Overqualified

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gyaaaaaah!

dear employers:

I took your bloody standardized tests and I aced them

I have several degrees. mmost of your applicatns barely have a GED

I have years of experience in a very responsible position overseas

but you won't hire me because i'm...OVERqualified?

Well now shall I just pick up a brick and bash myself in the forehead until I DROP 20 IQ poins? Will you hire me then?

Yep. I got to the point where I started leaving some of my education and experience off my applications and other papers. And guess what, it worked. I got a better job right away as soon as I started doing that. If they would have asked me, I would have answered all questions truthfully.

Maybe you could try only providing stuff your education and experiences that or relevant to the job for which you are applying. That way they won't perceive you as over-qualified. I don't think of it as lying, if they ask you can answer thruthfully, but you don't have to volunteer every single thing about yourself if it's not asked.

maybe?

I think it's ridiculous that people will be rejected for a job because they are *over*-qualified.

Tim

It kind of makes sense. Maybe they're worried that you'll be unhappy in the job because it's too simple for you, and/or that you won't relate well to your non-"overqualified" co-workers. Mentioning only those skills & experiences that are relevant to the job does seem like a good idea.

The irony is that I end up in positions- labor jobs- that i am even MORE overqualified for because they have high turnover anyway.

I like what you are all saying about paring my resume down to a few essentials. Good idea. I'll try it!

I think the phrase over-qualified is normally used in a euphamistic sense.

e.g. The company are worried that you would only want the job as a temporary thing and would be looking for better jobs whilst you were there or they just don't think you would be as ideal for the job as another candidate.

I doubt anyone would really believe that having certain qualifications would render someone (otherwise capable) incapable of doing a job.

I think the term overqualified is simply wrong. In the case of my mom, I think employers used it as a screen for agism. Now she is happy running her own business.

Good luck with your job search!

I think the reason that over qualified people dont get lower level jobs is because it keeps job oppurtunitys open for people who just dont quite have the qualifications to get a higher level job, and I think this is accually a good thing.

but its crazy when you get fired from jobs and cant get hired at others when you interview because your "overqualified."
and i have had several companies come right out and say this to me, "what do you have that makes you stay in (my city). your not married? do you have a long distance relationship?" "what would keep you from up and leaving?"

nothing to be honest. but i always answer that i want to live where i do and i am working on my career at the moment as my priority so that would keep me at my job. its weird.

It's like nobody wants to hire you unless you have zero ambition beyond staying in the same place for the next 25 years scanning bar codes or tappity-tapping insurance data into a PC, and yet if you screw up once during that time they'll fire your sorry ass without a second thought.

Next time I get an interview I'm going to lie and see how that works out for me.

But how to convince employers that I have no ambition despite my multiple foreign languages, degrees, and extensive professional work experience?

hmmmm...