Because I’m going back to classes now, I’m trying to find a part-time job that at least pays minimum wage, preferably before my unemployment benefits run out and I end up buried in debt. I’m just a little worried that because 1) I haven’t had much experience working and I’m just beginning to get my shit together and 2) I’m going for my third (yes, THIRD, I must be insane) degree, the places where I’m looking for employment may be disinclined to hire me.
So, Dopers, please fight my ignorance. Will anyone straight out tell me that I’m “overqualified” for a position? Should I be honest about my financial need and my willingness to work what amounts to a menial position?
The problem, from an employer’s perspective, is that you would never be happy doing that job. They see you taking the job as a stop-gap measure till you find something better. That or you end up hating the job because it is not challenging and/or beneath you which can cause workplace hassles.
Last, it can be the case where the employer would rather train a new person to do things “their” way rather than wrestle with someone who considers themself so far past the job that they “know better” and argue or change how things are done. Even if you are correct and can do it better a different way most bosses tend to not like it much.
Hardly hurts to try for the job though. You never know.
I have a college degree and work in my career field in broadcasting.
Earlier this year I got a part time job at Panera Bread. I was upfront with the manager, telling him I needed a little extra money. He was impressed with my maturity level and hired me on the spot.
So, yes, I was overqualified for the job, but since I was upfront with the manager, explaining my situation and why I was doing this, it was fine.
I think overqualification comes into play when you’re trying to get a full time job in a more professional or managerial position. I’ve helped my boss interview for positions within the department, and I’ve seen resumes that make me say, “Why the hell would he be interested in this position?” Since you’re going for a part time job and not a career, I think you should be fine. Part-time has high turnover anyway, I think the manager would be willing to jump at someone a bit overqualified in the hopes of getting a more responsible employee. After all, it’s not like you HAVE to work there. If they don’t hire you, there’s always another job down the street.
It is absolutely possible in theory and in the real world. I often interview people for nice, white collar jobs in business systems analysis (a branch of IT that intersects with business). I talk with managers of all levels after and interview and we have so far all agreed for all applicants after two years of this. Over-qualification in any of our many areas of our requirements will get you shit-canned faster than underqualification.
All interviewers have their own theories on this but we don’t want ex-directors or people that super-specialized in one skill for 10 years. We need generalists and those are often younger people although they don’t have to be. It is hard to describe but everyone I work with knows it when they see it and we would much rather teach a talented but inexperienced person rather than bring on somebody that is talented but also forced themselves into experience in a focused area of one of our requirements.
Yes, is it possible and is something that happens in employment considerations a lot. I’ve felt that when I have hired people, for the same reasons that Whack-a-Mole mentioned. And, it is one of the reasons I was, until recently, out of work in my regular field for a year. (I couldn’t even get a job at CostCo or Target because they knew/suspected that I would have only stayed until I found something else.)
I finally stopped listing my MBA on my resume and job applications.
I had that conversation come up in an interview once, I agreed that I was way overqualified but I would also cost him next to nothing to train (plenty of experience already) and even if I lasted a month it would still work out for him.
I ended up working with him for around 6 months and trained a couple new guys before I left.
some people would probably just auto disqualify you for being overqualified but if they are that narrow do you want to work for them anyway? even part time?
If you think it will be an issue, I would think you could cherry pick the info you put into a resume. Not lie of course, but not divulge certain qualities that you fear might not get you hired. No point in listing a business degree for a part time job at McDonalds. See?
I think of overqualified as someone that has held a particular job at that level a while back and has moved on to the higher level of the same career field. For example; I’m currently a senior level systems engineer and would probably have a problem getting a job as a jr programmer.
Just because you “may” be overeducated, does not mean you are even qualifed for some minimum wage jobs. True a lot of minimum age positions are zero skill level, so if you have zero skills and are willing to work, you should be hired. Not being happy in a high turn over type job is not really an issue, getting bodies to do the work is. Some waiter/waitress jobs are less than minimum wage not counting tips, but show up with no skill at all and you will be lucky to get the dishwasher job.
There are plenty of law students and doctoral students who hold part-time jobs, despite the fact that they already have degrees.
Being “overqualified” is only a problem if you’re applying for a job in which the employers
a) have to invest a lot of time and effort in training you
b) need someone they can count on to be around for a long while
But if you’re applying for a relatively simple job that doesn’t require a lot of training, and if it’s in the retail/restaurant/clerical field, your potential employers won’t mind that you’re applying for a job that’s “beneath” you if you explain the circumstances. Bosses in those sectors expect turnover.
A couple years ago I found myself fresh out of college with a shiny new bachelor’s degree and moving to a new state with NajaHusband for his grad school program. I started out applying for anything within reach of my degree, stuff I was really interested in and qualified for educationally, but with little related experience. The job market here was drastically bad at the time with an ungodly unemployment rate, so I lost out every time to folks with similar educational backgrounds but with actual, real-world experience, even for entry level positions.
After six months and running quickly out of savings I was applying for anything I could get an application for, things like retail stores and such. What I found was that I couldn’t even get a returned phone call from those applications, until it occurred to me to “dumb down” my resume and take out all the education and half the work experience.
Immediately I started getting called for interviews again.
After working 50-, 60-, and sometimes 70-hour weeks in tech support to get through grad school, when I finally got my master’s degree, my first job in libraries was as … a tech support guy. I didn’t complain because the base salary for that job was higher than the base for a librarian, and because I had 3 years experience, I was able to negotiate a 10% increase above base. On the plus side, the job listing did say that a master’s degree was “highly desired,” so I was pretty much their dream candidate.
I’m all for out and out lying on this one. If you had any work alongside study then make the work your primary occupation. If there are periods where you were only studying then say that, but say that you were doing something more vocationally inclined or something which the employer might find actually useful (assuming you have those skills!).
I agree with astorian. I hire sales admins, and we need to have someone who will be happy working at that level for a long time. We don’t need managers in that position, and if fact, someone who has been a manager will likely be really unhappy going back to clerical work. Since we invest a good amount of time training the person, we want someone who is going to be around for a couple of years.
As astorian says in the second paragraph, looking for something in a field with higher turnoever, and no one will really care that much.
Dumbing down the resume for a retail sales job isn’t a bad idea. No point in showing that you’ve got several degrees.
“Overqualified” generally doesn’t matter if your a student looking for part-time low-wage work. It can be an issue later on in your professional career.
For example, if you have extensive management level experience, I’m probably not going to hire you for a junior position because you will likely want too much money. Even if you say you’ll work for less money, you wil probably get bored or resentful and leave as soon as you can find a position at your appropriate level.
I worked for a company that wouldn’t hire applicants who had non-terminal Master’s degrees because they felt that they weren’t good workers. I have to admit that in my experience, they are right.
Along with this goes the notion that, not only will you leave at the first chance you get, but also that, while you’re there, you won’t be giving 100% to something you don’t want or enjoy.
Temp agencies are a good choice for working below your level of qualifications. This is where employers go when they want someone for a short period of time, so the fact that you wouldn’t stay forever is not an issue. Be up front with the temp agency that you want to work because you need the money. They’ve certainly heard that before. If you do a good job for them, and depending on what your eventually plans are, they may be able to keep their eyes out for a good temp-to-perm opportunity for you when you finish up your degree.
