“You are overqualified”… that phrase -quoting Freddy Mercury now- sends shivers down my spine.
Companies thrive to get the best candidate for the job and the best job for the candidate, as one of HR’s maxims say. If you go by this perspective, yes, it could be an acceptable thing to say to those applicants who have “too much experience or too many qualifications” when matched against job requirements. But, is it that straightforward?
I don’t think so.
If you are waiting for a 600 hundred word post to get the answer I’m sorry to disappoint you: the answer is it depends.
Put yourself in the shoes of an employer: Would you prefer a mindless zombie or a highly talented person? The answer is obvious. But, what if you were looking for a person to work at an iPod assembly line? The job would consist in grabbing iPods, sticking them in a box and closing the box… next iPod. Why would you need someone with an IQ of 140 to do that job? If for any reason that person gets hired, I give him or her 2 days in the factory.
Thing is, every job has different requirements. Hiring an intellectually adequate fit for each job is something most recruiters and hiring managers keep in mind. HR people have a saying “right job for the right person, right person for the right job”. Taking someone who is not a good fit for a given position may put you back in employee-seeker world too soon. Some could challenge this, arguing that sometimes you hire an over-qualified candidate because he/she seems like a good prospect for the company; and this is a valid point. There’s an element of gambling in every recruitment process but if the company has a clear idea of where it wants to develop this person to, hiring an over-qualified candidate may be the way to go. It’s tricky.
Guest post by Alyssa Foreman – The job hunt is an especially difficult thing for recent grads and recently laid off workers in this day and age. Locating the right potential job is only the beginning, though. Once you find that job, you have to market yourself effectively in the interview to land the gig.
Interviewers will ask a wide range of questions and they will do a large amount of background research prior to hiring you. Most people think that this stops at the criminal level, and that absent a record, they will qualify for the job.
Many employers go a step farther, though, and look into the financial history of an applicant. While everyone knows that having a bad credit score can hurt your car insurance rates and your ability to get a credit card what many do not realize is that a bad credit score can cost you a job in some instances, and it can require an explanation in others.
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