You go through sending your resume, following up and being a good overall job seeker. And then you get to the part where the hiring manager or the recruiter gives you feedback regarding why you weren’t considered for a job. As Dano writes:
“can you tell me what does the phrase “you are over qualified†mean? i have been trying to find employment through a staffing co and after three interviews. this is what the staffing co. told me. i did not get the job. is this a red flag for future interviews??? “
I can tell you what I mean when I say that. Pats got it mostly right: it is an issue of fit. I wouldn’t hire a VP of Sales to mop the floors (however much I would enjoy the sight). You want someone who will like the job, who will do well, and who will stay (i.e. not turnover). People within the range of experience (and not above or below) do the best. That’s why we develop, test and use job descriptions. But there is a dirty side to this comment as well.
Some HR people, in a moment of sympathy for a job seeker they have to reject, will use it as a compliment or a “poo poo” phrase. It’s to make you leave without them feeling guilty or you feeling angry. You can tell this is the case if the jobs you are applying to seem to be well within the range of your experience. If that is the case, try to think of other things that might have happened throughout the process that could have influenced the decision.
To give you a real life example, my father applied for a job after many years of owning his own business. He was staying in the same industry but it was a demotion of sorts from a business owner. He was told the overqualified bit several times before he finally got a job. And guess what? Those people that said he was overqualified (i.e. not a good fit) were right. He didn’t last more than a couple years before he started his own business again.
As a side note, welcome to all the new visitors to this website. I have received a bit of an influx this week and while I am not sure where it is coming from, I am hoping that this site is useful for you. Please contact me if you have any questions.
July 26, 2006 at 12:58 pm
Your hit increase is probably because you’ve been featured on MY.Yahoo.com. That’s how I found you. Nice site…
July 26, 2006 at 1:23 pm
I also saw your site on Yahoo. I’m an HR professional and get a kick out of the threads. Keep them coming.
July 26, 2006 at 2:01 pm
Your blog was featured on My Yahoo homepage this week, so I clicked the link. I’m having some issues w/my immediate manager, and your blog immediately peaked my interest. Unfortunately, I did not see any posts that were related to my situation, but I’ll keep checking…
July 26, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Yeah, I saw it on Yahoo too and was an HR professional for a few years as well… this is great! Love seeing your feedback!
July 26, 2006 at 2:27 pm
All good to hear. Thanks folks!
July 26, 2006 at 2:39 pm
Yes, I found it on Yahoo too.
…..back to the overqualified guy and things that make you say hmmmm– Might it possibly mean that your salary requirements are too high and they’s rather select someone slightly less qualified, yet capable and not require the high end of a salary range?
July 26, 2006 at 2:40 pm
Yes, I found it on Yahoo too.
…..back to the overqualified guy and things that make you say hmmmm– Might it possibly mean that your salary requirements are too high and they’d rather select someone slightly less qualified, yet capable and not require the high end of a salary range?
July 27, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Hey HR Guy,
I’m a former HR person too. How did you get featured on My Yahoo? that’s where I found you too
July 27, 2006 at 10:03 pm
Yeah, this was on my My Yahoo! too, I clicked on one thread & spent about an hour reading. I like it! Am a lowly payroll clerk but no harm in learning some HR stuff. Thanks for the site.
July 29, 2006 at 7:49 pm
As an HR generalist, I have certainly passed on applicants due to overqualification. What I have found to be the hardest thing for rejected applicants to grasp is that just because they will “take anything” does not mean that they can “do anything” or that they will “stay anywhere” – and THAT’S the issue. Sure, I bet that many candidates with multiple years of experience and advanced skills would have accepted the entry level positions I didn’t offer them, when they were desperate for a foot in the door with my company or when they have been unemployed for months…and they may have done well in the positions – for a little while. However, that desperation goes away fast…and then what? A bored employee who feels underpaid due to his past experience and qualifications. No thank you! Not good for the candidate, not good for my company.
December 11, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Happy Holidays!
Marvin
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January 26, 2009 at 8:39 am
I was unemployed for 1.5 years, and was desperate for employment other than delivering pizza – a pretty low position for someone with 2 undergraduate degrees and an MBA. I would gladly have taken a 50% cut from my former job for one with less reponsibility but still using some of the old skills that I had, just to 0get in the door and be able to pay some bills. My current job, after 3.5 years, still pays 21% less than the one I was laid off from, has fewer responsibilities, and lets me work and use my skills. I love it so much that if someone offered me a 30% increase over my current salary, I would turn it down. I love this place, because they weren’t worried about me being over-qualified, and it’s a great place to work. They looked at me and my pertinent, useful qualifications. They did not look at any supposed over-qualifications, because those were irrelevant. We have both benefitted tremendously – I love my job, I won’t consider leaving because they have shown me so much respect and because I know that their goal is to benefit both themselves and me and to look for ways to simultaneously improve my career and the services that I provide for them. Please approach hiring people based on whether they have enough qualifications, and ignore whether they might be overqualified. Do what was suggested above – be honest and tell people the real reason(s) they weren’t hired, and don’t cop out with the “you’re over-qualified” nonsense. It’s impossible to be overqualified – you either have the necessary experience and skills, or you don’t. If you have more than the required minimum, then you’re qualified, not over-qualified, and all the better for the hiring employer. Stepping off a cliff (being a former technical team lead to being a pizza delivery guy) is not what should be required. Stepping down – from technical team lead to analyst – is both palatable and very appreciated by the person whom you’ve hired who is otherwise supposedly over-qualified.
March 19, 2009 at 2:06 pm
I side with Bruce; there seems to be an incoherent double-standard in many HR recruiters these days. Say that you’ll gladly take a pay cut from your previous job, and you’re seen as desperate and willing to take something better that comes along. Say that you’re merely interested, and you’re seen as over-confidant and willing to take something better that comes along.
The truth is that we ALL WILL TAKE SOMETHING BETTER WHEN IT COMES ALONG! Unless they loved some things about the company over others, most people in their right minds will do so. If a company is so worried to lose its employees in the future, then offer them better benefits. It is completely unrealistic to expect any employee “to just fit” given the nature of the fluctuating market. The question shouldn’t be who’ll stay; the question should be what are you willing to do to find the best people, keep these people interested in working for you, and to maximize their work input? Reading articles like these reminds me how so many HR professionals are not entrepreneurs.
Don’t want that VP to mop your floors? I’ll take him! He could probably do my Accounting while he’s at it, and much much more. Hey, it beats being poor.
April 4, 2009 at 10:41 pm
I also read one interpretation of being “over-qualified” – that you may be too old for the job – which then of course, opens a certain door . . .
October 12, 2010 at 3:55 pm
I find the entire concept of “overqualified” a complete insult to anyone’s intelligence. When did the world become so stupid? Since when is ignorance a virtue? To those useless idiots in HR, tell me, if a family member becomes ill, do you go to a second rate doctor because the best is “overqualified”?
There can be no dumber group of people than HR. What a waste of oxygen.
February 3, 2012 at 2:24 am
Have any of you asked the HR person what ” over-qualified ” means to him ? I did, after several times told I was over-qualified at the best job openings in my area and the best companies,– one said ” your just over-qualified—one said “You know” and trailed off_–but one said to me he would deny ever saying this but “if you were a woman, especially a black woman, I would hire you on the spot ” Apparently over-qualified also refers to certain women now and our veterns of Afgan and Iraq , as their complaints have appeared in newspaper editorials and radio in California, Ohio and Texas that I know of– just in the last 2 weeks !!