"Over-qualified" is the 'new speak' for too old and no longer naive, it seems.

[ColesCountyDem]

I received a phone call this morning from a telecommunications company's Human Resources Office thanking me for submitting my application and performing well in my two interviews with the HRO, but informing me that the company believes I am "over-qualified" for the available opening and thus could not offer me the entry-level position for which I had applied. The lady with whom I spoke was truly pleasant and respectful, and I believe that she personally felt sorry about not being able to hire me. She encouraged me to keep my application updated and on-file with the company, however, because she thinks I would be hired for a supervisory position, should one become available.

Thirty years-ago, when I was still young and foolish, I would never have believed that in the year 2013, a large corporation would reject a job applicant on the basis of having TOO much experience in the industry. Back then, I would have thought that the corporation or other business would have reacted with, "Hey, look here, we have an applicant who doesn't need extensive and expensive training and who could probably start working for us 'hands on' in a matter of days!". The past year has shown me how wrong I was!

I'm 55 years-old, have an excellent work history (reliable, work well with others, excellent references and performance reviews, willing to take the initiative in resolving customer concerns, always willing to upgrade skills, attend and excel in voluntary continuing-education classes, a decade-plus of supervisory experience, 'cross-trained' in land line, wireless, DSL, satellite and CATV, etc.), university-educated plus, etc. . Except for last year, I have never been terminated or asked to resign, and last year's termination was the result of a union/management contract dispute that had absolutely nothing to do with my PERSONAL job performance.

Maybe I'm just being cynical as a result of this morning's disappointing news, but I've come to believe that companies actually prefer younger workers with no experience whatsoever, because a.) they will be less likely to leave the company should a better job become available and b.) they know that younger workers don't know that things weren't always 'dog eat dog', whereas older workers do know that it wasn't always this way.

In closing, this isn't the first time this has happened since I was laid off last August. It's not even the second or tenth time. It's happened so often now that I've actually come to dread the second interview with a potential employer. Like Charlie Brown with Lucy holding the ball, however, I'll wake up tomorrow and try to kick the ball, eve when I have every reason to expect that it will be pulled away at the last moment.

Thanks for hearing me out.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. "Overqualified" is HR-speak for:

"Because of your qualifications you will soon want a raise or a promotion and if you don't get one you'll leave the company for a better job after we've spent time and money training you."

It's very discouraging. All you can do is keep trying.

[ColesCountyDem]

2. Thanks for the hug!

I'll keep trying. Lord knows, I am PERSISTENT!

[jeff47]

23. Yep

While they're sure the OP can do the job, they're equally sure the OP would leave as soon as they found a more senior (and thus better paying) position.

[Art_from_Ark]

57. Yeah, that's exactly what "overqualified" means

Been there, done that (or more accurately, done to me).

[spinbaby]

3. What my son told me

My son is in IT and is with a small company that recruits on college campuses. He tells me that his company regards employed coders as too expensive and unemployed coders as probably incompetent, so they look for kids just out of school.

I've been looking in my field for awhile now and feel that I'm out of contention the second they look at my resume and see that I was with my last company for over 20 years--that alone marks me as too old to be employable by today's standards.

[ColesCountyDem]

6. I think that's my problem too, frankly. n/t

[LuvNewcastle]

4. There's a lot of older people (I mean 40+) who are having a tough time

getting work. There are a lot of young fresh college grads out there and companies find them a lot more exciting. It's going to be interesting to see what the older folks do in the mean time. I think that it's a good time for organizing with each other and getting involved. There's a lot we can give to the world; we just need to find our niche.

[ColesCountyDem]

8. What blows my mind is that I was asked to TRAIN these younger folks!

If I was qualified enough to train them, why am I not qualified to do the jobs they're getting?

[LuvNewcastle]

11. I do not understand corporate thought.

They are always coming from a place far removed from common sense. I honestly loathe everything about corporations. I've come to a place in my life where I'd rather be a cook at some mom-and-pop restaurant than ever work for another corporation.

[eridani]

49. I guess that 40 is the new 50. Total suckage n/t

[Triana]

5. It's ageism for sure.

Anyone over 50 losing their job is doubly screwed: 1) due to the lackluster job market; 2) due to their age. Employers want 20-somethings they can get on the cheap.

