Dear Cindy – Overqualified

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

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

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:

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!