Yeah BDC, I know how ya feel...
As many of you who read this blog know, I have been decrying the “Overqualified” label that some Human Resources directors have chosen to slap us with. As any of us who have been told either during an interview or even the application process, we know how unfair that is that we are being denied an opportunity to support our families based on someone else’s false perceptions of us.
Well someone over at CareerBuilder has a few tips for us so that we can fight that label.
Rachel Zupek, a writer for CareerBuilder has written an article about what we can do to overcome that strike against us. I usually provide links to articles like that on the Job Search Tips page, but this is too important to leave back there, and I hope that this is okay with Ms. Zupek, but I would like to re-print that article in it’s entirety, right here on my front page:
What to Do When You’re Labeled ‘Overqualified’
How does Martschink respond to such opposition? Plain and simple:
“If I weren’t willing to do the work, I wouldn’t be applying for the job,” she says.
Geoff Tucker, who has a college degree and six years of experience in his field, has faced opposition more than once during his job search. In one interview, the hiring manager started with, “We both know you’re overqualified,” but went on to say she wanted to do a “gut check ” to determine if Tucker would be OK with the tasks he’d be handling.
“In other words, she wanted to see if I was OK with being versatile to the point of helping clean around the office and refilling the toilet paper in the bathroom,” Tucker says. “I affirmed that I do not have an issue with doing tasks that maybe I haven’t had to do in awhile. I am not that egocentric and I don’t regard these tasks as ‘below me.’”
Many job seekers wonder how being qualified can be a bad thing, but it’s a Catch-22 that many job seekers face today. They can’t get hired for positions relevant to their experience so they apply for jobs at lower levels. The problem is that they can’t get hired for those positions, either, because they’re overqualified.
“Employers are in the catbird seat,” says Kathryn Sollmann, co-founder and managing partner of the Women@Work Network. “The high volume of job seekers makes it possible for employers to hold out for their ideal candidates. You’re not an ideal candidate if you have held a more senior position in the past; employers assume you will leave as soon as you find something at your normal level.”
What’s the deal?
Assuming you’ll jump ship when the economy turns around is only one of the many objections employers have to hiring overqualified candidates. For one thing, many job seekers assume that their high credentials automatically mean they are skilled for a more junior job. But, Sollmann says, just because a position is less senior than the one you previously held does not mean that you have the appropriate skills to succeed in that role.“Take an administrative position, for example. Many mid- to senior-level job seekers haven’t done anything remotely administrative for years,” she says.
Right or wrong, other assumptions hiring managers might have about hiring overqualified candidates include:
· You’ll be bored and unmotivated
· The salary will be too low for you
· You’ll be unhappy
· You’ll leave the minute something better comes along
· You could possibly steal his/her job
· You won’t be able to step down from a leadership role
Hiring managers take overqualified candidates seriously only if they are convincing about a valid reason they want to take a more junior-level job, Sollmann says.
The best reason is saying you have decided that you don’t want to work crazy schedules and are interested in a better work/life balance, she says. If that’s the truth and you’re truly not looking over your shoulder for a senior-level job, employers will consider you for a more junior job.
Tucker says the doubt he gets from hiring managers regarding his experience is unfair.
“They should consider my above-par qualifications as a way to gain additional capabilities on their staff and team. I will bring just as much passion to this role as I would any other,” he says. “I would not apply for a job if it weren’t a fit for me. It’s about the work I’m doing and the contributions I’m making that matter.”
If you’re being told you’re overqualified during your job search, here are seven ways to convince your interviewer otherwise:
1. Admit that you’re worried, too
Tell the hiring manager that you are also concerned that it might not be a fit, suggests Duncan Mathison, co-author of “The Truth about the Hidden Job Market.” Promise that if at any point during the hiring process you think the job appears too low or not one where you will bring the full engagement needed to excel in the position, you will withdraw your candidacy. Your willingness to walk away tells them you are motivated if you stay in the game.2. Take salary off the table
Make it clear that you’re flexible about salary and that your previous earnings are not relevant to your current job search.“Tell the hiring manager that you work for both green dollars and personal satisfaction dollars,” Sollmann says. “Lately you’ve had a deficit in personal satisfaction dollars and you want a chance to try something new.”
