What would you do if$...?$

Jonathan Devereaux graduated with his Bachelor of Commerce but could not find the type of job he wanted

and that matched his qualifications. He was competing for jobs not only with other recent graduates, but

also with people who had been recently laid off because of the economic downturn. He had school loans

that had to be repaid$$and$,$ because he no longer lived at home, he had living expenses to cover. After two

months of rejections, Jonathan was getting desperate and somehow had to earn a living. He decided to

apply for jobs for which he was overqualified in order to improve his financial situation until he could get his

desired job. He applied for several positions, but was turned down because he was considered too qualified.

Jonathan decided to overcome this hurdle by customizing$$or $$stripping$$his r$$sum$.$ When applying

for some jobs, he omitted his degree. When applying for others, he deleted information about academic

awards received in high school and university. He altered his r$$sum$$ to reflect the skills he thought were

relevant to each specific job. He found this ironic as he had been enhancing his r$$sum$$ in an attempt to

impress potential employers. His conscience bothered him and it presented him with a dilemma, but he felt

that he had no other alternative. One job he applied for was to work as a cook in a fast food outlet.

Rosemary Lynch was the manager of the fast$-$food outlet to which Jonathan had applied. She found him

to be very personable and enthusiastic. She glanced over his r$$sum$$ quickly and did not notice anything

unusual. Few skills were necessary to be a cook in the fast$-$food outlet and she thought he could be trained

very quickly. She was about to call to offer him the job when one of the staff approached and asked to have

a word with her. The staff member said that she had seen Jonathan around the university and thought that

he had graduated last year. This information presented Rosemary with a dilemma and caused her to rethink

the job offer.

What is your advice to Jonathan and Rosemary?