Job Hunting for the Overqualified

Don’t assume your wealth of qualifications will land you the job.

Experience is a good thing, right? In today’s competitive job market, however, job seekers are leaving no stone unturned and are applying for lower-level positions. You might assume -- all other things being equal -- the more qualified person will land the job, but that isn’t always the case. The good news is, even if you’ve been labeled overqualified more than once, you can adjust your focus and job search and renew your competitive edge.

Understand and Prepare Valid Reasons

Just as you have valid reasons for seeking lower-level positions, hiring managers have valid concerns regarding hiring overqualified candidates. For instance, will you waste their investment and jump at the first opportunity for a higher-level or higher-paying job, present attitude problems once working in a position beneath your experience or threaten their own position? A hiring manager may be the department head to whom you will report; if you previously held the equivalent or higher of his position, it’s reasonable he may wonder if you are more interested in his job than the one for which you are applying.

You can offset a hiring manager’s concern by preparing your own valid reasons in advance. There are many valid and acceptable reasons, such as lifestyle, company culture, less/more travel or career re-direction. Include your reasoning in your cover letter or professional social media summary and show enthusiasm for your new objective.

Refocus Your Mindset

Being told you’re overqualified more than once can be frustrating and discouraging, but you can take the power back by refocusing your mindset. If you are applying for lower-level jobs, consider changing your target market. For instance, if you were a corporate marketing manager for 10 years or more, look into retail management opportunities where you can sell your experience but also break into a new field where your steps down make sense to a hiring manager; you will be learning a new business model and relevant skills.

Shifting your focus may also make it easier on your own psyche; for instance, if you previously had your own marketing assistant, applying for and becoming one can be discouraging (a hiring manager’s concern), but if you apply for an assistant merchandising manager position at a retail chain, you are in a whole new field with a blank slate.

Tailor Your Resume

Don’t “dumb down” your resume. Tailor it to the specific position for which you are applying. Think of it as a challenging exercise. Remember that a hiring manager is interested in the current skills specific to the position you bring to the table. Use several job descriptions in which you’re interested as guides, and re-focus your resume to support the required skills and experience listed. In fact, focus your entire resume on your skills rather than your overall experience.

For instance, if you’re breaking into retail management for the first time, dust off your resume bullets from years past regarding your cashier and customer service experience in college and list them once again; the fact that you managed an entire customer service department over the past few years is not as important in this situation as the fact that you can operate a register and directly provide customer service. Avoid higher-level titles and degrees in your resume; titles aren’t necessary, so if you were the Director of Customer Service, list simply “customer service.”

Stay Positive and Current

As you make adjustments to your overall thinking, resume and target job search, time will elapse. Stay positive. Test the waters. Continue to adjust as necessary. Most of all, stay current. The reality is that many overqualified candidates are over 40, and hiring managers may view people in this age group as out of touch. While this isn’t necessarily true, you must prove it. If you had an assistant who did most of the Microsoft Office document formatting for you, take a class and add it to your resume; a computer certification from this year will weigh more than your MBA from 15 years ago regarding a specific lower-level job. Present yourself in professional social networking circles, such as LinkedIn; reconnect with former colleagues, illustrate you are Internet/social media savvy and give yourself a platform to dynamically update your resume with new (or renewed) skills.

References

• reCareered.com; What to Do If You're "Overqualified"; Phil Rosenberg; May 2011
• Tim's Strategy; Looking for Work? Don't Be a Desperado.; Tim Tyrell-Smith; April 2009
• TechRepublic; Hiring Managers Should Be Careful Not to Dismiss the "Overqualified"; Toni Bowers; January 2011
• Skillfullydone.com; Should You Hire an Overqualified Candidate?; Pamela Skillings
• "U.S. News & World Report"; How to Apply for a Job When You're Overqualified; Lindsay Olson; August 2011
• Mainstreet; Overqualified? Tweak Your Resume; Seth Fiegerman; May 2010
• MarketWatch; Overqualified? Don't Let That Stop You; Ruth Mantell; March 2010

Resources

• Pongo: Over 50? How to Make Your Resume Work for You
• SnagAJob: Does Your Resume Make You Look Old? Six Easy Fixes to Help Your Job Search
• "The Wall Street Journal"; Overqualified? Simplifying Your Resume to Land the Job; Alina Dizik; Jaunary 2010