That moment when I realized my resume was lying to me for years

I spent 4 years applying for marketing jobs with this resume I thought was perfect. Then a recruiter in Chicago straight up told me my "project manager" title was actually an administrative assistant gig and every hiring manager knew it. I was using fancy words to hide boring work and it was obvious. Has anyone else had to totally rewrite their resume after getting called out like that?

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1 Comment

alice8082h ago

I read a LinkedIn post from a former recruiter at Google who said she could spot "inflated titles" in under 30 seconds. It made me realize how common that whole game is. You're not alone, a lot of people get told their job was actually something else once they start talking to real industry folks. I think the key is to stop trying to sound fancy and just describe what you actually did each day, even if it sounds boring. That way you're not wasting time (and your own energy) on jobs you're not qualified for anyway. The Chicago recruiter did you a favor honestly, even though it probably hurt to hear.