I recently spoke with an incredibly talented woman. She’s 49, a college graduate, and has a solid work portfolio. She’s been applying for jobs, but keeps hearing the same thing in interviews: “You’re overqualified.”
Now, sure, she does have more experience than the role requires, but she knows what the job involves and wants to do it. She’s not expecting anything more, unless she proves herself and the company needs her to move up.
Let’s be honest: “Overqualified” is often just code for, “You’re too old for us.”
Prove me wrong!
Why is someone labeled overqualified when they clearly understand what the job is and want to do it?
Let’s say I’m a heart surgeon, but I want less stress, so I decide to switch to a cardiac rehab role. It still involves working with heart patients, but it’s less demanding and pays less. I don’t need as much education for the job either. So, am I overqualified for the rehab job just because I used to be a surgeon? Only if you say I am! I’ve got the skills and I want the role, so why wouldn’t I be a great fit?
Hiring managers often say someone is “overqualified” when they can’t come up with a real reason not to hire someone with lots of experience.
It’s an excuse. A bad one too.
Here’s an example: “Oh, Susan has too much experience. She wouldn’t be happy reporting to me long-term, especially since she has more experience than I do!” Did Susan say that? “Well, no…”
This happens a lot with older folks who don’t want to retire yet. They’ve got years of valuable experience, but 32-year-old Steve won’t hire them because he thinks they won’t take his direction. That’s Steve’s problem, not the candidate’s.
And it’s not just guys. Women do it too! Turns out we all love discriminating against older workers.
Tech companies are the worst for this, thinking only young people understand technology. Creative companies are just as bad, acting like the only people who matter are 26-year-olds on Instagram.
Then there’s the classic: “I don’t want to hire someone who’s going to retire in five years!”…
How long do people usually stay at your company? “About 4.2 years.” Yeah, having someone for five years would be awful, right?
I once had a hiring manager say they needed someone for the long term when talking about a 52-year-old candidate. 13-15 years isn’t long term?!
I’ve found that calling hiring managers out—saying, “You’re being ridiculous”—works wonders. It cuts right through the bias.
So tell me, what’s the real reason you won’t hire someone “overqualified”?
I could not agree more! Very well said.
Couldn’t agree more! I’ve never believed in the excuse of being “overqualified” because then the candidate is clearly qualified! Hiring managers love to rely on this excuse for not hiring someone. Personally, I typically only crown someone as overqualified when there is a drastic mismatch on what the role pays vs. candidate expectations (in these cases they usually submit their resume with the hopes of negotiating up because of their qualifications).
When I’ve pushed back on hiring managers for using this excuse in the past, I get responses like “well they won’t be happy at this role / pay for long”. Did you ask them that, did they mention it at some point? If no, then why are you presuming to know what another person wants in their next career move? The overqualified excuse is overplayed and needs retired!
This is why someone saying “I want to hire the “most qualified” person for the job drives me nuts. Also, the threshold for moving from qualified to overqualified is constantly shifting.