Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Overqualified? Is that Like Being Too Smart?

There are few more frustrating experiences than to go looking for a job and find that you are “overqualified.” That’s a strange phrase. It’s like being “too smart.” Can you really be “too smart?”

But every day, thousands of job candidates across the country are deemed overqualified and their job applications are tossed into the shredder. That’s what happens when unemployment surges and companies have more job applicants than they know what to do with.

It also occurs because companies have been burned in the past by hiring someone with a wealth of education and experience in positions that didn’t suit them. After a few months, some of those individuals go in search of another job because they don’t feel fulfilled or challenged by the work.

You can’t blame employers for shying away from these individuals. History shows they can often have motivation problems or develop poor attitudes if they feel they are being underutilized. But as the current recession lingers, many experienced workers — particularly middle and senior managers with years of experience — seem willing to accept less just to find a job. They often are older and fairly well set for retirement but need to bridge a few years working until they can retire. They often reduce their salary demands because of the job climate, just to get working again.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Bruce Katcher, a Massachusetts-based industrial/organizational psychologist, isn’t ready to throw away those potential workers. He thinks there is an opportunity for companies to hire and utilize highly experienced or successful people who can become strong components of their new company.

“It depends on how well you are able to integrate them into the organization, how flexible you can be with their salary, how well you provide them with the opportunity to use their skills, and how carefully nurture them along the way,” he says.

Katcher offers these tips for employers when hiring individuals they might fear are overqualified:

Provide realistic expectations. Make sure your assessment of the job responsibilities and potential are honest.

Spell out future plans. Let the worker knows that if they handle their job responsibilities well for a sustained period that they might be eligible for greater responsibilities and possibly higher pay.

Be flexible on pay. If paying a good worker 10 to 15 percent more will make them happy and keep them from leaving, grant the pay increase. But if someone wants a huge pay hike, don’t give in.

Introduce them carefully to the company and its employees. Relationships are what bind people to their employers so be skillful in how you integrate experienced workers to other employees and more challenging work teams.

Use the skills they have. You are hiring someone to do a certain job, but if they have other skills you aren’t using for that task, look at ways you can use them. This will go a long way in building loyalty.

Monitor them closely. Don’t just hire someone and hope for the best. Discuss their job performance and see how you can help make them feel more comfortable.

The best advice, Katcher says, is for an employer to keep an open mind about these workers, because they might exceed the company’s expectations.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Fix it Clinic, Gaslamp Holiday Pet Parade

Events December 14-December 18, 2024
Next Article

How to make a hit Christmas song

Feeling is key, but money helps too

There are few more frustrating experiences than to go looking for a job and find that you are “overqualified.” That’s a strange phrase. It’s like being “too smart.” Can you really be “too smart?”

But every day, thousands of job candidates across the country are deemed overqualified and their job applications are tossed into the shredder. That’s what happens when unemployment surges and companies have more job applicants than they know what to do with.

It also occurs because companies have been burned in the past by hiring someone with a wealth of education and experience in positions that didn’t suit them. After a few months, some of those individuals go in search of another job because they don’t feel fulfilled or challenged by the work.

You can’t blame employers for shying away from these individuals. History shows they can often have motivation problems or develop poor attitudes if they feel they are being underutilized. But as the current recession lingers, many experienced workers — particularly middle and senior managers with years of experience — seem willing to accept less just to find a job. They often are older and fairly well set for retirement but need to bridge a few years working until they can retire. They often reduce their salary demands because of the job climate, just to get working again.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Bruce Katcher, a Massachusetts-based industrial/organizational psychologist, isn’t ready to throw away those potential workers. He thinks there is an opportunity for companies to hire and utilize highly experienced or successful people who can become strong components of their new company.

“It depends on how well you are able to integrate them into the organization, how flexible you can be with their salary, how well you provide them with the opportunity to use their skills, and how carefully nurture them along the way,” he says.

Katcher offers these tips for employers when hiring individuals they might fear are overqualified:

Provide realistic expectations. Make sure your assessment of the job responsibilities and potential are honest.

Spell out future plans. Let the worker knows that if they handle their job responsibilities well for a sustained period that they might be eligible for greater responsibilities and possibly higher pay.

Be flexible on pay. If paying a good worker 10 to 15 percent more will make them happy and keep them from leaving, grant the pay increase. But if someone wants a huge pay hike, don’t give in.

Introduce them carefully to the company and its employees. Relationships are what bind people to their employers so be skillful in how you integrate experienced workers to other employees and more challenging work teams.

Use the skills they have. You are hiring someone to do a certain job, but if they have other skills you aren’t using for that task, look at ways you can use them. This will go a long way in building loyalty.

Monitor them closely. Don’t just hire someone and hope for the best. Discuss their job performance and see how you can help make them feel more comfortable.

The best advice, Katcher says, is for an employer to keep an open mind about these workers, because they might exceed the company’s expectations.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Bob Long played piano for Tina Turner and Ray Charles

And he got the crowd shaking at InZane Brewery
Next Article

San Diego Fix it Clinic, Gaslamp Holiday Pet Parade

Events December 14-December 18, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader