How to respond to interviewer when you are overqualified for the position

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Need advice fast.

I have an interview tomorrow at a company in my profession for a lower position job.

it’s entry level, and I have 20 years experience. That includes experience in the position offered, maybe future opportunities to newer positions.

Pay is not a concern. Travel is local. My schedule is absolutely flexible.

I own my home, travel 6+ miles to office, can do OT, have no children, wives, husbands.

But when I’m asked or told I’m too qualified or over-qualified for this position, what’s best to tell them? Best to refute?

I’d love any advice. I’m hyperventilating just thinking about interview, because I haven’t interviewed in ten effing years!

Should mention I’ve been out of work for 16 months

Thanks to all in advance.

2

They may not care and may be happy to just get someone who they don’t have to train.

Or they are worried that you will quit as soon as you can find something better.

If the latter, they will want a story of why you will be happy to work at a job where you are overqualified.

“I found that I was the happiest when I was doing X, Y and Z” and I’ve been looking for a position where I could get back into doing that.”

3

I have had job applications before where I thought I was “overqualified,” only to find that the people I was competing with for the job were also equally overqualified too, even for entry-level roles. Nowadays, a lot of people jostle for job openings with multiple degrees, certs, years of experience, etc. I wouldn’t worry about any over-qualification issue.

4

Thanks to both of you so far. In truth, it is a way better position where I’m hands on and not shoving work on other people who I don’t feel are qualified to begin with. So, I could push that if asked.

Same time, it’s scary. I really hope its not the only impending interview.

5

Let us know how it goes!

When I first entered the full-time job market after getting my degree, I was competing in a difficult job market. An early interview was for a job I really, really, REALLY wanted. It was advertised as entry-level, and was a perfect fit for my skills and career interests. Alas, it went to someone who had ten years of experience. When they called me to tell me I didn’t get the job, they were very apologetic and honest. “You would be great for this position, it was a good fit, but we had to go with the most qualified applicant, and so we hired someone a lot like you except with ten years experience. If the job market weren’t so difficult, she wouldn’t have even been applying for this job, but realistically, it’s a terribly difficult time to be looking for a job in this field right now.”

So try not to worry or stress. It’s very possible your over-qualifications will be considered a plus over more junior applicants, and your interviewers will understand why you might want to apply despite having a higher experience/skill level than strictly required.

6

a) you absolutely should not mention that and

b) you should start your process by internally acknowledging why they might be correct in the sense that them hiring you might be good for you but not the best for them.

That being said, I’m 100% of the philosophy that you should only be looking out for #1 in job interviews and it’s the company’s side to look out for their interests.

You have a tricky needle to thread and you should find a narrative that feels authentic to you. You want to emphasize that taking a step back in your career is genuinely what you want: you’re middle aged, you want to spend more time with your kids/non work stuff, you’re financially secure enough that max salary isn’t the only thing you’re optimizing for, you enjoyed when the work was lower stress, you have a personality that, no matter what the level of the role, you put your all in and do an impeccable job. You’re going to be a low stress, high output reliable person who loves going to work every day and is completely happy never moving past this entry level position.

At the same time, employers are looking for entry level people who can grow into further responsibilities down the line. You don’t want to seem so unambitious that you’re excluded because they’re worried they can’t expand your role over time.

Honestly, one of the higher risk/higher reward strategies going into it might be to be completely honest about how you’re overqualified for this role. You might not get this exact role but you don’t know what other roles the company might be planning to open up in the future and you’re getting quality face to face time with the hiring manager such that they know to call you directly rather than make an open call when trying to hire for a new role, plus he might know others in your field who have a role more appropriate to you.

If the plan on their end is to hire a more senior role relatively soon, you can even make the compelling argument to just bring you in at the lower role with an eye towards slotting you in higher when the time is right. They’re getting a bargain in that they’re paying you junior level wages for senior level work and they get to evaluate you at the job before deciding.

But the larger meta-point is that, sadly, us smelly meat sacks empirically respond far more to confidence than actual rational evaluation almost all of the time. Figure out your narrative ahead of time that feels authentic to you (eg: past work scenarios that speak to the traits you’re trying to demonstrate, past co-workers who can speak to you holding certain personality traits) and walk in the room ready to deliver that narrative with confidence. You might still fail because the product you’re selling is not the one they’re looking to buy but at least you maximized your chances.

