Can I omit certain work experience while searching for jobs?

Question

I have been working in a software product development company for the past seven years. And prior to that I had 9 months of experience in another company.

Now I am looking for a job, but my experience is too high (actually I haven't learnt as much as my work experience indicateds, and my salary is also very smaller than what's expected).

So can I omit my work experience with related technology on my resume? I am not going to hide everything. I plan on reducing my working experience to something like 5 years. Will it be accepted?

Answer 1

So can I deduce my work experience with related technology on my resume.

Usually you want to customize your resume according to the type of job you seek. This means you include only the things you wish to show and also make each one stand out the way you think better.

If you want to apply for a position of, say a Python web developer job, then your resume should focus more on your experience and knowledge about that subject and focus less on other not-so related things (i.e. in this case, past experience on sales and marketing).

You can surely do whatever you want with your resume, but willingly omitting too much experience on a topic in your resume may not be so recommended. Your deception may become evident if they do some research on your profile, and that may compromise your application.

They may also become aware of that once/if you are hired and your overqualified skills start showing. You may decide to try hide those skills or deliberately work slowly, but I doubt if it is worth the effort.

In any case, I suggest you include only related experience and refrain from including too much details on them. This way they may consider you less overqualified and give you better chances. On interviews that follow you can truthfully (preferably) enhance or clarify any other details regarding the nature of your experience they may want to know.

Edit: You indicate now that you plan to leave out 2 years of experience. It is up to you to decide if that is "too much" to safely remove it. Personally, I would leave it untouched. I think it's safer to omit the 9 months on the other company than 2 years in the most recent one (more likely they will check you last job).

Answer 2

So can I omit my work experience with related technology on my resume?

Yes.

You can always choose to omit any work experience you choose from your resume.

If it leaves a gap, be prepared to explain what you did in that time frame. That said, omitting a 9 month job over 7 years ago is unlikely to attract any attention.

I'm not sure why this would make you look more favorable to an employer (I'd leave it in), but you can certainly omit it if you prefer.

Answer 3

So can I omit my work experience with related technology on my resume?

You can, but I would not recommend doing so.

Be careful if you choose to go the route of leaving an employer off your resume/application. If your potential employer so desires, they may run a background check which might show the company your attempting to hide. At that point your integrity has been compromised. Then come the uncomfortable questions as to why this information wasn't disclosed, and it may come across that you are lying.

I suggest you always be honest, and have your resume be an true reflection of your work experience. This way you can avoid any awkward conversations as to why you left out a certain employer.