I am currently working in my field for $8 an hour. I applied for a job I didn't particularly want that paid a lot better as an auto claims adjuster for Geico, because I heard they were hiring. They sent me a form e-mail saying that they were not interested in interviewing me. As neither experience nor degree was required, I can only assume overqualification was the reason that I was not conisdered for the job.

Overqualification may not be a significant issue for someone in a middle class position wanting to change jobs, but it is a serious issue when you have no way to pay your expenses and few are willing to grant you an interview.

I tend to agree with some of the Amazon reviewers who thnk that you need a reality check.

The problem isn't in individuals' willingness to work. The problem is the gatekeepers. The name of the game is getting around them, and everyone offers up their own strategies, though I haven't gotten any to work.

The term "overqualified" was used with me by a Workforce1 account manager, which basically told me that Workforce1 would be useless in my job hunting efforts, even if the Department of Labor requires people receiving unemployment benefits to use their "services," which are basically good for getting you work in fast food, retail, or manual labor.

I think that people do have to worry about being overqualified. According to Bill Ryan, (2010) a reporter for the New Hampshire Business Review, many people do not get hired for jobs because they are overqualified. This happens for many reasons including “being judged a flight risk” and “being to expensive” (as cited in Ryan, 2010, p. 39). I would have to agree with Mr. Mohr (above) that employers do have the luxury of being selective as there are more people with high levels of qualifications looking for jobs right now; this is due to our economy. The job market is so over saturated with talented people that Ryan (2010) reported, “There are so many qualified people looking for work right now that overqualified looks potentially problematic. Hiring managers can afford to be very selective…why bring someone onboard who is used to much more money and benefits than we can provide” (p. 39). This makes it clear that this is a real world problem for highly qualified job seekers and should be a real worry. However Ryan (2010) gives some suggestions on how to increase one’s chance of being hired such as accepting a pay cut, showing the ability to work with others [despite superior knowledge and experience], and showing the potential employer flexibility to new ideas (p. 39).

Reference

Ryan, B. (2010). The overqualified job candidate. New Hampshire Business Review, 32(10), 39. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database.

I believe the current job market is more of a reason to be concerned with being over qualified. Right now I think that employers have the upper hand when it comes to choosing who they hire because more than ever, people are willing to take less pay just to have a job. That being said, employers seem to recognize this and I think they see it as a way to save money for less talent that they can improve as time goes on at no cost to them. Yes, for the first few weeks or months they might lose some production considering the on the job training they conduct with employees but consider that they will save even more money in the long run when production/ experience has caught up with the job tasking. Most jobs that were full time 6-7 years ago, such as retail, are now down to 30 hours per week and even less because employers do not have the money or are choosing not to offer medical coverage on their employees. So offering less pay and no full time benefits saves them money.
Everyone has an opinion about what they are worth, comparable to a seller’s market in real estate. Right now it is a buyer’s market where in the employer is the buyer and they can dictate what they pay if highly skilled people are willing to accept that they probably will receive less then they want.