Over Qualified

Question 1

The recession of recent years has seen a change in the job market as many organisations downsize or are disbanded completely.

Answer 1

downsize

Question 2

This has created a situation where the number of applicants in the job market far exceeds the number of available jobs, particularly at higher levels, e.g. upper and middle management.

Answer 2

number

Question 3

This then flows on by forcing highly educated and experienced workers to have to seek jobs that are below their level of education or expertise.

Answer 3

education or expertise

Question 4

This is exacerbated further by a generally held belief that hiring overqualified people results in negative effects for the company, in the form of high turnover, low job satisfaction, and poor performance.

Answer 4

negative

Question 5

This essay will address the truth of these claims.

Answer 5

truth

Question 6

Over qualification is the situation where an individual has surplus education, experience, skills, and so on, that are not needed by or applied to the job.

Answer 6

needed by or applied to

Question 7

People who find themselves in this situation may be those returning to work from a layoff, older workers seeking new opportunities, young post-education new entrant workers, and immigrants.

Answer 7

immigrants

Question 8

However, over qualification may be a different concept to potential employees and potential employers.

Answer 8

concept

Question 9

Potential employees, like those above, have a very subjective view of their own level of over qualification.

Answer 9

subjective

Question 10

They are likely entering the job market from a negative situation of layoff or lack of experience and therefore view their level of competence from a negative vantage, thus while having excess skills they may still view themselves as ideal candidates for the job.

Answer 10

ideal

Question 11

On the other hand, employers view over qualification from an objective view point of information in a resume and thus they may not be inclined to even interview those perceived to be over qualified.

Answer 11

objective

Question 12

Many studies, while being criticised for being limited in design, have consistently found that over qualification is linked to poor job attitudes.

Answer 12

poor job attitudes

Question 13

This translates into feelings of being deprived of a deserved better job, potential high rates of job turnover, lower job satisfaction and less self-confidence.

Answer 13

deprived

Question 14

However, other more recent research has indicated that this may not be the whole story. In fact, some have suggested that the opposite is true.

Answer 14

research

Question 15

One recent researcher contend that over qualification is linked to many positive job outcomes and that through proper management these overqualified individuals can become assets to the organisation.

Answer 15

positive

Question 16

Over-qualified employees have been found to go beyond their existing job specifications to make valuable contributions to organisations.

Answer 16

valuable

Question 17

They also provide an excellent training and recruiting ground for future positions within an organisation.

Answer 17

positions

Question 18

Some research has suggested that the over-qualified individual performs their job better than their less-qualified co-workers.

Answer 18

better

Question 19

They may also personally feel that they are under-performing, but this is in contrast to objective review by peers and supervisors which reveal them as high performers with few absences and a greater ability to work independently.

Answer 19

under-performing

Question 20

The over qualified employee will usually be a faster learner and more easily trainable.

Answer 20

learner

Question 21

Perhaps, the over qualified individual is an unrealised resource due to stigmatisation.

Answer 21

stigmatisation

Question 22

The general misconception is that employing an over qualified individual will have negative effects for an organisation, yet this has been challenged in recent research.

Answer 22

negative

Question 23

The evidence suggests that if an over qualified applicant is managed properly and given opportunities to excel, then they will excel.

Answer 23

managed

Question 24

The term over qualification is unfortunately ambiguous in that there is a disconnect between how the applicant and the employer view the distinction.

Answer 24

disconnect

Question 25

The best way to move forward on this is for employers to refrain from arbitrarily consigning the resumes of the perceived over qualified to the bin.

Answer 25

to the bin