Should I hire over-qualified people?
(or will they leave as soon as something better comes along)
Professional development series
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In the recent interview with Steve Wynkoop (founder of SSWUG.org) we covered the “hiring” topic (don’t miss another professional newsletter tip—signup for the free newsletter here). This article covers the topic in more detail.
I recently received this question from a reader:
I currently
have several positions open, and the job descriptions clearly outline
the experience necessary. I’m drowning in applications from
overqualified people. I know with the unemployment rate so high, people
often have noticeably more experience than the jobs they apply for
require.
However, I fear that if I hire
overqualified applicants, they will leave as soon as a better job comes
along. So I prefer to hire candidates ready to move up or laterally. Is
it worth considering overqualified candidates? Or can we add something
to the job description to improve our applicant pool?You are in a great position. My recommendation is not worry about the future if you hire an over-qualified person. Focus on hiring the perfect person for the job. And let “what if” take care of itself. Let’s take the following examples:
- Some people you feel are ‘over-qualified’ are actually looking for a lower-pressure position. They want something they can comfortably and expertly handle in 5-days/8 hour time slot. Because they are (as you describe) “over-qualified”, your position is perfect for them. They may not be looking for their ‘next challenge’.
- Don’t assume you understand someone’s reason for applying for your job. They may want a slight career change. Although they may seem over-qualified for the specific task you have in mind; their interest is more in a change of industry or culture. Maybe their next challenge is getting experience in this new industry or area. Perhaps your job offers more travel (or less travel). It can be any number of things that attract.
- Understand why you are hiring. If you are in a production spike and need someone that will ‘hit the ground running’, hiring an over-qualified person is your best option. If your spike is temporarily, consider contracting or temp-to-hire, until your product needs levels out a little.
- To ease your discomfort around this topic, be explicit in your expectations. Explicitly announce your expectations and intentions (including the minimum length of expected stay). It’s perfectly acceptable to include the expectations to stay in this particular job for 8 months, 1 year (whatever your minimum expectations are). You can also include a contract penalty for leaving the position early (1 week, 2 week pay, whatever). This will weed-out the people that are merely using your job as a jobs-gap (bridge to another position).
- Continually outline future career opportunities and advancement routes in both the technical and management ladders. This helps retain the high-performance employees.
Don’t wait until the top-performers leave your company to figure this out. If you don’t invest in your current employees’ career development, then you will be left with only low to mediocre performers (which make your management job that much more difficult). Avoid offering lateral positions merely to ease your discomfort with hiring ‘over-qualified’ candidates. Offer lateral position when it comes with additional promotion or skills advancement opportunities for the employee that is making that change.
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