Let us remember, the primary purpose of a resume is to get the applicant in the door for a personal interview. In a nutshell, that is what applicants should be tailoring their resume to achieve. (Later it serves as a reference point on which an employer can base targeted interview questions.) Properly written it will help the applicant land an interview, not a job. The interview is where the job is earned.

While I completely understand the argument pertaining to fit and happiness, the person/environment match should be assessed by both the employer and the applicant IN THE INTERVIEW. This is the appropriate place where skills and job responsibilities are illuminated and discussed.

Let’s hypothesize that Ahmad leaves his accounting skills off his resume because he dearly wants to focus on marketing and stay far away from accounting due to burnout. Let’s us also hypothesize that Company A is seeking a marketing manager. When reviewing resumes for the marketing manager position the search chairperson finds several applicants with similar marketing experiences to Ahmad. However, there are two applicants who also have accounting skills on the resume and one who does not. It just so happens that the marketing manager is part of team of 8. Also on the team are 2 project accountants. One of these accountants is about to go to active duty for a 10 month assignment. The other is recently pregnant. The applicants with accounting experience on their resume are given an interview opportunity while the applicant who left accounting off is not. It seems that having skills that allow cross germination of ideas and language as well as being able to pinch hit for short periods of time in other areas is valued. The applicant who was advised to intentionally leave the accounting skills of the resume is passed up and is not given the opportunity to interview for a position that he may have found a great fit, even with a bit of accounting tossed at him now and again.

The point is you never know what ancillary skills the hiring organization may find valuable. No need to emphasize skills that you want to move away from, but to omit them could be an unwise move. A savvy job hunter will have all guns blazing on the resume to be as targeted and well-rounded as possible. Once landing an interview it can be determined if the hiring organization is going to want to put these skills to use in a way that the job seeker does not desire. It is at this point that a career coach must help a client weigh the issues of values, happiness etcetera.

Also keep in mind that a job search is all about networking. Let’s say an interview is landed because a desirable skill is included on the resume. The interview process shows that the skill the company latched on to is not the applicants area of interest and passion. Fair enough. But who is to say that in the interview process an unexpected outcome of a group interview is someone from another department noticed the applicant, became impressed and knows of a position opening soon and wants the applicant to apply. Stranger things have happened.

Career Development theorist Anne Rowe developed a formula for occupational choice and one of the coefficients is chance. Chance is also a coefficient in the career search. Being in opportunistic places, discovering unknown opportunities (the hidden job market) is all part of the process.

Intentionally leaving marketable skills off the resume has the potential to stifle these opportunities. In a tight job market I fail to see the wisdom in the advice to leave them off.

I do agree with the point that it is not a good idea to apply for positions which you know from the description or your networking are not a good fit because they primarily require skills you possess, but do not wish to utilize. Happiness and personal satisfaction is extremely important and should indeed be weighed heavily into career decisions. At the same time, you do not want to sell yourself short by self-selecting skills to omit when you have no idea if leaving them off may put you at a disadvantage.

Miriam, keep up the great work! Cool topic. I believe Richard may need to re-think his recommendation to omit items. Good luck to everyone in their search.