Ever Heard That You Are “Overqualified”?
Graham Riley
Empowering Job Searches with Executive Personal Branding for CXOs, VPs, Directors, and Managers ?? LinkedIn Branding and Profile Writing ?? Executive Resumes ?? Bios & Curriculum Vitaes ??
Are you hearing that you are “overqualified” for the opportunities you are applying for? If you are then here is an approach to consider.
First, If you’ve ever been left with the impression that a hiring company rejects candidates based upon that candidate being too old, young, tall, short, fat or thin versus a potential shortcoming in their education, training, experience or attitude, this should raise the critical question “Do I REALLY want to work here?”
While “overqualified” may be a euphemism for being too old, young, tall, short, fat or thin, you cannot control the lack of professionalism and integrity of the interviewer.
However, if the rationale for rejection is truly “overqualified,” the interviewer feels that you would not be happy in the role or the compensation is not suitable to your career level. They are simply looking to minimize the expense of staff turnover as soon as something closer to your career aspirations and compensation requirements comes along.
So what can you do to address being truly “overqualified”?
The biggest issue facing ALL organizations today is PROFITABILITY! Focusing on the value you would deliver to a hiring organization, how you would impact their bottom line, can take away concern about your over qualification.
To illustrate, imagine the interviewer saying: “Mr. Smith, I am afraid that you are over qualified in generating profits for your employer. You simply produce too much revenue or you are far too effective in streamlining operations and workflow to minimize costs!”
If you can clearly articulate your value in dollars and cents and show via your resume how you have been instrumental in solving the profitability problem for your previous employers, then you will be sought out and secure an opportunity in a timely manner.
Please do not think that you did not help with profitability in previous roles. If you received a salary or wage then you contributed to profitability either via revenue generation or cost containment in some way. For if you truly did not contribute then you did not have a job – you had a hobby and the money you received was a charity gift!
So let us just remind ourselves of what the word “value” actually means to the hiring manager. The dictionary provides us with 18 definitions. From the multiple definitions of the word, the THREE common elements for at least eight of those definitions are monetary, worth, represented by a figure.
Now, go and look at your LinkedIn profile and resume. Is there a clear statement of your “value” measured in dollars, represented by a figure? If not, there should be!
Graham Riley
Follow Graham @GrahamKRiley
CareerToolbox international, LLC
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8 年I was just told this yesterday from a recruiter... Along with the fear of replacing me once a better aligned position came around.
Moderator at [email protected] at Yahoo Groups
8 年It is a code word for too old.
CEO . Professional Inventor
8 年Overqualified simply means the potential employer believe he or she will have to pay you too much for what you do or will have to REVERSE TRAIN YOU TO DO A JOB NOT REQUIRING YOUR QUALIFICATIONS. Short story. During the depression in the 1930 a restaurant needed a bus boy to carry clean tables and carry a tray of dishes back and forth all day. The person the got the job was a person that would THINK ABOUT DOING THE JOB AND NOT DROP THE DISHES, the person that qualified was not the college graduate but the person with the no schooling at all that would THINK ABOUT THE JOB AND NOT SOMETHING ELSE WHILE DOING IT.
Senior Account Manager
8 年Yes, I understand that it can be seen as an "in the meanwhile job...". Other side even if I can perfectly qualified for the job I can quit once I got some expertise.
People Manager, specialized in Network Operations
8 年If the problem is "just" money, you should think if you could stand yourself with a salary below your background. But if the concern of the interviewer is that maybe you could get bored or unmotivated with the position, that this job for you is just a 'in the meanwhile...', but it is not, then you have to convince him/her that you really want the job and why.