"Overqualified"

[NorthStar]

I'm 48 and I've been repeatedly told by recruiters during a job search that I'm "overqualified". [Even though several members of company boards have PhDs.]  I'm a BS,  MS,  MBA,  PhD holder and admit that I may be more qualified than most, am beginning to wonder if this is more of an ageism thing than a qualifications thing.     I'm even finding this to be the case when I apply for positions in continental Europe, where, due to free education,  even the baristas have master's degrees.  

At which point along the education journey should one stop learning? I would have thought learning is a life-long activity but it seems industry does not believe this to be the case.  Does anyone have some thoughts about this quandary? 

Apologies if this question has already been answered but my search of "overqualified" yielded no responses.

[rachel83az]

Nothing says that you have to mention all of your degrees every time you're doing a job search. If the job only wants to know about a Bachelor's degree, you might want to mention a Master's degree but probably not the PhD. I'm not saying that you should lie, of course, simply don't bring it up. Especially if you don't want the kind of jobs that your higher degrees might indicate. Not everyone wants to be a college professor or whatever, and that's okay. Tailor your resume/CV to the job in question.

[Vle045]

I am 49. I have been told only to include what is relevant on my resume. Remove dates from my degrees (to prevent ageism). Put older experiences in an undated clump of "other experiences." So maybe if you are looking for something that would not require your Ph.D., MBA, or MS.... leave it off.

If I were to go in for an interview, you'd better bet I am going to be coloring my hair! Luckily, I look VERY young for my age. The only giveaway is my random greys. My neighbors thought I was around 32 (with the greys). Without greys, teachers thought I was my son's older sister. (When he was in 8th grade).

Don't stop learning! I plan to continue learning in some way or another until I can't.

[allvia]

I don't think we have enough information. What are the degrees in? What type (field) are the jobs in? There are many people here that have higher degree (Master/Doctorate) but often those degrees don't seem related to their actual profession. For example, IT/CS professionals with Master/PhDs in Psychology.  Where in the world are you - US or Europe or someplace else? Job markets are very different from region to region in the US, and certainly different overseas as from the US.

[dfrecore]

Leave it off your resume if you don't need it for the job. Simple.

[MichaelGates]

On any given day I can have one person look at my resume and tell me I am overqualified and another person look at my resume for the same position and tell me I am underqualified. I once applied for a position and was told I didn't have enough experience and qualifications, even though I had been working for decades.. They hired a girl just out of High School. Her first job. They only wanted to hire women. People have ulterior motives. So take anyone saying you are over or under qualified with a grain of salt.

[davewill]

The complaint of "overqualified" can mean they are afraid you won't stay because you are actually looking for a better job. If you have a work history showing otherwise (you stay for a long time) by all means point that out.

[NorthStar]

I am 49. I have been told only to include what is relevant on my resume. Remove dates from my degrees (to prevent ageism). Put older experiences in an undated clump of "other experiences." So maybe if you are looking for something that would not require your Ph.D., MBA, or MS.... leave it off.

If I were to go in for an interview, you'd better bet I am going to be coloring my hair! Luckily, I look VERY young for my age. The only giveaway is my random greys. My neighbors thought I was around 32 (with the greys). Without greys, teachers thought I was my son's older sister. (When he was in 8th grade).

Don't stop learning! I plan to continue learning in some way or another until I can't.

It is against the law to ask an applicant their age, so people use graduation dates as a proxy. First problem,  many ATS systems require it or they will not proceed to accept your application.  (2) Even if you could only reference employment dates that would still tell them a guess at how old you are.  A professional job that requires a degree plus 15 years of experience and I can guess that you are 38 years old.  (3) Let's say you leave "other experience" off your resume. If you just begin the most recent "Senior Manager" position you've held for 5 years.  It raises major questions about just how you got to the position and recruiters have a bias to trash any resume they don't fully understand.

---

The complaint of "overqualified" can mean they are afraid you won't stay because you are looking for a better job. If you have a work history showing otherwise (you stay for a long time) by all means point that out.

Sure you could point that out if you get to be interviewed by a human.  The fact is that the majority of applicants are trashed even before they get a first screening call.

---

Nothing says that you have to mention all of your degrees every time you're doing a job search. If the job only wants to know about a Bachelor's degree, you might want to mention a Master's degree but probably not the PhD. I'm not saying that you should lie, of course, simply don't bring it up. Especially if you don't want the kind of jobs that your higher degrees might indicate. Not everyone wants to be a college professor or whatever, and that's okay. Tailor your resume/CV to the job in question.

The problem is that if you left out say your PhD and PostDoc from your resume that could leave a gap of about a decade.  Recruiters are generally averse to gaps of a few months, imagine if the gap were several years. Recruiters have a bias to trash.  

Also, that was possible in the pre-digital years.  Now everything leaves a digital footprint.  I use LinkedIn as my "master resume" and then tailor individual resumes to specific positions - but LinkedIn is the first place recruiters look.

[fromthedepths]

Sure you could point that out if you get to be interviewed by a human. The fact is that the majority of applicants are trashed even before they get a first screening call.

Man ain't that the truth.

[NorthStar]

On any given day I can have one person look at my resume and tell me I am overqualified and another person look at my resume for the same position and tell me I am underqualified. I once applied for a position and was told I didn't have enough experience and qualifications, even though I had been working for decades.. They hired a girl just out of High School. Her first job. They only wanted to hire women. People have ulterior motives. So take anyone saying you are over or under qualified with a grain of salt.

If you accept everything with "a grain of salt" (which is good advice for life in general) how do you know how to improve? If your application is rejected and the recruiter bothered to tailor their rejection letter toward your application, the way you tailor your resume or cover letter to their job posting would leave the candidate with tremendously more information.  If you've identified weaknesses,  tell me where they are so I can address them. But the formulaic regret letter just doesn't help anyone but HR prevents the corporation from being sued.  

I applied for a job,  it went to a recruiter who liked my resume. LinkedIn tells me that recruiters viewed my LinkedIn profile twice.  Presumably, they saw something they didn't like. So I received a rejection letter. I don't mind being rejected but at least tell me what you saw of my profile that moved me from the "maybe" pile to the "no" pile!