I don't understand how you can be overqualified for a position.

[oiprocs]

I just read Tiamat's post in the nef thread and he can't seem to find a job because his masters has made "my resume is too good for many jobs, but not good enough for the phD jobs for obvious reasons".

I don't get how a company will say you are too qualified. Does this mean they expect you will ask for a salary higher than what they want to pay, and thus they do not offer you the position?

If you really need to pay the bills, can't you tell them that you will work for the salary they would give to someone with the "less experience" they desire, and while working search for another position?

 

[Beattie]

I think they just don't want you to take the job, be dissatisfied with it since really in their estimation at least, it's below you, and then start looking for something else too soon. Then they have to redo the whole candidate search and are out both time and money.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

if a position is not challenging enough, could cause employees to slack off / get bored / quit quickly
the qualifications for a job are usually clearly posted, i dont see a problem with leaving things off the resume if you think it would make it more attractive

 

[shortylickens]

Yup.
They want you to fill that position for the rest of your life. Thay dont wanna have to do interviews over and over again on a regular basis.
They dont want you leaving for something better or taking over their job.
Even worse would be if you passed them on your way up.

 

[Tiamat]

They don't want you to leave in 1 year because you are dissatisfied with the "grunge work" instead of the type of work that the resume/education seems to lean towards.

I have a lot of research and development experience. Most manufacturing process engineering guys would immediately discount me as they see I have already "entered a new realm" in terms of what I am "conditioned" to do.

With a master's degree and research/thesis, the companies automatically see that as a person that wants to understand everything about what there is to understand. They see this as not being a great fit for entry level, manufacturing positions. They tend to see lab-scale, pilot scale R&D as being the better fit. Also, anything documentation heavy which requires technical knowledge (like patent examiner positions, or project evaluators).

 

[SunnyD]

Well, I ran into something similar a couple months ago. I ended up being told I was too experienced for the position (which was mid/senior level anyway). I ended up getting a job at a different division of the company anyway.

But I think that being told I was too experienced/overqualified was code for "you're going to cost us more than we want to pay you".

 

[FDF12389]

Would you hire someone more qualified then yourself?

Me either.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Well, I ran into something similar a couple months ago. I ended up being told I was too experienced for the position (which was mid/senior level anyway). I ended up getting a job at a different division of the company anyway.

But I think that being told I was too experienced/overqualified was code for "you're going to cost us more than we want to pay you".

This has been my assumption.

 

[CPA]

Our HR department has stipulated several times that no person can be overqualified for a position. You're either qualified, based on the job rec requirements, or you're not.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: CPA
Our HR department has stipulated several times that no person can be overqualified for a position. You're either qualified, based on the job rec requirements, or you're not.

Its the hiring manager not HR department that I have had this experience with.

 

[Epic Fail]

Don't some police department disqualify candidates who score too high on the qualification exam?

 

[oiprocs]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
They don't want you to leave in 1 year because you are dissatisfied with the "grunge work" instead of the type of work that the resume/education seems to lean towards.

I have a lot of research and development experience. Most manufacturing process engineering guys would immediately discount me as they see I have already "entered a new realm" in terms of what I am "conditioned" to do.

1 year? Is there some kind of timetable for how long companies expect you to last? Surely it can't be more than 3-4 years. People want more pay, better title, all that jazz, and if the company can't offer it, why would you stay longer?

Originally posted by: FDF12389
Would you hire someone more qualified then yourself?

Me either.

This happens a lot though. I hear people say "man, my boss knows nothing, I could do his job better". I hear it from engineers a lot, who have bosses with less technical experience.

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: FDF12389
Would you hire someone more qualified then yourself?

Me either.

Exactly. Why hire somebody who can get you fired, or worse, become your supervisor!

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: oiprocs

Originally posted by: Tiamat
They don't want you to leave in 1 year because you are dissatisfied with the "grunge work" instead of the type of work that the resume/education seems to lean towards.

I have a lot of research and development experience. Most manufacturing process engineering guys would immediately discount me as they see I have already "entered a new realm" in terms of what I am "conditioned" to do.

1 year? Is there some kind of timetable for how long companies expect you to last? Surely it can't be more than 3-4 years. People want more pay, better title, all that jazz, and if the company can't offer it, why would you stay longer?

Originally posted by: FDF12389
Would you hire someone more qualified then yourself?

Me either.

This happens a lot though. I hear people say "man, my boss knows nothing, I could do his job better". I hear it from engineers a lot, who have bosses with less technical experience.

The idea is, they do not want to waste their time training you just so that you leave "a short time later" for better prospects that are a "better match" for your skillset. If the company is constantly training new employees that keep leaving, they are not getting any product out the doors.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Would a VP of IT be overqualified for geeksquad?

Even less extreme, would a IT admin be overqualified for geeksquad?

Even more realisitic, would somebody with a 4 year degree from an actual college be overqualified for geeksquad?

 

[Tiamat]

I can't even get a job at starbucks because they are convinced I will leave in a month or two when I get a "real" job. I can't really blame them since that is probably what I would do. Quite frankly, I'm just really thankful for my loving parents and good friends that are supporting me right now. It feels very demeaning to have to be supported after supposedly having a successful college "Experience", but I just hope that this won't last very long and I can repay them in multiple.

