If you haven’t been on the receiving end of that line, consider yourself lucky. For many suffering through unemployment, that has sadly become all too familiar of a refrain.
Some of the hardest hit in today’s job market are people that had been in upper-management roles. Often, after many salary-less months, they are more than willing to step-back in their career and take a position below what they had before. And when they do, they’re told they are overqualified. In frustration, they might wonder aloud how they are supposed to “unlearn” what they know. If they can do the job better than a merely “qualified” person can, and are willing to do it for less money, why shouldn’t they be allowed to do the job?
Well, there are a few reasons. Primarily, most companies expect the economy to improve and more jobs to start opening up. When that happens, you’ll more than likely take your over-qualifications with you to a better job. They don’t want someone in the position who will be surfing their LinkedIn network all day, they want someone who will be devoted to both the company and the position.
Alternately, even if the economy doesn’t improve and you stay in the position a good many years, you’ll more than likely get bored or tired with it and your productivity will suffer.
But something a lot of people in this position tend to forget is that the person hiring you is mostly terrified that you may have your sights set on their job. The last thing they want is for you to impress their boss who might give you their corner office. It’s easy to forget that you’re not applying to work at a company, but you’re applying to work for someone and that person has foibles, fears and anxieties just like the rest of us do.
Related articles
- Should You Hire An Overqualified Candidate? (theachiever2011.wordpress.com)
- Overqualified? (resumesurvislady.com)
- A More Strategic Approach to Applying for Jobs (money.usnews.com)