[ColesCountyDem]

9. Exactly! n/t

[LibDemAlways]

7. Your experience mirrors my husband's. Laid off

in 2010 when his division of the company closed. Shorty thereafter he attended a job fair held by another company. He was well qualified for the positions advertised, but was told bluntly that the company was only going to hire new college grads -read young people. Age discrimination pure and simple. He eventually had several phone interviews, some of which led to in-person interviews where he was told he was "over-qualified" - euphemism for too old. He was 59. Finally found work though a former co-worker at a cheap-o outfit at a 40% cut in pay. Beggers can't be choosers. We're currently paying a stiff college tuition so retirement isn't an option. I hope you find a company that will value your skill set and experience and make you an offer. However, it looks like employers are shying away from full timers in favor of short term contractors - yet another way to screw the worker. This country sucks.

[ColesCountyDem]

10. My only 'light at the end of the tunnel' is coming from a college classmate.

A college classmate who's aware of my situation is starting up his own IT company. If he succeeds, he has told me that he won't hesitate to hire me. I pray daily that his company makes it!

[daleanime]

31. Tell him/her that they need to hire you quick....

cause you'll make sure it succeeds!

[MNBrewer]

12. I've started considering leaving my PhD off my resume

I truly believe that I'm not hearing back from the low level jobs I've been applying for because of it.

*sigh* Unemployed...still.

[ColesCountyDem]

33. Same here with my J.D. .

[antigop]

13. so sorry, ColesDem. Hope things get better.

Wishing you all the best.

[ColesCountyDem]

34. Thank you!

[CK_John]

14. It's deeper than your resume. It's about the lingo of the youth, how they use the web,

there causal lifestyle, and there disdain for regimentation. Start hanging with your competition (20/30 yr olds) and see if you can adjust.

[ColesCountyDem]

35. Not quite sure I understand.

I built my first computer in 1992 and have been on and used the internet since 1994. I'm as tech savvy as most IT and CIS graduates.

[jtuck004]

48. Wrong. You need to stick a cell phone in your ear 24x7, tweet inane crap 8 days a week, learn little

except how to make excuses for not accomplishing shit.

The fact that we were doing autocad when you had to take a tape to another state to create an animation, configuring telephone switching equipment that was far more complex than the vast majority of small corporate routers, or using Sun Solaris to operate the first ISP in one of the larger cities while most people were mystified at what to do with an AOL floppy, and that, for the vast majority of this crap, it's just a different configuration file to edit, with damn little real change in a lot of it, means relatively little

I know some will disagree, but where are the results if they are so much more "techy"? Certainly youtube has more influence than television, and people using phones to check things out make purchases from them about 60% of the time vs other methods, but their accomplishments in a country where many people are worse off than they were 6 years ago are faint, at best. People don't develop on mobile devices, they develop for them, and as those devices have taken over the market the quality of life hasn't improved for very many, and deteriorated for a large number.

[defacto7]

54. You are right on the mark.

Sad to say and a cynical as it seems... that's what it is.

[jtuck004]

55. I have such trouble distinguishing between cynicism and reality these days...

[defacto7]

58. Is there a difference?

[TroglodyteScholar]

15. They can keep the starting wage much lower...

...if they hire some young kid who's smart but doesn't know wtf he's doing yet. And many companies would rather do just that.

Kinda sad.

[ColesCountyDem]

36. I suspect there's more truth in that than most would care to admit.

Apparently, 17 years of 'hands on' experience and 66 straight quarters of 10/10 'extremely well-satisfied' customer-experience feedback surveys mean nothing. *sigh*

[TBF]

16. It's not new - it meant the same thing twenty five

years ago when I was job hunting. "Over-qualified" means you will need more $$$ than they want to pay, or that they think you will take it short-term but jump as soon as you find something more suitable.

[ColesCountyDem]

37. I'm sure it has been going on that long.

It's just that 30 years ago, I apparently didn't see or notice it, or envision it ever happening to me.

[TBF]

47. I know. It sucks -

My job was being a paralegal - and in the 90s they were in big demand. We didn't make a high base salary but the overtime in the large law firms was great! I would walk in and get offers in the interview. I can only imagine if I went out now in my late 40s (after time off with kids no less). I would be hard-pressed to find a job as a volunteer much less get paid. It has changed that much in just a couple of decades. And I'm quite sure much of the work I used to do is now outsourced.

[snooper2]

17. Know anything about getting solaris running from scratch?, SIP, routing skills?

I think we still have a spot open in the lab-

Plano TX-
Need to know MPLS, VPLS and layer 1 & 2 of the OSI model at least- (no time to teach somebody 1,2 - 4,5 )

[ColesCountyDem]

38. Gahhhhhhhh! Nope.

Thanks for the lead, though!

*le sigh*

[Egalitarian Thug]

18. No "seems" about it and it's been going on for decades.

If you think being middle aged and competent is hard, try hitting middle age and being regarded as legendary.

Neither performance nor competence mean anything anymore, it's entirely how much will you take for how little, that's it, eof.

