A couple of years ago, we had a host of new team members join our company, our HR having given in to hiring overqualified candidates who had been laid off from their previous roles. Despite being overqualified for the jobs we had available, they were hoping to find some form of employment quickly. With such a mixed bag of overqualified candidates, we had some of the best quality work done at the company during that time, acquiring a collection of new strategies on how we approached tasks. It was a time of significant discussion and interaction, but unfortunately, we did see a few of them move on to other opportunities soon enough. Was the period of accelerated productivity and learning worth it? Most definitely.
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Hiring overqualified candidates should not be a complicated matter—hiring a job seeker who is more than capable of handling their role? It should be an obvious and automatic yes. However, the actual realities of hiring are quite different, as hiring teams often have to consider the intricacies of why the overqualified candidate wants to settle for a role below their full potential in the first place. Many job seekers are forced to say yes to the first job offer that comes their way, and they spend their time looking for better opportunities the entire time they are there. This can be quite a wasteful investment for the company that now has to invest in hiring all over again. Then again, if they stay, it can be greatly beneficial to have a new hire who is already highly adept at the tasks at hand, boosting the desirability of a candidate who is overqualified for the job.
Should you hire someone overqualified for a role? Let’s explore the pros and cons.
The Benefits of Hiring Overqualified Candidates
With more and more people turning to higher education and earning multiple degrees, there are often people with a greater depth of knowledge for the starter jobs that are on the market. With internships and job experience to back them up, many of these candidates come with more qualifications than the job role requires. In order to make their way into these careers, they have to start somewhere, even if they are overqualified for a job. In many other cases, people who want to start fresh or build their way in a more relaxed role might choose to apply for a job role they are more than qualified for and hiring them might be a great investment for your company. There are certain benefits to hiring overqualified candidates.
Immediate Productivity
A basic onboarding and initiation is necessary no matter how qualified the candidate is, however, a candidate who is very familiar with the role can likely start being productive at a much quicker rate. The investments necessary for onboarding will be lesser while the returns on productivity will be much more than a less experienced hire. According to SHRM, companies could expect to spend $7500-$28000 in hard costs along with soft costs that add up to 60 percent of the total cost of hire when it comes to onboarding. Any resources spent on the training of an overqualified employee can thus be channeled elsewhere.
The training necessary to get them up to speed will be limited and the trial-and-error learning period can often be skipped. They will not require too much energy to pick up on the nuances and specifics of their role at the new company.
Someone who is overqualified for a job may be more confident in their abilities and this in turn might make them more willing to take on more challenging tasks and make bold decisions. For a company that wants to employ action-takers, these candidates might be perfect due to their ability to take on assignments that less qualified candidates might be unprepared for. This provides the perfect transition for companies trying to scale up their services.
Ready to Take on Leadership Roles
Hiring overqualified candidates might simplify internal mobility in a company that wants to retain its employees and move people with actual experience within the company to leadership roles. It is often better to find a manager who is already good at their job and knows the company well, rather than open up hiring to a manager who has to handle others while also trying to understand the full extent of their job role. These qualified candidates can receive leadership training while familiarizing themselves with the jobs and moving up the hierarchy at a much faster rate, taking on more responsibilities as they go. Planning for succession becomes a lot easier under such circumstances.
Even if you do not want to focus on leadership, those overqualified for a job could be great at teaching and leading their individual teams. Their familiarity with the tasks will benefit their immediate coworkers, as those around the new hire will be able to pick up on the insights that the new candidate is able to offer. The quality and competence of the entire team might benefit from hiring an overqualified candidate.
Industry Insights
Hiring overqualified candidates might result in gaining greater insight into the industry. Those considered overqualified because of their considerable job experience will likely have worked with multiple clients, networked with more industry professionals, seen changing trends and strategies, and have a better understanding of the industry overall. These inputs are invaluable and might get you one step closer to opening up new avenues for your own business to grow.
Most top companies enforce confidentiality contracts just to prevent such information from going to competitors but if your new hire has no such restrictions, there is a wealth of information they might be able to bring forward.