3. Put the issue out there
Ask the interviewer if he or she sees any positives or negatives to your candidacy based on your higher qualifications. Get the issue on the table so it can be addressed, Mathison suggests.4. Use your accomplishments
“Tell the hiring manager that you’re proud of your accomplishments and you have proven to yourself that you can perform at a more senior level,” Sollmann says. “Now you’re not interested in chasing titles and promotions. You want to make a contribution at a compelling company.”5. Distance yourself from your higher qualifications
Be empathetic to those parts of the hiring manager’s job — indicate that you have a clearer understanding of what a manager needs from his people.“For example, say you were a manager and are applying to an individual contributor job,” Mathison says. “Tell the hiring manager that you are looking for a job that would give you more hands-on technical work and give you a break from the people management and corporate politics.”
6. You want to learn
If you’ve held more senior positions at a different kind of company or in a different industry, tell the hiring manager that the best way to really learn about a new industry is from the bottom up, Sollmann says.7. Make a commitment
“Tell the employer that you know that job hopping is a major don’t in the business world. Say that barring unforeseen circumstances, you are ready to make at least a two-year commitment to the company,” Sollmann suggests.Rachel Zupek is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.
Now these are all very good tips, and if I ever do get another interview I will be sure to utilize some of them. However there are some points that were brought up in the article that I feel I need to comment on:
Hiring Managers should not be surprised if they get a blunt answer to the question of: ‘Why would you want this job after doing such-and-such?’If they ask that during an interview they should not be shocked to hear “because I need this job so that I can pay the mortgage, not get tossed out onto the street by the bank, keep the lights on and the water flowing and not have to rely on food-banks for our meals.” The people in HR need a reality check – people are desperate out here to keep their homes and their families together, so they need to be cutting us some slack instead of cutting whatever salary we get to the poverty level.
And here’s another thing, if someone who is educated is applying for a job in Retail, Construction, Transportation or any kind of manual labor – don’t just assume that they are some sort of “pansy” who thinks that he/she is better than you because they went to college. Some of us had to work our way through school doing things that you would never dream of doing now. I knew plenty of young women in college whose only means of paying for school was to strip in Gentleman’s Clubs for lousy tips from guys like you who were telling your wives that you were having “drinks with the boys.” Somehow I don’t see some of you “macho men” taking your clothes off to be ogled by a group of desperate housewives who have had a few too many, so watch who you call “pansy.” Just because I went to college doesn’t mean that I can’t use a shovel, okay pal?
You’re not an ideal candidate if you have held a more senior position in the past; employers assume you will leave as soon as you find something at your normal level.
That’s not likely to happen in this economy, those jobs are gone and they are not coming back. So some of us are having to try to get jobs in any industry that is looking for Administrative or Clerical help, or try to get an interview at Office Depot while we try to figure out how to market our website effectively for no money so that we could pay a bill or two.
Right or wrong, other assumptions hiring managers might have about hiring overqualified candidates include:
· You’ll be bored and unmotivated
· The salary will be too low for you
· You’ll be unhappy
· You’ll leave the minute something better comes along
· You could possibly steal his/her job
· You won’t be able to step down from a leadership role
Okay let me respond to those false assumptions in order by saying:
- You mean as bored and unmotivated as you are?
- Any salary would be a Godsend at this point, especially if you haven’t collected Unemployment benefits in 5 1/2 years!
- You mean as unhappy as you are?
- In this economy?
- Who would want your job? Please, I can do without the headaches thank you very much!
- Well you might have me there, if you can’t “sack up” and lead this department yourself then it looks like someone is going to have to organize a coup and overthrow our ineffective lord and master.
Yes I know the responses I gave are not the ones I would give in an interview, but I figure that this is what some of us are thinking when these bullshit excuses are used, so I figured I might as well say it for all of us.
Look, a lot of us have been there and we all know how unfair it is that we can’t even get Wal-Mart or McDonald’s to take us seriously. All of us who are unemployed, underemployed and underutilized have heard it from the naysayers who when we bring this up tell us that we are “talking ourselves out of taking anything that comes along” or that we’re “whining” or that we “really don’t want to work.”
Well to them I say this: if a former state senator from South Carolina is being told that she’s “overqualified” then who are you to say that someone like me isn’t being told the same thing?
“Overqualified” should not have to mean that we are “unemployable.”
Unfortunately, for may of us, that has come to mean exactly that – it is not right and it is not fair to us or to the people we love and care for.
To all of you HR honks who are reading this and are insulted by my words – I challenge you to do something to change that perception…
…hire someone like me who you think is overqualified for the job. Treat them with some dignity and respect that you would for someone who would have the “right qualifications” for the job. If you can do that, if you can treat someone like me or my readers with class instead of dismissing us outright, then I will write about it in this space and trumpet your name to the heavens.
Until then, deal with the negative perception – you know, like we have to!
