— A Crisis Growing in India’s Job Market**
Open any job portal today and you’ll see something surprising — people are no longer choosing careers; careers are choosing them.
Or worse… job descriptions are deciding who people pretend to be.
This is one of the most silent but serious career crises happening in India.
When Opportunity Drives Career — Not Competency
A classic example:
A professional who worked as an SQL Developer loses his job due to market slowdown.
He searches for openings and notices:
- Few SQL developer jobs
- Plenty of openings for ETL Testing, QA Testing, SQL Testing
Instead of building new skills, he edits his resume, adds “ETL Testing experience,” and starts applying.
Why?
Because survival pushes him to follow opportunity, not his real expertise.
It’s not just him. Thousands do the same:
- Developers turning into testers overnight
- Testers adding DevOps keywords
- Freshers adding “2 years internship experience”
- Candidates rewriting profiles based purely on trending roles
This isn’t ambition —
this is desperation shaped by the modern job market.
The Bigger Problem: Recruiters & Systems Encourage It
Recruiters often reject great talent because:
- The exact keywords are missing
- The JD is vague or wrongly written
- ATS/AI only picks keyword-matching resumes
- Hiring managers expect “readymade candidates”
- “Relevant experience only” filters eliminate skilled resources
So what do candidates do?
They adjust resumes to survive the algorithm.
Not to showcase their talent.
This creates an industry where:
✔ Good candidates get rejected
✔ Average candidates get shortlisted
✔ Companies hire mismatched talent
✔ Productivity drops
✔ Attrition rises
✔ Trust breaks
✔ Skill quality lowers
All because the system values matching resumes, not matching capability.
**Is This the Right Way to Build a Career?
Absolutely Not.**
Changing a resume may get an interview…
but it won’t build a future.
A career must be built on:
- strength,
- passion,
- competence,
- and long-term growth.
But today’s job market forces candidates to chase immediate opportunity, not sustainable career paths.
The result?
- People feel stuck in roles they never wanted
- Talent goes unused
- Mental stress increases
- Job satisfaction drops
- Companies end up with under-prepared employees
This is not just a hiring issue.
It’s a national workforce challenge.
Whose Fault Is This?
It is a collective responsibility:
1. Companies
Should define clear, realistic JDs and value capability, not keyword-matching.
2. Recruiters
Should evaluate candidates beyond ATS and strict checklists.
3. Candidates
Should be honest about skills and focus on learning, not shortcutting.
4. AI & ATS Tools
Should evolve from keyword search to capability mapping.
5. Education & Training Ecosystem
Must guide students about sustainable career building, not just job hunting.
What Should Job Seekers Do Instead of Keyword-Editing Resumes?
Here are healthier approaches:
✔ Learn the skill properly before applying
Don’t impersonate — upgrade.
✔ Build a career roadmap
Decide where you want to be 5 years from now.
✔ Showcase transferable skills
Problem-solving, logic, domain knowledge, communication — these matter.
✔ Use projects to prove learning
GitHub, case studies, portfolio — all help more than edited resumes.
✔ Be honest with recruiters
Truth builds trust. Trust builds opportunity.
What Should Companies Do?
- Hire for potential, not only experience
- Consider candidates with solid fundamentals
- Avoid over-engineered job descriptions
- Train and mentor hires
- Respect cross-skill transitions
- Reduce dependency on keyword-based AI filters
A great company builds people —
not just identifies them.
True Career Growth Comes from Strength, Not Strategy
Yes, times are tough.
Yes, opportunities are uneven.
But rewriting a resume to match a trend is like building a home on sand — it won’t last.
Real growth happens when:
- passion meets skill,
- skill meets consistency,
- and consistency meets opportunity.
A job can be temporary.
But a career must be intentional.
Let Careers Be Built, Not Fabricated
When job seekers pretend to be someone else to fit into a JD,
and when companies rely on keywords instead of human potential —
we all lose.
It is time India moves from:
🔸 Keyword selection → Capability selection
🔸 Opportunity-based careers → Strength-based careers
🔸 Survival mindset → Growth mindset
A resume should reflect who you are,
not what the market forces you to become. – 4esind.com
