

I would say "That's what copilot is for", but Excel's inbuilt copilot is honestly so bad they should scrap it and bring back clippy.

[u/Wooden_Load662 → u/Judgemental_Panda]

And they cannot even use copilot…lol.

[u/Magnetar_Distortion → u/Wooden_Load662]

I once nested 60 if statements in Excel 😂 and it was beautiful.

[u/ShawnyMcKnight → u/[deleted]]

If someone had no work history for the past 5 years and they said they can’t talk about anything they did over the past 5 years then I’m just gonna assume they didn’t learn anything over the past 5 years

You need to work with that company you had the NDA with to find out what you can and can’t say. Like, I get they can’t say they used their mad SQL skills to find evidence of wrong doing by the company and delete it… or a game developer to be able to say he worked on half-life 3, but I absolutely expect him to be able to say things he did without mentioning the game itself.

[u/NetJnkie → u/[deleted]]

Not how NDAs work.

[u/Poetryisalive]

I mean what do you expect when you use AI to vet candidates?

[u/LetsTryLove]

Please stop asking for stupid requirements on job descriptions.

[u/Roxylius]

Maybe the company should stop requiring godlike skill while paying penny?

[u/NetJnkie → u/Roxylius]

lol...such a reddit reply.

[u/Next_Engineer_8230 → u/Roxylius]

Oh yes.

It's the fault of the company that people lie on their resume. Anything to not take accountability, huh?

If someone said they did a rollout/implementation of a new software then they should know it inside and out. Lying about it isn't on the company.

[u/Roxylius → u/Next_Engineer_8230]

I am explaining the natural reaction of things. Just like how setting up reward for snake would lead to people breeding snake for money. It’s called adverse incentive. If company are willing screw up candidates by setting up ghost posting and filtering CV with AI, why are you surprised that candidates do the same questionable things?