“I don’t think he’s right for the role, he’s overqualified and he’ll end up leaving”
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard this… well I wouldn’t be able to retire, but I could have a pretty decent holiday. It always puzzles me when we submit a candidate to a client and they have reservations around the candidate being ‘too good for the role’. My advice is always the same – find out why they want the job, and if there is a legitimate interest in the role then figure out a way to harness all the other additional skills / experience they bring to the table.
People who become “highly experienced” often do it in very stressful environments, and sometimes they arrive at a point where they wish to slow down and achieve more work / life balance. They actually WANT a job they are over-qualified for. Now providing they aren’t looking to just cruise through their days, you can benefit from capturing huge amounts of knowledge and experience that can have benefits right across your entire organisation.
So next time you’re looking at someone’s application and thinking they’re too overqualified for the vacancy you have, pick up the phone and have a chat with them. Making an assumption and casting them aside could cost you the kind of experience / industry insights / contacts that most organisations can only dream of capturing.