7

Then this is your perfect answer. It also helps that it’s true, it means you can speak confidently and passionately about it.

8

Years ago I relieved for a long in a managerial role and everyone, including my director, assumed that I would apply for and get the job when it was advertised. I was meeting with her and my deputy director and mentioned that I had no intention of applying for the job. They were horrified and tried to convince me to apply. To guilt me into it one asked, “Don’t you want to contribute the most that you can to the organization?” I replied that I thought the organization was better served by having me over contribute in a job that I really enjoyed rather than going through the motions in one that I didn’t. Both of them had worked their way up the ladder from HR backgrounds and accepted my point of view. The only unfortunate aspect of the whole thing was that some absolute dickhead ended up in the job and I moved on elsewhere anyway.

9

Throughout the interview, @Locrian, you need to be interviewing them to determine if that place / company / job / team is where you want to be. As you are doing so, and if as you go their responses validate that it is, then you need to enthusiastically react and communicate to them that that is the case, while it is happening during the interview.

As the interview goes along, for each and every reason that theirs is the good place / company / job / team for you, make a mental note of that reason. Or better yet write it down, briefly, e.g., jot down those reasons: “hours”, or “team chemistry”, or whatever those reasons are. All of them.

Towards the end of the interview, directly address that 500 pound gorilla in the room. Perhaps even ask them about it directly, if and only if you have determined during the interview that that is a good tact to pursue: “You know, I bring more skills / experience / qualifications than are required for this position. What if any concerns do you have about this?”

Take the bull by the horns. Directly and honestly.

Do this only after you have collected all the reasons that theirs is the good place / company / job / team for you.

With their answer, and with your reasons, as you close you need to make a pitch to them, you need to sell yourself to them that the fit of this position is perfect for you. And it is perfect for them. Use those notes, those reasons that you’ve jotted down — all of them.

You need to reassure them that you will be happy there. You need to reassure them that you will stay there, at that position, for much longer than what is considered traditional.

You do this by relating from your work history where and when you have already done this before: from my resumé please note that X years ago I worked at Company Y or Job Y, and while there because of Z I did this or I did that.

Come up with at least 2-3 of the best concrete examples from your work history where you have already done this.

You also do this by telling them why, for you, this position is perfect.

Optional: You can also solidify your case, solidify your being the best candidate for them, by writing down and giving to them personal references of people who will vouch for you regarding those specific work history examples or those reasons why this position is perfect for you. And hand that note to them, right there in the interview. It can be written down on a napkin, for all you care, or whatever piece of paper is available. Even if that note only says ‘Jim’ and ‘Company Y’, or ‘Company Y reference’ and tell them that you will send their contact info within X days.

And make sure that you do.

Another tact you can take is to ask them where they are in their selection process. Near the beginning? Towards the middle? Towards the end? And ask them how many good candidates do they have lined up? And where are you in that group? Or are you even in that group? If not, ask them why not?

At your interview, when you are done and leaving, you need to assure them that the fit of what they need is best met by you and what you bring to the table.

Another tact you can possibly take: tell them that if they offer you this job, that you will stay at least X years there with them. Actually use the words, while holding direct eye contact, “I give you my word that you will stay at least X years there with them.”

Follow-up: write a thank you email that summarizes and reminds them of these reasons. Do not send it that same day. Send it 1-2 days after your interview. Send it to every person that you interviewed with. Ideally do not send it to only one person, but to all. During your interview collect their emails and tell them that it is for a follow-up and thank you that you will send within 1-2 days.

Good luck. Kick some ass! Knock ‘em dead!

10

I once applied for a job where I literally had everything they needed … and more! :sunglasses:

There were two other candidates:

  • one knew me and said before we went in “If I’d known you were applying for this job, I wouldn’t have bothered!”

  • the other was a unemployed chap who said “I don’t know anything about this job, bit I’m applying for everything”

11

@Bullitt & @Shalmanese nailed it.

You need to know why you are applying for this particular position. And be comfortable in your own mind with whatever that “why” is. And be able to confidently make that sound like something that’s to the company’s benefit.