[winter is coming]

21. +1. The job ads are mostly for entry level grunts and high-level rainmakers.

If you're experienced, competent, and somewhere between those two extremes, you're basically screwed.

[Egalitarian Thug]

27. They won't touch you throughout the scale.

The difference is that when you're famous for your work, it's a director or higher that tells you you're overqualified and you'd never be happy in such a pedestrian position.

[ColesCountyDem]

39. "Neither performance nor competence mean anything anymore, it's entirely how much will you take..."

I'm coming to that realization. What REALLY galls me is when the HR person I'm talking to mentions the 'glowing' or 'wonderful' recommendations I've received from AT& (the last 17 years) and other employers I worked for before 1996, and then declines to hire me! When did being GREAT at your job become a liability?

[winter is coming]

46. When companies stopped wanting to pay money for "GREAT".

I'd say it began in the 80's, when companies started encouraging their older employees to retire by opening retirement windows: "retire in the next X months and we'll add Y to the number of years you have with the company". And so they began skimming off their most expensive/experienced employees. These days, they just shove you out of the window without making you a retirement deal first.

[Egalitarian Thug]

60. Yeah, I know. Crazy isn't it? n/t

[mopinko]

19. lots of us boomers are just dropping out.

finding things to do that are fulfilling, even if they aren't money. that is why i became an urban farmer (extremely lucky to be able to). but many are taking care of family members, or starting small businesses.
once obamacare is fully up and running, the trickle will become a flood.

[ColesCountyDem]

41. I did the 'farmer's market' thing until I had to have surgery, back in August.

I had a 50' x 40' garden (I live in the country) and grew 37 different varieties of vegetables, etc., starting in early April. I did fairly well, overall, and donated what didn't sell on any given day to the local food pantry. That said, I can't see my health lasting for 7 more years, until I can collect Social Security.

[mopinko]

44. it's the first thing on my mind most days.

it is only remembering the titanic strength of my mother that makes me continue to plan for the future.

[BlueNAlabama]

20. Me Too

I lost my job 2 years ago today when the Space Shuttle ended. I was 58 at the time and now, at age 60 I'm still getting the same line whenever I'm even lucky enough to get a response. To date, 164 jobs applied for, 8 "thanks but no thanks" letters/e-mails, 2 interviews. I'm a "retired" but not by choice, mechanical engineer with almost 30 years experience in Aerospace...............


My old job is now being done by two "fresh outs" with no experience but, for half the pay.

[ColesCountyDem]

42. My job was outsourced to Bangladesh....

500 of us were laid off at our call center as part of AT&T's battle with the CWA, and our work is now being done in Bangladesh by people who are paid $2.75/hr. .

Is this even America?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

22. Past job reviews are irrelevant....

Employers are only able to confirm you worked from this calendar date to this one.

The only time it helps is if your boss knows someone on the golf course that could use your skill set. Then it's a tossup between you or the deadbeat nephew the family is pressuring the guy into hiring.

A fine example of that type is illustrated here:

THAT is your competition.

[ColesCountyDem]

43. I apparently still have friends at AT&T, it would seem.

Several of the HR people I've interviewed with have spoken about my getting 'glowing' (substitute other appropriate adjective) recommendations. Maybe it's a technical violation of the law, but what applicant would complain on hearing that?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

45. Maybe if you worked in a slaughter house....

And were applying at a petting zoo.

[benld74]

24. I kindly disagree, 30 years ago

ALL of my resumes resulted in a form letter stating I did NOT HAVE ENOUGH experience.

NOW they want inexperienced workers in order to NOT PAY them as much

[jeff47]

25. Yeah, they assume you'll jump ship as soon as you find a more senior job.

IDK if you've tried this, but I've had the best luck sending my resume to headhunters - TekSystems and the like. Those places have gotten me work much faster than finding and applying on my own. But make sure it isn't a fly-by-night operation. Had one get me a "6-month contract" that turned out to be 3 months.

My only other suggestion is with all the experience, maybe you can find (or found) some sort of training operation. Those fresh-outa-college new hires need someone to tell them how to actually do their jobs.

[LiberalEsto]

26. Yup, it's true

I've been out of work for 4 years and 11 months. I'm 61.

After sending out hundreds of resumes and never even getting responses, and having just 2 interviews in all this time - as soon as they saw me I guess they realized I was "too old" for the jobs - I have given up. Thank heaven my husband still has a job (knock on wood).

In just 5 months I'll be able to apply for early Social Security.

This rethug/1% economy sucks for everyone but themselves.
Good luck to you - I hope you find a decent job!

