The simple answer is yes. But being “overqualified” is seen as a bad thing, not because someone “overqualified” will perform too well, but because they are expected to be dissatisfied with the job.
Granted, a person who is “overqualified” will generally learn their job in a minimal time. They will also outperform most “average” candidates, as they may offer suggestions on how to improve the processes associated with their job.
So, the concept of being overqualified is more of a perception issue. Overqualified generally means you have more experience or education than what the specific position r
Continue Reading
The simple answer is yes. But being “overqualified” is seen as a bad thing, not because someone “overqualified” will perform too well, but because they are expected to be dissatisfied with the job.
Granted, a person who is “overqualified” will generally learn their job in a minimal time. They will also outperform most “average” candidates, as they may offer suggestions on how to improve the processes associated with their job.
So, the concept of being overqualified is more of a perception issue. Overqualified generally means you have more experience or education than what the specific position requires. No more, no less.
- The idea is you have a entry level position, and someone with 20 years experience applies. Technically the person is overqualified, in the sense it’s entry-level, when means you are paying for someone with minimum training and no experience, but getting more for your dollar.
- This would also apply in the case of an experienced manager taking an lower-level supervisor position.
Same is true with professional positions. I was looking for engineering positions, and yet took technician jobs so I could pay my bills. I was overqualified for the technician positions, because they required a two-year degree and I had started working on my Master’s degree.
So what is the problem? Dissatisfaction on several levels.
- First, their immediate supervisor may not have the same qualifications that the candidate. That always works out so well!
- Second, sometimes a overqualified candidate will join an organizations with hopes of moving up the ladder, once a suitable open arises. Many companies prefer to promote within, so in this case it can be a win-win. However, sometimes that occurs way too slowly, and that is where the issues begin…
- Overqualified individuals may jump ship when a better offer arises. That is the chief concern of the hiring manager, and quite frankly it is legitimate. They will have to repeat their whole hiring exercise yet again…
I think some balance is in order. I have been overqualified for several of my jobs, and have left those companies after a years or so. But I also left them with many accomplishments that benefited them for years after I left.
Here is how many of us feel when in that boat….
Overqualified. Mis-qualified. Under-qualified. Unqualified.
It’s more about how the Venn diagram looks between the candidate and the work to be done, and less about some “vertical” direction.
“Overqualified” implies that something about a job is linear, and some people are too far up that line to do the job. It is a term I think many millennials use when they discover that the degree they got for “following their passion” doesn’t track to any job that matches their idea of what life would be like in the workforce. “Misqualified” seems to cover most of the situations where this comes up.
“Misquali
Continue Reading
Overqualified. Mis-qualified. Under-qualified. Unqualified.
It’s more about how the Venn diagram looks between the candidate and the work to be done, and less about some “vertical” direction.
“Overqualified” implies that something about a job is linear, and some people are too far up that line to do the job. It is a term I think many millennials use when they discover that the degree they got for “following their passion” doesn’t track to any job that matches their idea of what life would be like in the workforce. “Misqualified” seems to cover most of the situations where this comes up.
“Misqualified” implies that you have skills that have low overlap with the job. If the job is to build a bridge over a creek, experience running an astronomical observatory (“overqualified”) is as irrelevant as experience mopping floors in a bakery (underqualified).
I’ve taken pay cuts greater than 40% twice. Those were two of the best decisions of my life. But boy, were they hard to sell to the decision-makers in the companies where I wanted to work.
In my last job, the interview process focused on overqualification. I had been senior vice president responsible for HR and a bunch of other functions at an S&P 500 company. I was applying for a job as head of HR in an 80-person research company in the same field. The exec team interviewing me was worried that I would want a lot of support staff, couldn’t do things on my own, etc. They were worried that their salary didn’t match my old one, or that I’d be phoning it in rather than coming to work daily because of a long commute. None of that happened.
My experience was that I was mis-qualified in some significant ways. Not fatally mismatched, but enough to make the job extremely challenging, in ways that were not particularly uplifting or educational.
I straightened out some confusing, expensive and mismanaged organizational situations while I was there, and got good performance reviews from a great boss. But, differences in the amount of outsourcing at that company versus my prior company created some challenging situations.
Also, the founding CEO was in a sustained struggle with the board, which retained a lot of VC’s from the company’s founding. The path to Product #1 was, as always in pharma, longer and more costly than foreseen. I was in the crossfire every year at budget time, and never felt I’d done a particularly good job, because of the opacity and hostility between board and CEO.
Most asked Question related to Can you be overqualified for a job? :
- What-are-some-career-options-after-economics-honors?
- What-are-some-jobs-that-American-workers-are-not-willing-to-take-and-foreigners-are-needed-to-brought-in-Why-do-American-workers-refuse-to-rake-these-jobs?
- My-age-is-30-years-and-1-day-Am-I-eligible-for-a-government-job-with-an-age-limit-of-30-years?
- Is-it-possible-to-prepare-for-the-GATE-while-doing-jobs-in-Wipro-for-core-students?
- What-does-an-intern-at-Sequoia-Capital-do-How-does-one-apply-for-this-position?
- What-is-the-single-most-important-job-in-society-today-What-would-life-be-like-without-it?
- Which-is-currently-the-most-lucrative-branch-of-finance-in-which-to-begin-a-career?
- What-jobs-pay-over-100k-without-a-degree?
- Are-men-really-better-cooks-than-women-Who-are-better-cooks-men-or-women?
- Is-it-possible-for-me-to-apply-get-a-job-in-Germany-when-I-do-not-know-their-language?
- Does-Google-hire-mechanical-engineers-What-should-one-study-to-end-up-as-a-mechanical-engineer-in-Google?
- How-long-before-AI-takes-over-all-coding-jobs-I-know-Its-a-controversial-question-My-guess-is-20-years-max-before-human-developers-disappear-What-do-you-guys-think-and-why?
- What-are-the-best-possible-jobs-for-someone-who-is-extremely-intelligent-but-extremely-lazy?
- How-does-Bill-Gates-still-have-so-many-billions-in-net-worth-and-is-still-the-second-richest-person-in-the-world-when-he-is-also-giving-his-billions-away?
- How-can-a-Canadian-PR-holder-get-a-job-before-moving-to-Canada?
- What-fields-of-work-should-someone-with-Aspergers-syndrome-not-make-a-career-out-of?
- What-is-your-dream-job-Why-is-that-your-dream-job?
- Whats-more-valuable-a-certification-in-IT-or-a-bachelors-or-higher-in-computer-science-and-IT?
- What-are-the-best-ways-to-become-a-traveller-by-profession?
- At-what-age-do-people-usually-begin-work-in-your-country?
- How-much-money-can-I-earn-from-my-published-application-in-the-Google-Play-store?
- What-is-the-scope-of-mechanical-engineering-fields-in-Dubai?
- Which-are-the-government-sector-jobs-for-an-electronics-and-communication-engineer?
- What-is-a-job-creator?
- If-everyone-wants-job-experience-how-do-people-get-their-first-job?
- How-do-I-find-a-reliable-consultancy-for-jobs-in-Pune?
- Im-18-and-want-to-live-in-Japan-What-would-be-a-good-career-to-pursue?
- How-can-I-make-as-much-as-500-per-day-without-having-to-do-so-much?
- Can-I-get-a-job-with-only-HTML?
- Is-it-a-wise-decision-to-quit-your-job-without-having-another-job-in-hand?