Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
Angela Howard – Culture Expert
Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
When you’re first entering the workforce, gaining enough experience to get hired can be a challenge. Many job descriptions require two, three, five, or even ten years of experience!
Ironically, too much experience can be as detrimental as too little. I recently interviewed a Cordon Bleu graduate who had successfully managed multiple restaurants. Due to an economic shift, he’s now looking for a job—and having trouble finding one because many establishments are intimidated by his level of experience and find him “overqualified.”
So, how can you showcase the value of your relevant work experience without pricing yourself out of the market? We’ll look at a few simple strategies you can use during the application and interview process.
Why Overqualification Can Hold You Back
It seems counterintuitive that a well-qualified candidate would be overlooked in favor of a less-qualified candidate. Here are some of the reasons companies give for making that choice:
- They won’t stay. Some companies worry that the employee won’t find fulfillment with them and will quickly move on to greener pastures. This would leave them with the time and resource expenditure of finding and onboarding yet another candidate.
- They’ll want a higher salary. If they’ve previously held a higher-paying job, companies worry that a candidate will demand they match that—or they’ll quickly leave for a higher-paying opportunity.
- They won’t do things our way. Many companies have specific processes and ways of doing things. They may worry that someone who previously had ample responsibility and leverage may want to do things their own way.
Now that you understand some of the reservations your hiring manager may have, let’s discover how to overcome them.
How to Talk About Your Experience
How you talk about your past experience will go a long way in how you are received. Let’s work through what you should say and how you should say it.
What You Say—Keep It Relevant
If you’ve been labeled as overqualified or overpriced, you may find yourself applying to jobs in other fields. When you do so, try to keep your descriptions of past employment as relevant as possible. Even if the field or industry is different, look for similarities—did you successfully manage a team of people? Did you work with numbers, technology, or the public face of the company?—and highlight those.
You may even want to exclude some of your experience so you won’t seem overqualified. For example, imagine a retired engineer who has taught at universities and published papers in his field. If he wants to take on a small job after retirement, sharing the details of his accomplishments and publications could cause the hiring manager to fall prey to one of the above reservations.
How You Say It—Keep It Humble
How you speak about your experience can be even more important than what you say. If your cover letter and interview responses take the tone of an arrogant boast, the hiring manager may assume you’ll want a paycheck to match.
Instead, try to cultivate humility. Humility can be described as modesty, a “low view of one’s own importance,” or viewing others as superior. This may seem counter-intuitive, but humility is especially important in leadership positions. Humble leaders listen to what others have to say and get along well with others. They admit mistakes. Ultimately, they’re a lot more hirable than equally skilled but proud candidates.
How to Discuss Salary
To avoid pricing yourself out of the market, it’s important to know when to discuss salary. Don’t rush into the discussion; it is generally best to wait until an offer is made or you are asked about your salary expectations.
If asked before the offer—some job applications even include this question—try to be vague and describe a wide range. This prevents you from either naming a set-in-stone price that is higher than what the company is willing to pay for the position, or naming a salary that is much lower and effectively cheating yourself out of the money you deserve.
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You can also mention that the salary is negotiable and dependent on other benefits that are offered. This gives you additional wiggle room, so to speak.
If All Else Fails, Employ Yourself
Depending on your field of work, level of experience, and geographic location, you may still find it difficult to find a job that pays the right salary, even after applying the helpful tips above. If this is true in your case, there is still something you can do—you can employ yourself.
There are several ways you can go about this. You might work remotely as a freelance consultant. This will allow you to use your expertise while effectively setting your own wages, workload, and schedule.
Alternatively, you could start your own business to similarly take advantage of your own skills and experiences.
And the restaurant manager we discussed at the outset? He’s now happily self-employed.
By Cara Siera
