Nancy Anton, the Voice on Recruiting, shares her experience and ideas on what hiring managers can do with the plethora of overqualified candidates that are presenting themselves for lower level job positions.

“Ask for an inch, and you get a yard! Ask for a staff accountant, and you’re buried in resumes from those who were a controller. Ask for an IT help-desk associate, and receive resumes from the directors of IT. We just aren’t used to having so many overqualified talented people to pick from.

During one recession I remember being young, working in retail, and thinking: “everyone in retail has to have a four-year or master’s degree, for that is what my co-workers all had.”

I didn’t know back then that I was in the middle of a recession, one that pales in comparison to today. People now faced with transition are diligently looking for the right fit, but are also considering applying for positions which they are overqualified for, and, then they are surprised, they are not getting them.

Overqualified workers will be quickly bored, frustrated and discouraged, and the moral in the office may suffer.”

[read the full article from Nancy Anton]

The final piece in her article I thought was good advice to sr. level job seekers as well as hiring managers. Consider this….

“As far as what we can do with the overqualified, one senior level HR strategic planner suggests the best fit for an overqualified candidate would be a staff-level in a totally new area, such as putting an operations person in a staff-level human resource role, or a retrained engineer in an entry-level IT position. Switching industries or areas will give a candidate the right opportunities to grow and learn, preserving their enthusiasm and optimism.”

About the author

Nancy Anton is an expert corporate recruiter and career counselor. She has both strong experience in corporate recruiting and contingency search. She currently is the owner of Nancy Anton: The Voice on Recruiting, and is a speaker, trainer, and consultant.  You can contact Nancy at (860) 325-5422 or connect with her via Nancy Anton’s LinkedIn profile.