Have you been disqualified because you are overqualified?

Can you be rejected for a job because you are overqualified? Yes. I was.

As subjective as the term "overqualified" is, companies use it to disqualify candidates for employment. It is prejudicial and discriminatory, but companies still do it. It can be unlawful to discriminate based on age, but to discriminate solely based on overqualified is a legal loophole that some companies try to crawl through, just like the slimy snakes they are. Of course some companies use the term overqualified as code for "too old" for the job. Discrimination based on age is unlawful. The code word overqualified masks the real reason for a discriminatory practice.

But guess what? There are a lot of us "old people" (over 50) who still wish to work or need to work and we are sick and tired of being disqualified because we are overqualified. That's right-DQed because we are OQed. The loophole does create some problems for companies that rely on this term too heavily. Perhaps as the numbers of old people grow, and our rejections for being overqualified increase, and our patience is trumped by our actions, then the loophole will shrink and eventually close entirely.

I have a suspicion that DQed because you are OQed happens more frequently than is reported. Why? Because it is flat-out embarrassing, frustrating, exasperating and demeaning. Plus, it makes no sense to any reasonable employment candidate. If a person has 1/2 of a  brain, you would want to hire the overqualified because a company gets significantly more experience at a price discount. Do companies achieve greatness by hiring the unqualified? Nope. Pick up the phone, or go to a store and ask for help.  The impact of hiring the unqualified is apparent.

I am not sure what to do about this problem, but I am researching it.

Any ideas?

Robert J. Sherwood