Overqualified?

[Jeraly 4]

I was going to throw in my 2 cents on being overqualified, and I see the OP got the job, so now I just want to say Congratulations!!!

I can relate to the being "overqualified" frustration. I only had it officially happen once, and it was for a job that I really wanted. What sucks is that usually the companies will put you through 2, 3 and 4 interviews before telling you this. I once went through 5 formal interviews and tests. Then I got a letter saying I was not the right person for the position. The worst part was that the letter was dated 2 days before my last interview.

Now I just down play myself and it seems to work for me.

:o

OMG - I can't believe that!!

[athena_ny 1]

I was going to throw in my 2 cents on being overqualified, and I see the OP got the job, so now I just want to say Congratulations!!!

I can relate to the being "overqualified" frustration. I only had it officially happen once, and it was for a job that I really wanted. What sucks is that usually the companies will put you through 2, 3 and 4 interviews before telling you this. I once went through 5 formal interviews and tests. Then I got a letter saying I was not the right person for the position. The worst part was that the letter was dated 2 days before my last interview.

Now I just down play myself and it seems to work for me.

:o

OMG - I can't believe that!!

Eh, it could have been a form letter where the person who typed it forgot to change the date. I know most places that rejected me clearly used a form letter.

[Anna C. 4]

Some companies use the overqualification. The company I used to work for here in the Bay Area hired me and others for a job which required that you speak German fluently. We never needed to speak German. One day I was wondering why and someone in HR told me: because they know European college grads are overqualified, most of them have a MA and speak at least 3 languages. They need a first job and put up with the little PTO and salary (ok it wasn't that bad, but an American MA graduate would ask for 5-10k more, basically we got paid like people who just finished college and have no experience). They keep advertising the position with the German requirement and only hire Europeans... I found that pretty disappointing, knowingly using people, and even ruder to admit it... Oh well; now I have the foot in the door and don't need to put up with that stuff anymore! Just my 2 Cents.

Edited March 22, 2008 by Anna C.

[Dr. Obvious 49]

i talked to my mentor the other day, and she told me to be prepared for 6 months plus jobhunt due to economy. they are laying people off all over the place...i hold a masters degree in management, did my graduate exchange year at a top30 university business college in the MBA program and can't find a job. *sigh*

It took me nearly an entire year to find a job worth its salt. I arrived back in the US on March 22, 2007 and did not find a truly good job until March 12, 2008. I don't have an MA, but I do have a BA and several years of on the job experience. I had to take a lot of ####### jobs, spent probably weeks in hours sending out my application materials to a billion different companies. I wasted lots of time going to interviews that didn't go anywhere, told everything under the sun, including overqualified. I wanted to jump off a cliff a million times and cursed the day a thousand times I ever came back to my own frigging country. It was a nightmare, but that looks like it is finally over for now. My employer offers full benefits, 30 paid days off a year, decent salary, and the work is interesting to boot so far. They are actually looking to expand their workforce, maybe the exception to the rule right now. I am holding on to this job for dear life for awhile.

My uncle lost his job in January 2007...the job hunt continues. He is also "overqualified" (maybe code for 'too old' at this point approaching 50). It is ghastly out there.

I found my job through my university's private job board. If your university has one available to alumni, you might want to check it out, if you haven't already. Good luck everyone!

[Agentes 0]

It took me nearly an entire year to find a job worth its salt. I arrived back in the US on March 22, 2007 and did not find a truly good job until March 12, 2008.

I am happy for you. It sounds like you ended up getting something you like. I am going into this with the idea that it will be a while for my wife to find a good job. I make enough to support us, so hopefully this will take away some of her frustrations when she is looking for her first job here. I would like her to be able to take her time, so she can find a good fit the first time.

The worst part was that the letter was dated 2 days before my last interview.

Yeah that was true, and I think that it was dated correctly. The reason I think this is because the very last interview was kind of spontaneous, and the envelope was postmarked on the day of the interview. I think they had the letters all ready to go and thought they should talk to me one last time before sending it off.