The Disadvantages of Hiring Overqualified Candidates
There are many obvious disadvantages to hiring candidates who are too qualified for a job role. The primary fear is always that these candidates may look at the role as a temporary stop between more serious roles, working to fill their resumes instead of taking a longer break until another opportunity comes along. The cost of hiring is quite considerable and repeated investments for the same role can be quite inconvenient. Getting it right in one try is always ideal so it is important to pause and give some thought to whether you should hire someone overqualified or not.
Disinterest at Work
Due to an overfamiliarity with the work and the simplicity of the tasks they are now assigned, workers might find themselves bored at work or tired of the same routine responsibilities. This might lead to them taking the task too lightly or delaying getting the job done, the work worsening in quality as time passes. Hiring overqualified candidates can be risky because employees who do not feel challenged or engaged with their work may cease to be active participants in it.
This lack of interest might also stifle their creativity, bring down their initial enthusiasm for the job, and damage their relationship with the company permanently. The disinterest might also be contagious and demotivate coworkers from also getting work done, bringing down the morale of the company overall.
Cause Conflict at Work
If new employees are promoted to leadership positions at a quicker pace, it can sometimes upset other employees who have been aspiring to rise to the same role. Unfair treatment and preference for one employee over the others can upset workers and demotivate them from trying to achieve more within the organization. These employees will undoubtedly begin to look for work outside, hoping for another job that can rightly prioritize their skills.
Overqualified candidates might also cause conflicts by challenging how work is done at an organization or introducing new ideas that the company is not ready to explore. While it is quite a fair ask for an employee to want their company to update policies and work styles, if this is done too forcefully, it can only serve to damage their relationship with their organization. Proper procedures need to be followed to facilitate change and overqualified employees used to a different format of work might not be patient.
May Have More Demands
The unfortunate truth is that while these candidates might agree to join for a position they are overqualified for, they might also have hopes for a quick promotion and salary raise at an accelerated rate. While it is true that good performance and quality results should be appreciated, these will not translate to immediate salary hikes, especially for a starter-level position that the company is hiring for. This will leave the employee disappointed when they don’t see any change, and the company will also be left in an awkward position while trying to decide how to proceed. If the employment terms and expectations are not clearly defined right from the start, these unspoken ideas will always leave everyone disappointed.
Should You Hire Someone Overqualified?
Considering the pros and cons of hiring someone who is too experienced for a role, it is necessary to evaluate the candidate closely to understand which checkboxes they might actually tick. Be specific about the job role and the eligibility of the specific candidate to determine whether you should hire them or not. Here are things to keep in mind:
- Consider the job fit and evaluate exactly how you might be able to accommodate the employee’s additional skills into their work at the company
- Understand the candidate’s reasons for applying for a job they are overqualified for—some candidates might not realize the mismatch between them and the job so it is up to the recruiter to investigate
- Explore the candidate’s understanding of the role and explain the job carefully so they know what they are signing up for
- Assess the candidate’s long-term plan and how this job fits into it—this will provide clarity on whether they actually intend to work at the organization
- Consider the additional skill sets the candidate has and how they used to apply them in their previous role—this might open up new tasks in your organization
- Evaluate how they will fit into the organization—consider the office culture, the employee’s view or tasks, the pros and cons of introducing them to their team, etc.
- Discuss their application with a panel so multiple perspectives can be involved in evaluating the candidate
- Discuss the compensation and benefits that the candidate is expecting and invite them to discuss an acceptable middle ground.
Hiring overqualified candidates is completely acceptable and likely good for the long-term prospects of the company but only if both parties have a candid conversation around this topic and bring their expectations to the table. Companies need to honestly acknowledge the skills and abilities the candidate is willing to bring to the company and see if they believe it to be a worthwhile investment. They need to do their part to keep the employee engaged and provide alternate benefits, even if salary compensations cannot match up to expectations. The candor and open discussion is likely to help job seekers be honest as well, allowing both parties to strike a deal and avoid these confusing debates altogether.