 

[Insomniator]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Would a VP of IT be overqualified for geeksquad?

Even less extreme, would a IT admin be overqualified for geeksquad?

Even more realisitic, would somebody with a 4 year degree from an actual college be overqualified for geeksquad?

GS is a joke, but a 4 year degree from Rutgers at least doesn't mean shit. You can grad the IT program with a 4.0 without knowing anything about computers.

Yes to the other two.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Beattie
I think they just don't want you to take the job, be dissatisfied with it since really in their estimation at least, it's below you, and then start looking for something else too soon. Then they have to redo the whole candidate search and are out both time and money.

QFT. It takes a lot of time and money to train someone for a job. Even if you have prior experience in the field, you still have to learn how to do things "the company's way."

 

[Gibson486]

I had this problem when I was trying to get a job out of college. I did all design work work and some testing on my coops. The jobs I got interviewed for, they saw my resume and though, "Well....you seem to be more of a person who would go to the design side of things, even though you do have testing experience....Out of college kids start out there, but you seem to have experience that goes beyond that". They asked me if I wanted to start out as a test engineer in the out of college phase. i said ofcourse (after all, I was out of college), but i told them that I had every intention of going back or growing into the design part if a position became available. I guess that was a no no because that killed the interview everytime. I was too experienced for the normal entry level engineering job, but I was not experienced enough for the seasoned engineering job. I ended up working in an industry where I had no experience in, and ofcourse, I started at the bare bottom (and I am still there).

 

[oiprocs]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
I had this problem when I was trying to get a job out of college. I did all design work work and some testing on my coops. The jobs I got interviewed for, they saw my resume and though, "Well....you seem to be more of a person who would go to the design side of things, even though you do have testing experience....Out of college kids start out there, but you seem to have experience that goes beyond that". They asked me if I wanted to start out as a test engineer in the out of college phase. i said ofcourse (after all, I was out of college), but i told them that I had every intention of going back or growing into the design part if a position became available. I guess that was a no no because that killed the interview everytime. I was too experienced for the normal entry level engineering job, but I was not experienced enough for the seasoned engineering job. I ended up working in an industry where I had no experience in, and ofcourse, I started at the bare bottom (and I am still there).

You have not been searching for a more satisfying position?

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Epic Fail
Don't some police department disqualify candidates who score too high on the qualification exam?

Yea, I remember the guy who filed a lawsuit as the police dept. said his IQ was to high. I am sure the morale of that Dept was high after that.

 

[sdifox]

menace to management

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
I can't even get a job at starbucks because they are convinced I will leave in a month or two when I get a "real" job. I can't really blame them since that is probably what I would do. Quite frankly, I'm just really thankful for my loving parents and good friends that are supporting me right now. It feels very demeaning to have to be supported after supposedly having a successful college "Experience", but I just hope that this won't last very long and I can repay them in multiple.

That's why you lie. They will not kill you for it. I had to lie to get a job at Stop and Shop (said I was a school drop out). I left right when I got a full time job. At those jobs, they know people will always come and go in as little as a month. They did not do anything too me, even after I spilled the beans about having a 4 year degrees.

edit:

obvioulsy, though, you do NOT lie with an actual job in your field.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: oiprocs

Originally posted by: Gibson486
I had this problem when I was trying to get a job out of college. I did all design work work and some testing on my coops. The jobs I got interviewed for, they saw my resume and though, "Well....you seem to be more of a person who would go to the design side of things, even though you do have testing experience....Out of college kids start out there, but you seem to have experience that goes beyond that". They asked me if I wanted to start out as a test engineer in the out of college phase. i said ofcourse (after all, I was out of college), but i told them that I had every intention of going back or growing into the design part if a position became available. I guess that was a no no because that killed the interview everytime. I was too experienced for the normal entry level engineering job, but I was not experienced enough for the seasoned engineering job. I ended up working in an industry where I had no experience in, and ofcourse, I started at the bare bottom (and I am still there).

You have not been searching for a more satisfying position?

I have, but there is nothing now. I saw this position for a design engineer for a company the designs videogame systems (they apparently made the Wii before Nintendo did). I applied. They never called. I called them, they never returned my messages. I am going to try a little harder when spring comes along.

I actually appplied to Mathworks (my gf works there), but they actually called me and told me that i had a good resume, but they want more experience and to try again in 2 years.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: Insomniator

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Would a VP of IT be overqualified for geeksquad?

Even less extreme, would a IT admin be overqualified for geeksquad?

Even more realisitic, would somebody with a 4 year degree from an actual college be overqualified for geeksquad?

GS is a joke, but a 4 year degree from Rutgers at least doesn't mean shit. You can grad the IT program with a 4.0 without knowing anything about computers.

Yes to the other two.

While you may not know anything about computers, a 4 year degree would still mean you're over qualified IMO for Geeksquad. Granted you may know as much as they do (or less), but still a degree in my company means you can be in management (even if it's not a management degree). So for that reason alone they would be overqualified.