Hiring the Overqualified: Smart Strategy or Doomed to Fail?
Posted by Mike Tedesco in The Daily Update, tags: recruiting trends
The Great Recession has seen a remarkable number of laid off workers reenter the work world in less prestigious positions. We know the reasons why they are willing to accept a lower paying step down: with personal and household wealth taking a hit in the past year, almost any job (with benefits) is better than the uncertainty of continued unemployment. But is hiring the overqualified a smart recruiting strategy?
Obviously, as every company’s situation and definition of “overqualified” are different, there is no clear cut answer. But several recent studies, as reported in the International Journal of Human Resource Management, have shown that, however defined, an overqualified employee is more apt to perform at a higher level. The problem, as you HR pros know, is that an overqualified employee is more likely to be dissatisfied with his/her job and leave the company more quickly when a better opportunity arises.
The Journal of Applied Psychology concludes that some of these negative effects can be mitigated based upon the way workers are treated. A sense of autonomy and respect from supervisors and co-workers can have a big impact on lessening job dissatisfaction, causing a win-win situation for the company (high performance for a longer time) and the employee (a feeling of accomplishment and value even in a lower level position).
It seems that with the right supervisors in place, hiring the overqualified can be a smart strategy that can move a company forward.
Author Bio:
Mike Tedesco, Alstin's Senior Vice President, a quick thinker who's incapable of losing his temper-even after being with us for more than 25 years, is a great sounding board. Mike's warmth, enthusiasm and willingness to help with just about anything make him one of the most trusted members of our team (despite his taste in music). 
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