Whether through my recruiting endeavors or the private resume services I provide to job seekers, not a week goes by where I donât see the word âexpertâ somewhere on a resume or cover letter. âExpert in $LANGUAGEâ isnât all that uncommon, and today the expression of expertise may also be depicted through a horizontal bar graph where several languages or concepts are rated as âbeginnerâ, âintermediateâ, or (here it comesâŠ) âexpertâ.  PROTIP: Donât use bar graphs to demonstrate knowledge.
When the source is a professional that appears to have deep experience in a subject matter, Iâm not likely to even pause. However, itâs exceedingly rare these days that the claim of expertise comes from someone likely to fit that description. Iâd venture to say I see it from recent graduates and students much more often than experienced technologists, which in itself may demonstrate my point.
There are two significant issues with claiming expertise on a resume or job application.
- The claim demonstrates that you probably donât even understand what expertise would look like. Iâm sure many readers are at least somewhat familiar with the â10,000 Hour Ruleâ claiming that is the required practice time to master a subject. Whether one agrees with that theory or not is irrelevant, as most of those in the programming world would understand that itâs highly unlikely (if not impossible) to become an expert based on an undergraduate curriculum and a couple internships. A claim of expertise related to a robust programming language may even indicate that the source knows so little about the subject as to even be able to recognize what might qualify as expertise.
- You are now a target for people who know more than you do. Iâve seen countless incidents of hiring managers responding with, âSo this one is an expert, eh? Schedule him/her for a phone interview with $BESTDEVELOPER and letâs find out!â when a resume claims expert skills. The claim of expertise has now raised the bar for the interview and evaluation process, and your candidacy will face a much higher level of scrutiny than those who are either more modest or more knowledgeable about their own limitations.
There are better ways to demonstrate expertise than a biased claim or a trendy bar graph. Developers who succeed in coding challenges or provide samples of past work for critique can leave little room for subjective interpretation by employers. Quantifying your experience along with some accomplishments is another way to indicate ability.
Think twice about claiming to be an expert. Youâre usually doing more harm than good.
| Reference: | So You Say Youâre An Expert? from our JCG partner Dave Fecak at the Job Tips For Geeks blog. |
