Is the candidate too experienced? 5 ways to tell
April 2, 2009 by Sam NarisiPosted in: Assessing the right candidate, Interviewing, Special Report
These days, most companies get a flood of resumes for every open position they advertise — many of them from overqualified applicants who are newly in need of work. How can interviewers separate the ones who’ll quickly leave from the ones who are worth hiring?
Overqualified applicants can give companies a chance to get top-notch talent on the cheap — or it could just mean people are going to quit as soon as the kind of job they’re used to is available.
Here are some topics to address in an interview to see if a candidate will pose any problems:
- “What would it take to keep you here?” — Retention is often a manager’s biggest concern when considering an overqualified applicant. But many times, that concern can be cleared up just by asking the candidate how the problem can be solved.
- “What makes a job exciting to you?” — Another top worry is that candidates used to higher positions will be bored at a job with less prestige. In the interview, managers should find out what keeps the applicant interested in a job, and see if the answer fits the position.
- “Tell me about a time you and your boss disagreed on how to get something done?” – Sometimes, the more experience people have, the more they’re used to doing things their own way — which can cause problems once the person lands in a new environment. That’s why interviews should see how a candidate reacts to disagreement and change.
- “How much of this type of work did do in your previous job(s)?” — Sometimes, an overqualified applicant is a former manager trying to step down to a production-level job. That can be a problem if the person hasn’t done any hands-on work for several years.
- “What are your long-term goals?” — The goal of most overqualified candidates is to get back to a job at a level similar to the one they left. Others are simply tired of management and want to stay at a lower level. It helps to find out the candidate’s expectations for advancement and consider whether the company can offer a compatible path.
Has your company hired any overqualified applicants lately? How did it work out? What did the hiring manager ask in the interview to make sure there would be no problems?
Share you experience in the comments section below.
Tags: Economy, overqualified, questions
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Good questions to ask – the main thing is to interview the person and don’t assume because a person was making more money or had a bigger title that they will leave. I’m a senior HR person making 6 figures, but I work / live away from my home in Charleston, SC. If I could find a job in the Charleston area once my job ends here I would gladly take a 30 – 40k cut in pay to be gainfully employed. I don’t need the senior title – as long as the work was motivating – that’s all that counts for me.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:39 pm
It could be said that I was overqualified for the position that I have had for the past few years as I’d been V.P. of H.R. for an organization with as many as 5,000 employees in the past and my current position is H.R. Director for a library system of about 150 employees. While my copmpensation is somewhat lower now the quality of life is much better; in the past my commute was horrendous and I didn’t see my family during the week. But even in a smaller role in a non-profit new things can be learned, like how to get a millage passed for survival. I was in retail before, but the library and non-profit world is as dignified, if not more so. I know the llibrary “CEO” was very pleased to have me join and a bit concerned that I’d leave, and although I’ve received other offers of larger roles with greater compensation, I’ve turned them down and thankfully so as they were either in the autos or back to the hateful commute. Besides, less can be more as I also now am able to conduct reemployment classes for the public ~ something I could never do in the for-profit world.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
There is something to be said for individuals who are willing to do something others may think they are overqualified. Too often I’ve seen good applicants passed over because the person was “too close to retirement” or “over qualified” when the person was ready to “downsize” his or her career. We will probably see more applicants with more experience and older, who just either need or want to work after they have worked in higher level positions.
April 7th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I have recently joined the ranks of the “professionally unemployed”, as my company had to react to rapidly declining profits by downsizing 25% of it’s workforce. If a company can hire a highly developed employee then they can only prosper from the hire. The knowledge, skills and abilities that will be introduced to the company by this individual is an extreme benefit and should also be looked at as a cost savings simply because the individual is already trained and it didn’t cost them anything; great bargain!
April 8th, 2009 at 10:06 am
I have hired at least half a dozen “overqualified” people, who were in supervisory or management positions in their former jobs, but who wanted to return to “just doing the work.” While most people seem to aspire to to management positions, many realize belatedly that being a supervisor/manager requires a “career change.” It’s a different job, with a different knowledge base and requiring different skills. Some adapt and thrive and others long for the good old days when they were only responsible for their own work.
In the case of the folks that I hired, most have eventually become supervisors again, but their roles here are still a long way from the stress of their former positions (manager of a bank, VP of a financial firm, for example).