Is your resume too good for that job?

McClatchy Newspapers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Faced with the cruelest job market in years, some unemployed professionals are lowering their standards for the jobs they’re seeking — and even toning down their r sum s to avoid seeming overqualified.

To try to land interviews, they’re mum about master’s degrees they’ve earned and omitting lofty-sounding executive titles. Still others have left out everything from salary histories to the years they graduated to appear more attractive to employers.

Experts say it’s a sign of growing desperation in a tough economy where the national unemployment rate for February was 8.1 percent.

Job openings are scarce, and some employers turn away overqualified candidates, worrying they can’t afford them, or that the new hires will be dissatisfied and move on quickly.

Gerry Kirkland of Fort Mill, S.C.-based Global Recruiters Network said he’s talked to two job seekers in the past month who have listed lower-level titles.

One worked as general manager at a steel manufacturer; his r sum now say “plant manager” or “manufacturing manager,” Kirkland said.

One Charlotte woman, who asked not to be identified, has had two recruiters present her former title as “director” of marketing, rather than “vice president,” thinking the latter would make her seem overqualified, she said.

The woman, who is in her 40s, agreed to ditch the title in hopes of getting an interview and deciding for herself whether the job was a fit, she said.

“Anybody who’s been out of work for a long period of time begins looking for, ‘What can I do to survive?’” said Doug Forrest, a researcher at recruiting firm CEO Inc. “They’re doing what they have to do in order to become employed.”

It’s hard to say whether leaving information off a r sum is unethical. Generally, recruiters say it’s smart to tailor your r sum to different positions and play up the strengths that would be a good match. Omitting details is not considered as serious as inventing qualifications you don’t have.

Barry Wohl of Carolina Custom R sum often discusses with clients the best way to phrase titles and qualifications, he said.

“We don’t want them to look like they’re in that rarefied atmosphere where it looks like there’s very little demand,” he said.

Wohl frequently omits college graduation dates, for instance, so hiring managers can’t immediately tell how long an applicant has been in the work force.

He has worked with at least one client who left out his master’s degree.

“The feeling would be that they just did not want to appear too educated or like they would require a higher salary,” he said.

Employers have mixed opinions on toned-down r sum s. Sandy Cranford, director of hiring for the amusement park Carowinds, which is filling more than 2,100 seasonal jobs this year, said she hasn’t seen applicants toning down r sum s.

She said she has seen candidates with MBAs apply there.

Tough job market or not, most recruiters and r sum experts don’t advise clients to tone down their r sum s.

“You should never apologize for your experience and skills,” said Bill Reading of King Career Consultants. “Our advice is to be somewhat patient.”