You ever find yourself at a bar, say in New York City and overhear someone say, “I’m in finance,” in a feeble attempt to woo a member of the fairer sex?

That pickup line also works on your resume as well. At my business school, we were told/encouraged to change our concentration to fit the job we were applying for. If it’s in New York, put down ‘global finance’, if it’s overseas then ‘global consulting’ fits the bill. Is it deception on the applicant’s part or ignorance on that of HR who cannot comprehend that the designation MBA should mean that the candidate is competent to handle a role that requires knowledge across a variety of disciplines. That is not to say that HR shouldn’t be wary of the non HRables, the idiots in the applicant pool, who bring no value besides understanding the hustle of writing a polished resume. Nevertheless, applicants shouldn’t have to spend time strategically plotting which concentration matches up nicely with each job post. The credibility should come from the oversold, undervalued, though much coveted three letters of M-B-A.

What do you think? Is the MBA worthless, is HR too caught up with buzzwords, or are applicants trying too hard to morph themselves into the mythical ideal candidate?