[tortie]

40. Me too

Hi LiberalEsto
I am in the same boat with you. I was laid off in Feb of 2009 (or as I like to call it, put out to pasture). I am 61 also. The company I worked for decided the best way to handle the downturn was to let their most senior people go. I had 25 years in, another person laid off had 30 years in. That was just in the local division, and it happened all over the country. I too have given up. I had a few interviews out of literally hundreds of applications. I heard through the grapevine that one interviewer said that "I was in the twilight of my career" another one flat out asked me, "how much longer will you be working?" My husband is working, and his job has actually been going well, but not nearly well enough to make up for our income being slashed in half. I have a son in pharmacy school, and thanks to my lack of work, he will graduate with student loans bigger than most people's mortgage. You are definitely correct, it sucks.

[AAO]

28. You're not being cynical. But you are over 50, therefore damaged goods.

Hell, you might even be able to think for yourself. They don't want that. You might be able to mentor others in right and wrong. Can't have that! You may inadvertantly tip the sheep of to what's actually happeneing to them.

I'm 58. The day I lose my job (if that day comes) I won't be looking for another, because I will be effectively retired by the powers that be.

[meow2u3]

29. Overqualified = over 40

In other words, it's code for being over the hill and not being born yesterday. In other words, you're not young and dumb (no offense to younger DUers).

[Lucky Luciano]

30. It is a near certainty that you will ditch these folks

if they hired you and the bigger better deal came along....and why the hell shouldn't you ditch them in this case? They will not be loyal to you and more money is better.

Since you are overqualified, it is easy to believe that a better deal will come along - especially since you will no longer have the unemployed monkey on your back.

[Ms. Toad]

32. It has been a barrier for as long as I've been working

(~35 years).

I am moving, as of Monday, to a position for which I am "overqualified" - at a 50% pay cut. I assumed I would not even be interviewed for the position because my current salary was one of the application questions and, once interviewed, I assumed I would not be offered the position for the same reason.

Not only was that concern in the back of my mind when I applied and interviewed, they were very blunt during the interview about their concerns that I would blow in and out and be a waste of their time and investment. There are reasons the move made sense for me. So I sold myself to them more on the basis of why I wouldn't just take the job and leave than on my qualifications (which they already know very well).

That isn't to say my trick will work for everyone - but this is the second time I've gotten a job by figuring out what the non-qualification related barrier is to hiring me and making that a prominent part of my cover letter (the first time) and the interview (this time).

So keep your eyes out for what you think is blocking you, and include a response to that as part of selling yourself.

[steve2470]

50. hang in there, I know it's very discouraging

[jtuck004]

51. You, we, have already worked our last permanent job. Maybe our last job. It just gets worse from

here on out. (And to the sceptic, think not? Okay, but what if? There is plenty of evidence to suggest that it is the most likely outlook).

Maybe we have to quit looking for jobs. Find other older folks and start something. We would make as much as working for someone else, and compete with the bastards. Might make as much as they pay, might not, but it will be a damn sight better than nothing.

[Wounded Bear]

52. There's a new thought process that's been taking over for the last 20-30 years...

Under this meme, there is a definite level of "healthy turnover" that they like to have to keep the workforce in companies "fresh." They basically don't want people to stay in their company more than about 5 years or so, and anybody who has been in a certain job, or at one company for longer periods than that are not trusted and not wanted.

It almost makes sense, except that for people like us, post 50ish, it plays into the whole 'overqualified' realm of ageism.

Back when we entered the workforce, people who stayed at their jobs for life (or long periods, anyway) were admired for their loyalty, dedication, and perseverance. Now they're distrusted as not ambitious enough, not creative or outward thinking, not entrepreneurial or other such bullshit new-age buzzwords du jour.

It is part and parcel of the continuing effort to drive down wages and make the employee class desperate and needy.

[wickerwoman]

53. My current job I didn't get when I interviewed for it

and then four months later they called me out of the blue and offered me a different position without having to interview at all.

It's possible they will actually keep you in mind and it was useful networking.

[gopiscrap]

56. Yup I tend to agree

[noiretextatique]

59. i have gone back to contract work

Unfortunately, most of the work I've gotten has been through temp agencies. They, like pimps, pay me an hourly wage and charge the client 3-4 times what they pay me. I did this several years ago before I got a job, and the quality of my wages and clients was much better back then. I am an Accountant, 54 years old. I have years of practical experience, which is absolutely needed in this field. I figure it is just a matter of time: after they hire all the fresh faces and figure out they do not know how to do anything, I will be in demand again. Or I may just movee to central america until I can collect SS. If we had a sane government, perhaps lowering the retirement age would be a solution.