Doing the latter does not mean “Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” It means anticipating their possible objections and having a sincere-sounding response that works. And being able to weave those reassurances into your pitch, not wait for them to interrogate them out of you. Because they may not bother; instead they’ll just assume you’re a bad fit and you’ll never be given the explicit opportunity to rebut their assumptions.


Remember: Sincerity is the key to all success. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.

Which is why sales types rise to the top of most organizations. They were born able to fake sincerity and have a lifetimes’ practice. You only need to keep it up for an hour, and not even the whole hour.


You did not mention what sort of job this is, nor at what level of sophistication. Big difference between applying for an engineering / IT job, a white collar office droid job, a factory worker job, or a truck driver job. All those are doing, not managing. But the expectations of the interviewers about the people and attitudes they’re dealing with are very, very different.

ISTM most of the advice here is assuming this is engineering / IT / white collar office work.

12

Interviewer: “You’re somewhat overqualified for this position.”

Me: “No, I’m qualified. Everything extra you get is a bonus.”

That got me the job, which I had for 14 years before retiring. In fact, the HR director later told me that the man who was my supervisor mentioned specifically to her that he was impressed by that answer.

13

The big question when interviewing an overqualified candidate is “why do you want this job?”

Long ago I used to manage a graphics department. It was high churn production work-- we mostly recreated product labels for which the printing plates and negatives had been lost, so there was little originality or creativity involved. When I interviewed people, I’d often meet extremely creative, highly talented people with amazing portfolios. I would stress the lack of creative work, and sound them out with questions like “why do you want this job?” because I didn’t want them getting bored quickly or leaving as soon as they found a better opportunity.

So you just need to convince them why you want the job. Not why you’re settling for it.

14

Which raises a very interesting dichotomy in what a company is looking for.

For some companies and some jobs, they are looking for what we called “meat in the seat”. They don’t want people with career ambition, they don’t want somebody looking for personal growth and embiggenment. They’re looking for somebody to show up, do the tasks correctly and diligently, and keep doing that without HR involvement for years. The ideal candidate is ambitious about work, but not about a career.

Other companies and other jobs are all about personal growth, moving up the ladder, etc. They actively want people who want to grow, move, and shake. To these folks career ambition isn’t everything, but it’s a big thing. And often these folks mistakenly assume that career ambition causes work ambition or is a decent proxy for it. IMO nope, it often causes BS and brown-nosing in lieu of work. But if you are interviewing with an outfit that prizes career ambition, you better show some.


Interviewing for entry level jobs in whatever career field is a minefield since your answers to this dichotomy have to conform to their goals and expectations. Which could plausibly lean in either direction, and which they will often not explicitly tell you; @solost’s anecdote being a refreshing exception.

So you need to be working diligently to sort out which sort of company and job this is in the opening minutes of the interview and steer your answers to support their desired narrative. Or if you perceive that your and their goals in that area are too different, quit the charade, tell 'em your actual truth, & take the results.

Unless you’re just taking a job to put food on the table, taking one where you and they are a known bad fit from the git-go is a recipe for an unhappy and perhaps disastrous term of employment.

15

Having done a lot of job searches (and interviewed a lot of candidates from the other side of the table), I suppose my advice is focus on WHY this particular job and organization is a good fit. And if you can’t convince yourself of it, then maybe your interests would best be served not wasting your time and emotional energy hoping to land a job you don’t want.

16

You should have something ready for if/when they ask you about this gap in employment.

17

Yes, definitely. But by all means do not bring it up unsolicited! Let them raise any topic about you that they want to probe.

Just like this from @LSLGuy —

18

This is great advice. I always hated resumes where the goal was for the candidate to grow. The goal should be to help the company grow.
One good angle for the OP is to research the company and use that information to direct the interview to discussing how they can provide benefit. The ability to do that, which comes with experience, is a real differentiator.
This depends on the job, of course, but I always liked candidates who took the time to research what we did.

19

I think the OP is at their interview today. We hope it went well, @Locrian !

20

Well, this is all very solid advice! I really appreciate all of these responses!

Interview is in a couple hours. I’ll update after.

Very much appreciated!