Resume Tips When Youre Overqualified

Resume Tips When Youre Overqualified Resume dilemma Im overqualifiedYou were laid off from your executive job by a company thats now six feet under. Youve sent out 800 resumes, done one interview, received zero offers. You find yourself looking lower and lower on the totem pole and occasionally eyeing openings for line managers at the competitor that killed your former employer.If you must apply for a position for which youre clearly overqualified, how do you actually land the job?Withhold your resumeHeres what not to do Fire off a volley of resumes to menschlich resources departments. Sending a resume is simply a way to oblivion, says Jeffrey Fox, author of Dont Send a Resume. HR departments must quickly eliminate nearly all of the hundreds of resumes submitted for a single opening. At the first whiff of your extra qualifications, most screeners will stamp no on your application. Resumes are read to be rejected, Fox says.Whats the workaround for overqualified candidates? Go directly to the hiring manager to pitch your ability to excel in the open position. You can either call or write, but hold back your resume in the first round of communication with the employer.Sell to the employers needOnce youve found out as much as you can about the company and the position, youve got to imagine how your qualifications mesh perfectly with the job requirements. If youre overqualified, you need to articulate how a handful of your skills will help that specific employer, says Nick Corcodilos, author of Ask the Headhunter. At least at first, say nothing about higher-level skills that dont pertain to the position at hand.Use emphasis to shape employer perceptions Sooner or later, youll probably have to send a resume. More than you ever have before, youll need to customize your one-page presentation of yourself. To de-emphasize those over-the-top elements of your professional background, you can make some information more sparse, but youve got to be careful about misrepresenti ng yourself, says Corcodilos.How do you tread this fine line? One solution is to create a functional resume where relevant skills are pumped up in detail toward the top of the resume, while overly impressive titles are demoted to the bottom and given little ink. Strategic emphasis is integral to persuasion omission of recent, important rungs in your career ladder is unethical deception.Make a virtue of your extra qualificationsIn the interview, if your prospective employer says that your extraordinary qualifications cast doubt on your candidacy, recast your past as an asset to your future at the company. Emphasize that youre getting somebody with the kompetenzprofil to move up, says Frances Haynes, coauthor with Daniel Porot of 101 Toughest Interview Questions.Draw out objections dont volunteer themEmployers typically have the following objections to candidates with extra qualifications Youll get bored quickly you wont be satisfied with the salary youll jump to another company as so on as you get a better offer. Employers are pretty reticent to hire overqualified people, because they believe when the economy picks up, theyll lose those people, says Haynes.If you raise these issues early in the application process, you risk short-circuiting your candidacy. Instead, see whats on the minds of your interviewers by asking open-ended questions such as these What else do you need to hear to be convinced that Im the best fit for the job? Do you have any questions about my candidacy that I havent yet had the chance to answer? Just make sure youve already ferreted out all the tough questions that your work history could possibly raiseand practiced answering them.The ultimate issueFinally, be prepared to answer one question that the interviewer may be too embarrassed to ask Wont it be humiliating for you to take a job that many people would consider beneath you? You can address this issue indirectly through the positive attitude you convey in everything you say about the available position and your fitness for it. You have to be perceived as the kind of partie who believes there is honor in every job, says Haynes.Get an expert opinionWith all that work experience, its not exactlyeasy to convincean employer that you can do the job and wont head for the exit the moment something better comes along. But if your resume positions you in the right way, you have a better chance at getting called for an interview. Could you use some help fine-tuning the details?Get a free resume evaluation today from the experts atMonsters Resume Writing Service. Youll get detailed feedback in two business days, including a review ofyour resumes appearance and content, and a prediction of a recruiters first impression. The experts at Monster will help you emphasize the value youd bring to a company for your best shot at a great new job.