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THE RIGHT CANDIDATE BLOG

Advice to Help You Hire the Right Employees

Should You Hire An Overqualified Candidate?

by Pamela Skillings

Why would any company turn down a candidate with an amazing resume and the ability to go above and beyond the job description? It happens all the time.

Many of my brightest and most talented career coaching clients have heard the dreaded, “Sorry, you’re overqualified.” Have you passed over a potential star employee due to fear that she was too experienced for the role?
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Why Say No to an Experienced Candidate?
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Hiring managers are right to hesitate before hiring “overqualified” candidates. The risks of hiring someone who is “too good” for the job include:

Wasting time (and money) on a job hopper: If a candidate is pursuing the position simply because they need a job right now, there’s a risk he will abandon you as soon as a better opportunity comes along. You don’t want to spend time and money recruiting and training someone — only to have him ditch you after a few weeks or months for a more challenging (and/or better paying) gig.

Dealing with attitude problems: Some overqualified candidates will turn their noses up at duties they consider “beneath” them. Others may feel bored or disengaged if they’re not challenged by the work — this can lead to all kinds of performance and attitude issues.

Protecting your own job: Many managers won’t admit this, but there is a real danger that an overqualified candidate is on a mission to take over and run the show. This can be a concern for more than your own selfish reasons (and honestly, who wants to re-enact All About Eve at the office). Productivity suffers when team members are more focused on politics than the work at hand. It’s also impossible to collaborate effectively with someone you don’t trust or who has an ulterior motive to make you look bad.
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How to Interview “Overqualified” Candidates
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On the other hand, many seemingly overqualified candidates have the potential to be star employees. The trick is to identify their motivations and goals through the interview process.

The following questions will help you determine if an overqualified candidate represents a risky proposition or a business opportunity:

1) Do you think you’re overqualified for this position? Why not?
Just put it out there if it’s a concern and listen carefully to the response. Does the candidate sound truly enthusiastic about the how she can contribute? Does she see ways that the position will engage and challenge her? Can you detect hints of distaste for the more mundane aspects of the role?

2) What are your long-term career goals?
Does this position fit into the candidate’s career plans? Will it help him learn and grow? Does he seem to view this position as a real opportunity or a short-term stepping stone? Does he seem overly concerned about being promoted quickly?

3) What specifically interests you about this company and position?
Listen carefully and probe if the candidate responds with generic interview patter. You want to hear that she would be able to do the work — and would actually enjoy it. You’re looking for convincing, specific reasons. You don’t want someone who’s desperate for any job, but someone who would be thrilled to be offered THIS job.

4) How do you feel about working late, making copies, sitting in a cubicle, reporting to someone with less experience than you have?
Ask about the potentially unattractive aspects of the position to see if you’re dealing with a prima donna or someone eager to roll up their sleeves and contribute.

5) Where else are you interviewing? What types of positions?
See what you can learn about the candidate’s job search. Is this position his #1 choice or one of many options? Does he seem more excited about other, more senior jobs or jobs in other areas/industries? You’re not likely to get a completely candid answer to this question, but you should be able to elicit some useful information about the candidate’s goals.
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How to Engage “Overqualified” Employees
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If you decide to hire that overqualified candidate, you may find yourself the happy manager of a star employee.

To effectively manage star employees, it’s important to understand what drives them and provide recognition and development opportunities accordingly.

Offer your “overqualified” employees openings to take on new responsibilities and stretch themselves. Yes, you should also provide raises and bonuses when they are earned, but often other job perks (autonomy, flexibility, meaningful work) are even more important to your most valuable team members.

Interviewing for Managers - Don't Start the Interview on the Wrong Foot

by Pamela Skillings

The first few seconds of the job interview set the tone for the whole discussion. Sure, you’re in control of the meeting and the candidate is normally the one choosing his words with extreme care. However, your first impression as a manager and a representative of your firm is also very important.

Why? Well, you certainly want to impress promising candidates with the high quality of your company and its employees. Even more importantly, you want to set a tone that will help you get honest responses and an accurate sense of the applicant’s ability to do the job.
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Don’t Play Intimidation Games
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Some managers take pride in being tough interviewers. They start an interview by intimidating the applicant with a rude attitude and/or confrontational or difficult questions. They believe that this will help them see how a job seeker responds under pressure.

For most job seekers, the fact that they’re walking into a job interview to be judged is enough to create plenty of pressure. Factor in that some may feel their career prospects and financial livelihood are riding on the meeting and you’ve got a recipe for stress. You will accomplish very little by additional mental torture.
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Set the Right Interview Tone
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That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t ask tough questions. You should. But first take a few moments to make your guest comfortable and set expectations.

Start with a warm professional welcome. Put the candidate at ease and explain how the interview will be conducted.

Your first question should be a bit of a warm-up question. Ask about something the candidate knows well. For example, you can begin by asking about their day-to-day duties in their current or most recent position.
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Don’t Tell Me About Yourself
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Many hiring managers fall back on the popular, “So, tell me about yourself” to get things started. It may seem like a nonthreatening way to open up the discussion, but it throws many unprepared candidates off.

It’s a completely open-ended question and can prompt a long, rambling answer that can cause the interview to drift far off course. I’ve heard candidates share personal descriptions more suitable for an online dating profile or launch into a ten-minute overview of all of their previous jobs since birth.

I train my job seeker clients to look at “Tell me about yourself” as an opportunity to start the interview strong with a concise summary of their most compelling professional strengths (customized for the position at hand).

However, I also advise my hiring manager clients to start their interviews with a more focused and specific question.

That first question will set a tone for the interview and help the candidate relax enough to think clearly and behave in a way similar to the way they are likely to behave on the job.
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Why Make it Easy for the Candidate?
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Later in the interview, you will ask some tough questions, probe for details, and otherwise test your interviewee. That’s fair and appropriate, especially in an interview for a job that requires calm under pressure.

However, if you start the interview with negativity, intimidation, or trickery, you’re unlikely to get a true sense of the person in the other chair.

You’re likely to dismiss potential superstars who aren’t used to the third degree. In fact, those who do well in intimidation interviews are often either good actors or highly arrogant.

Smart employees can learn to perform better under pressure, but you can’t teach an egomaniac to be a team player.

Top 5 Reasons New Managers Are Terrible at Interviewing

July 2, 2011

Most expensive hiring mistakes could be avoided if hiring managers were better interviewers. Sure, the members of the HR team are usually well trained in the art of the interview. But hiring managers are usually the ones with the most influence over who gets hired. And most hiring managers never receive training in how to [...]

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The Importance of Non-Verbal Communication in an Interview

March 6, 2010

In a job interview, it’s all about how you answer the questions, right? That’s only half the story. Most candidates would be surprised to learn how much non-verbal communication (body language, facial expressions, etc.) matters. Some studies have shown that people form first impressions based 55% on body language and only 7% on actual verbal [...]

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Behavioral Interview: An Overview

February 15, 2010

What exactly is a behavioral interview? It’s a job interview that focuses on questions about how the candidate has behaved in the past in specific work situations. Most job interviews include at least some behavioral interview questions. By asking you about your past behavior, hiring managers try to get a sense of how you might [...]

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