Thursday, November 21 - "Why Am I Overqualified and Overlooked?"

Good morning!

Here’s what’s on the job description for today:

1. New roles from a global PR and Communications firm.

2. Jolene asks, “I keep receiving feedback that I have too many years of experience or that I wouldn’t enjoy the role because I’m overqualified. How am I supposed to navigate this type of feedback?”

IN HIRING

Onclusive

• The company focuses on international PR and Communication for their long list of international clients.

• Every roles comes with hybrid working and with offices in France, Spain, London and many other European countries, there are quite a few options.

• Here are a few of the most interesting roles available

  • Insights Analyst - Click here for full details

  • Product Manager - Click here for full details

  • Customer Operations Associate - Click here for full details

Click here for the company’s career page

TODAY’S QUESTION

Jolene asks, “I keep receiving feedback that I have too many years of experience or that I wouldn’t enjoy the role because I’m overqualified. How am I supposed to navigate this type of feedback?”

Recommendation: this is painful because you’re supposed to be showing how qualified you are so it feels like a slap in the face to be overqualified. Here’s how I’d alter my job search if I received this feedback:

• First, maybe they’re complete and utter idiots. Maybe, they’re right. What do we know? A job that doesn’t challenge you at all might be a terrible fit, even if you are desperate for a role. For the time being, let’s assume they’re not 100% wrong.

• Second, if they’re right, then the first thing I would do is begin applying to more senior roles. If you’re being rejected from the associate role, try senior associate or manager roles.

  • One way to get a better sense of where you should be is to look at the people who currently work at the company and see how many years of experience they have and what roles they currently hold.

  • The one big pushback is that if you apply for more senior roles, they often want local experience. Check this article out for help in that area.

• Finally, if you have more interviews coming up for roles where this is likely to be an issue, jump in front of it. It may be that you’re not answering the question of “why this role?” in a way that answers the overqualified question before it’s asked.

  • Put yourself in their shoes and make the answer logical so that they’re thinking, “ohhhh that’s why they applied for this role, even though they have double the necessary experience”.

Conclusion:

This is a tough one - I mean why do they give you the interview at all if you’re overqualified. No matter what the reason, you can either apply to different roles or prepare to answer the question before it’s brought up.