Some more observations on what means overqualified

Are you told you are overqualified?

Is your resume presenting you as overqualified?

If you are not getting interviews, your resume might be overshooting the "profile" of the job. Your resume might not be matching the duties, responsibilities and/or requirements for the job.

It is all about the match. And a mismatch can go both ways - under and overqualified.

If you get interviews, your resume obviously is working.

But overqualified means much more than just the mismatch.

Employers use interviews to get to know the candidate, the potential employee, better – who you are, what motivates you, what makes you tick. They are a chance to demonstrate that you have the right stuff. Think of them as sales calls. After all, when it comes to interviews, are we not all in sales?

"Overqualified” translates for them to mean you, based on your length of experience and past compensation, expect, and feel entitled to, a higher level of pay. And that you don’t have to justify why you deserve it since you have professional “seniority.” They are afraid that you will leave your position and the company as soon as a better offer comes along because you deserve more money, better benefits, and a better opportunity.

Be prepared with enthusiasm and even excitement to tell them why you want to work for them and how you will eliminate problems and add value. Without presenting solid and passionate evidence about how you will deliver each and every day, you are in danger of being seen as resting on your assumed laurels and coming across as arrogant.

Just because you have experience, perhaps even extensive expert experience, does not make you invulnerable to the pitfalls and problems of everyday work life. Even if you are the best of the best of the best, you still need to be doing your best always. Overqualified means you are presenting yourself as above it all and that very likely you will not try to do a better job of it because nobody does it better than you. And again you deserve top pay just because you are you.

As it’s been said in the circles of sales professionals, “you are only as good as your last sale.” You have to prove your worth. Be prepared to do so when you have that face to face meeting, that interview, that sales call.

Listen to their needs and tell them, show them, how you will deliver.


If you need to practice that interview, contact me.

Walt Tarrow
wtarrow@jvsdet.org

And check out JVS at www.jvsdet.org for job postings, seminars, events and more.

Join me and NextJobs~JVS Detroit on LinkedIn.

The Red Button

Help Wanted.
Red Button Pusher.
Must be ready, willing and able to push a red button.
Red button pushing experience preferred, but not required.


Hello, I am Bill. I am here to interview for the Red Button Pusher job.

Hello, Bill. I am Mary. Nice to meet you. Have you any experience pushing a red button? Red button experience is not required, but we would prefer if you had some experience with pushing a red button.

Well, Mary, I have a PhD in button design and technology. I have five years experience in the design, implementation, operation, maintenance, and quality evaluation of buttons. I have published several studies on the ergonomic application of buttons in a wide variety of industrial, military and medical applications. I have increased the effectiveness of button pushing for seven different businesses resulting in production improvements of an average of 47%. And after an analysis of your button pushing operation, I have determined that you will increase your profits by 17% if you change the color of the button from red to green.

That is very impressive, Bill. But you are way overqualified for the job. You probably want to be paid much more than we can afford and you would be bored very quickly with the red button pushing job. So thank you, Bill, but no thank you. Have a nice day.

But, Mary, wait, I really need this job! I am more than ready, willing and able to push the red button and I will work for nothing just to show you how hard working I am. Please! I just want a chance to get my foot in the door.

Sorry, Bill. Good luck.


So…was Bill being “honest” or maybe a little arrogant? If you tell them all about yourself without considering what they want or what is most important to them, then is it not all about you and not about them?

You be the judge.

No, wait, they already passed a verdict. You lost.

THE RULE
First and foremost, give them what THEY want…nothing more, nothing less.
You can always do more once you have landed the job.