- Overqualified
Being overqualified means one is skilled or educated beyond what is necessary for a job. There can often be high costs for companies associated with training
employee s. This could be a problem for professionals applying for a job where they significantly exceed the job requirements because potential employers may feel they are using the position as a stepping stone.Overqualified candidates may be seen as taking the position temporarily in order to obtain work experience for another position or taking the position temporarily until better employment can be found. Therefore it may be in a companies' interest to reject job candidates that significantly exceed their job requirements because they are “overqualified” and not likely to be loyal to a position or company. An example would be an experienced high level manager who is overqualified for a low level management position.
Recent research shows that 4 out of 10 workers in the UK feel they are overqualified and that 3 out of 10 graduates feel their employment does not match their level of education.
"Over qualification" can also be a wrongful case of self-reporting.
In the United States the term "overqualified" has been found by the courts to sometimes be used as a "code word for too old" (ie: age discrimination) in the hiring process. Hamm v. New York City Office of theComptroller (D. Ct. NY, March 4, 1998).
The Ph.D. Degree
The
Ph.D. degree can reflect overspecialization that manifests itself as a lack of perspective and a lack of confidence; in the sciences, for example, a Ph.D. might not adequately prepare one for careers in development, manufacturing, or technical management. [ [http://units.aps.org/units/fiap/newsletters/nov95/03.cfm] John A. Armstrong, "Rethinking the Ph.D.", originally appeared in "Issues in Science and Technology".]Even in academic jobs, people can associate negative factors with the Ph.D. degree, including a lack of focus on
teaching , overspecialization, and an undesireable set of professional priorities, often focusing on self-promotion. These forces have led both to an increase in some educational institutions hiring candidates without Ph.D's as well as a focus on the development of other doctoral degrees, such as the D.A. orDoctor of arts . [ [http://web2.ade.org/ade/bulletin/n027/027004.htm] Edmond L. Volpe, "A Portrait of the Ph.D. as a Failure", "ADE Bulletin", 027 (November 1970): 4-10.]References
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