Two and a half years ago, I wrote about a job candidate being told they were overqualified for a position. Here is a quick excerpt:

I wouldn’t hire a VP of Sales to mop the floors (however much I would enjoy the sight). You want someone who will like the job, who will do well, and who will stay (i.e. not turnover). People within the range of experience (and not above or below) do the best. That’s why we develop, test and use job descriptions.

I got an e-mail responding to my post that was as interesting as it was long (three very long pages). I read every word but I obviously can’t reprint the whole thing here. Here’s the point:

I sincerely hope that you will not promote the notion of not hiring people who seem to be over-qualified for a position. There are many reasons why people may be applying for positions that they seem over-qualified for. I was reading an excerpt from a book on the Internet that talked about CZUs (comfort zone underachievers) who are people who are highly-qualified but they don’t necessarily like being challenged.

…

These low-paying positions that are often receptionist and customer service positions and administrative positions can make a contribution to the company’s bottom line. Doctors, optometrists, and other professionals have no idea how man patients/clients they lose because of poor customer service and rudeness from these inexperienced, unappreciative, and rude young employees. I’d be so grateful to have a regular routine and to be in a position where I could once again take care of myself and live with dignity.

I thought this e-mail would be worthwhile to take a shot at updating my stance on hiring people who seem to be overqualified. Yes, amazingly my stance has shifted as the business climate and my own education progresses.

A Bad Excuse

Out of all the lousy reasons to not hire someone, saying that they are overqualified (and telling them that it’s the reason) is one of the worst. If you look at it logically, either a person is qualified or unqualified. Overqualified implies that there is some upper limit of expertise needed for any given position. And I can’t think of a worst thing to say than:

“You were great. So great, in fact, we gave the job to someone with less experience. This job isn’t good enough for you!”

Every job candidate that hears “You’re overqualified” hears this phrase. It leaves them stuck. How can they get less experience in a field so they look just qualified enough? It is incredibly stupid.

What HR is really saying?

In my experience, HR is usually saying one of four things when they say you’re overqualified:

1. You’re not actually qualified but you think you are - Often this is a manager looking to go back down to a technician level where they haven’t been hands on for five or more years. Supervising someone doing a job is different than doing the job day to day. If you have been a director of marketing and are looking to downgrade to a PPC position but you haven’t been hands on for three years (or you’ve jsut supervised PPC), you’re probably not qualified to do that job.
2. You have years of experience but your experience is too broad - If you are a jack of all trades, it makes it hard for people to envision you in a specialist role. For example, this is a tough thing for an HR generalist to get over if they don’t have a specialization in a part of HR. Employers come to the conclusion you don’t have enough specific experience, that you wouldn’t be interested in doing the same thing day after day or both.
3. You’re not a good fit for the position - The position requires a lot of detail and you say you prefer (or your experience points to) an environment where you work in the big picture without a ton of detail. Even if you are qualified (overly so!), you may not be a good match. People that say these people are overqualified are just not being honest.
4. What the heck are you doing? - You go from VP of Sales to applying to be the custodian? No matter your reasons (however legitimate), this is a crazy career move that should instantly bring questions up. You should step down (like down stairs, not down a cliff).

How Should HR Approach These Situations Then?

Either be honest and use the four points above as assistance to “overqualified” candidates (who actually aren’t overqualified) or don’t say anything at all. If you don’t have the guts to tell someone the truth about why they were rejected, you shouldn’t water it down with some platitude that can only make things worse.