Featured Employer
Dear Cindy – Overqualified - Medhunters Medical Community
By Cynthia M. Piccolo (Career Questions)
dearCPOverqualified image

Dear Cindy: 

I keep being turned down for jobs because I'm overqualified. Should I just leave some of my educational background and work experiences out of my résumé to avoid this problem?

Sincerely,

Overqualified

Dear O: 

When someone doesn't hire you and tells you that you're overqualified, they're concerned about one or more of the following:

  • You have applied for their job out of desperation and will quit as soon as the type of job you actually want appears.
  • You will be bored; therefore, you will be a lackluster employee, or you will leave quickly.
  • You will expect far more money than they can offer.
  • Your skills wouldn't be current for a lower level job.
  • You will chafe under the leadership of someone with less or identical experience/education and cause problems.
  • Even if you hide your education, they may discover it by doing a background check or reference check. And really, unless your education is so esoteric as to be irrelevant (e.g., you have a PhD specializing in the art history of a particular Mesopotamian dynasty, and you want to work in accounting), there's no reason to hide it. In your cover letter, and again in your interview, you must convince the employer that:

  • You really want their job, not just any job.
  • You find their job really interesting, because
  • Your skills are current.
  • You don't want to run the place.
  • And of course, you'll also have to deal with the money issue, but usually you won't know the specifics about money until later in the process.

    Good luck!

    Please provide a comment
    Name
    Email Address
    Website
    Comment