'When talented people feel the need to ‘botox’ their résumé just to get a fair shot, it tells you something about the system'
More than a quarter of Canadian workers are deliberately downplaying their professional experience on résumés and online profiles to avoid age bias and stay competitive in the job market, a trend that could cause HR professionals to underestimate the true capability and seniority of candidates.
Currently, 28% of Canadian workers are now “botoxing” their résumés – strategically smoothing or omitting parts of their work history – amid concerns that deep experience is increasingly seen as a liability rather than an asset, reports Employment Hero.
Nearly one in three workers admits to downplaying their experience to remain competitive in a shifting job market.
Traditional resumes remain relevant for many Gen Z employees - but not for long, according to a previous report.
Age transparency gap
There is a clear age transparency gap in how Canadians present their qualifications, according to Employment Hero’s survey of over 1,000 Canadian adults, conducted March 11-13, 2026.
The report finds that 67% of workers aged 18–34 would comfortably include their graduation date on a résumé today. That figure drops to 45% for those aged 35–54, and to just 33% among Canadians aged 55 and older who say they would include their graduation year when applying for a new role.
“This reluctance to share educational timelines isn’t just a stylistic choice; it’s a defensive strategy,” the Employment Hero report says.
Among workers who admit to downplaying their background, 41% say they do so specifically to avoid being perceived as overqualified, and another 41% say they want employers to focus on their recent achievements rather than their full career arc.
Fear of ageism spans generations
The behaviour is closely linked to concerns about ageism across age groups, not only among older workers.
Employment Hero’s research shows the difference by generation when it comes to feeling less attractive because of age:
- 29% of workers aged 18–34
- 41% of Canadians aged 35–54
- 77% among workers aged 55 and older.
“When talented people feel the need to ‘botox’ their resume just to get a fair shot, it tells you something about the system,” says KJ Lee, CEO at Employment Hero Canada. “Experience shouldn’t be treated like a liability. The reality is that businesses benefit enormously from people who’ve seen more cycles, solved tougher problems and know how to get things done.”
Employers are sidelining Generation X employees even as they emerge as an essential group of workers when it comes to bridging the gap in multigenerational workplaces, according to a previous report.
Hidden seniority in filtered hiring system
Employment Hero notes that the trend extends beyond traditional paper résumés. The company reports that Canadian workers are “sanitizing their LinkedIn profiles and adjusting their narratives during job interviews” by removing earlier roles or dialling down senior titles to avoid being flagged as “too senior” for particular roles.
The report frames “résumé botox” as a warning sign for employers whose recruitment systems and criteria implicitly filter out experience. If hiring processes are designed to screen out applicants with more than 15 years of experience, Employment Hero argues, organisations are likely missing candidates with advanced problem-solving skills and emotional intelligence – capabilities that are difficult to train and often found among mid- and late-career professionals.
“The best hiring decisions come from looking at what someone can do today and the impact they can have on your business,” says Lee. “If companies filter out candidates simply because their experience looks ‘too long’ on paper, they risk overlooking some of the most capable people in the workforce.”
Solution: Competency-based hiring
To address the issue, Employment Hero urges Canadian employers, particularly small and mid-sized businesses, to be clearer in job descriptions and interviews about how they value experience, and to adopt competency-based hiring models that assess skills and outcomes rather than age or graduation year.
The report calls for training hiring managers to recognise their own biases and for ensuring recruitment technology is used to broaden, rather than narrow, the talent pool.
Employment Hero describes résumé botox as “a rational response to a perceived lack of human nuance in the hiring process” and concludes that “a resume should be a map of a person’s achievements, not a document that requires cosmetic surgery.”
Randstad tells employers that in 2026, “skills-based hiring is what helps you float your boat”.
“When you hire people for their skills, you match verified competencies with your specific business needs,” the HR services firm says in a content posted on its website.
“That means, you look past the brand name of the university that the skill profile graduated from or the years of experience they put in a particular domain. As a result, you scale back your focus on titles and keep a keen eye on their ability to perform a task.”
A recent study by Robert Half shows only five per cent of organizations say they have both the skills and headcount needed to complete high-priority projects in the year ahead, while many hiring managers report noticeable skills gaps and growing difficulty finding the right talent.
