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Is your company brave enough to hire overqualified job applicants?
Posted on May 3, 2017 at 5:52 AM |
No, probably not. In fact,
I’m guessing your company doesn’t even interview them for fear of the following: 1. When more
experience and skills are obvious from their LinkedIn profile or job
application it naturally brings the perception of added value. And added value brings the perception of
higher pay, even if the salary range hasn’t been disclosed. If that perceived higher salary is higher
than your budget for the position the application goes into the “overqualified”
file. 2. Recruitment is expensive and takes time, so of course every employer wants
the most return on their HR investment.
If the applicant brings additional value it’s natural to conclude that
they have lots of “options.” Therefore the
applicant probably wouldn’t stay very long.
Let’s file that one with the overqualified too. 3. Additional experience must mean they’ll get bored with a lower tasked
job. And who wants employees who are not
motivated or refuse to be “engaged?” 4. Additional experience implies that they are older and set in their ways. And the young manager the applicant would
report to really views them as a potential internal competitor, not a potential
mentor. 5. Their additional skills and experience means the applicant has obviously
applied for the wrong job. That means
there must be something wrong with them, or they have something to hide. There could be several other
reasons, but you’ll never know because your organization doesn’t take the time,
or see the need to have a conversation. No
doubt your management has metrics, case studies or white papers that explain
why it’s always done this way. And yet,
the overqualified candidate expressed interest.
They initiated first contact with your company. If nothing else, don’t you wonder why? For example, what if: · They
want to shift industries. · Move to
a new location. · Travel
less, or more. · Achieve
greater work-life balance. · They are just ready for a change. It’s time to rethink
this situation because on the positive side overqualified can also mean: 1. Well known
and connected to your market. 2. Influential 3. Knowledgeable 4. Self-sufficient
and easy to manage. 5. Motivated,
enthusiastic, even passionate about their work. 6. Able to
provide fast results. 7. All of
the above. Look, regardless of how long an overqualified
candidate stays, he or she is bound to add value to your employees and company. You could do worse things than hire an
amazing performer, even if he or she stays only six months. So, make the time to find out what really motivated them to apply in order
to validate additional process considerations.
Examine and evaluate their social capital and personal brand carefully. The last thing you want to do is dismiss a relationship
that could be useful to your sales, marketing or executive team. Consider creating a networking process to
introduce the candidate to key employees within your organization. That action will help your current employees
grow their social capital, and at the same time soften the rejection and keep
doors open if hiring them is not an option at this time. |
Categories: Human Resources, Leadership
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