What being "overqualified" really means
If you've been working for a while, chances are you've found
yourself in an interview with someone who tells you you're
"overqualified." Interviews are quite a nerve-wracking situation
and at first it sounds like a compliment. But if you're like
most people, you're left bewildered, wondering what the
interviewer meant. Today we're going to address this as a
response to a question from one of our subscribers.
QUESTION FROM A SUBSCRIBER:
I've enjoyed your articles very much and have used some of the
information in my job search successfully. However, I have two
pressing questions I want to ask. What is a job seeker to do
when they are told repeatedly in interviews they are allegedly
over-qualified? I have been on interviews for positions that are
almost exactly like the one I was laid-off from recently.
However, interviewers flat out tell me that although I have
impressive and desirable credentials, they feel I'm
over-qualified. My second concern pertains to compensation. In
the rare events that I haven't been "over-qualified", I have
managed to avoid discussing this taboo, yet all-important topic
since this is what really drives companies to hire a particular
candidate. In the unfortunate event the topic comes up before
getting an offer, I have given a "range" as to what I'd expect
based on area living standards, what such a position fetches for
in the industry as a whole, and obviously my credentials. I have
tried various tactics from selling myself extremely short all
the way up to "no way in hell" for pay ranges, but regardless, I
get the form letter saying thanks for interviewing, but keep
looking for a job. It's a catch-22 here it seems. On one hand
I'm over-qualified, but when I'm not, I apparently ask for too
much money even if I just state a reasonable range and justify
my given range. Am I over-simplifying this or is there something
else going on here that I'm unaware of? -J.H.
J.H., Thanks for your email and for the compliments!
It sounds like when employers say you're overqualified, they're
looking at your qualifications and realizing that they'd have to
pay you a salary that's on the high-end of the salary range. And
it sounds like you're expecting that high-end salary yourself.
I think in a good economy, employers can afford to hire
"overqualified" individuals. Sometimes, if the job market is
tight - as it was a few years ago - employers might have no
choice because the less expensive and less qualified people are
all working elsewhere.
I'm not sure what kind of work you do so it's difficult to get
into the particulars..
One option would be to go for a job with a lower salary. By now,
you probably know the types of companies and positions that are
not willing to pay for your qualifications. You could go into
interviews with these companies and explain before they even
start asking you questions that you really want to work for
their firm and you're willing to work for a salary on the low
end of the range. By preemptively addressing the salary
question, you make it clear that you're not expecting a higher
salary. This will make the employer more comfortable with the
idea of offering you the position and help alleviate their
concerns that you would jump ship as soon as a sweeter offer
comes along. Another approach to getting a job with a lower
salary would be to remove some of the qualifications from your
resume. You don't want to lie on your resume, but you can
legitimately omit certain facts. For example, if you graduated
Phi Beta Kappa or Magna Cum Laude, you are not obligated to list
that on your resume.
If you want to get a job with a higher salary, you might want to
try working for a different type of company. There is often a
difference in salary between jobs that are in the company's
"line of business" versus support/staff jobs. For example, an
accountant working for a corporation to help maintain their
books and records or do their taxes, would be working in a staff
job that the company would view as an expense or cost center.
Companies work hard to minimize their costs (and therefore
salaries) in cost center departments.
That same accountant might be able to get a job at an accounting
firm like KPMG Peat Marwick, whose primary business is
accounting, at a higher salary because their time is being
billed out to clients.
Even if you're not working in accounting, there are many types
of professional positions where their consulting counterparts
pay more than the staff jobs inside corporations. The downside
to consulting jobs is they often require more hours and can be
more stressful because of the demands by the clients.
If you've been working for a large company, you may be able to
get a higher salary by working at a small business. Small
businesses often pay higher salaries because they don't offer as
many of the intangible benefits as the larger firms - such as
after-work company events, a company cafeteria, and the prestige
that comes with working for a well-known firm. However, the
difference between what businesses of different sizes pay
narrows when there's high unemployment because the small
businesses don't have to work as hard to attract people that
might otherwise work for larger companies.
One place to go to research different industries and possibly
map out a plan for transitioning to a different type of company
that might be in a better position to pay you more for your work
is the Vault Reports web site. Vault surveys people working at
all sorts of companies about the pay, work environment, etc. and
makes reports available on their web site. For more information
about Vault or to visit their site, go to this web address:
http://www.jobsearchinfo.com/vault.htm
Another way to find out about the best places to work to
maximize your salary is to network with other people in your
profession and talk to leaders in your local professional
association. If you don't know a lot of people in your
profession, you can attend networking events to meet them. Here
is a brief (but not exhaustive) list of places to go to find
networking events: - Technology Executives Networking Group
(TENG) - For Technology Executives. Website: www.theteng.org -
Financial Executives Networking Group (FENG) - For Finance
Executives (CFOs, Controllers, etc.). Website: www.thefeng.org -
ExecuNet - General networking for executives making $100,000+.
Website: www.execunet.com - Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE) - Website: www.ieee.org -
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) - For I.T.
Professionals & Computer Scientists. Website: www.acm.org -
Crain's Business Publications - Publisher of Crain's New York
Business, Crain's Detroit Business, Crain's Chicago Business,
et. al. These publications list local networking events in these
major cities. Website: www.crain.com - If you don't know if
there's an association for your profession and/or industry, one
way to find out is through the American Society of Association
Executives' web site. They have a search engine to let you
search through all of the professional and trade associations in
the U.S. Get to it by going to www.asaenet.org and clicking
"Directories" on the home page.
Once you know the type of company you want to work for, the next
step is to start generating leads, which then leads to
interviews. We have several tools listed on our website that are
effective in generating job leads.