Success of the Seasoned Search
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This webinar discussed how being overqualified can actually be beneficial when job searching. The webinar speaker, Abby Kohut, defined what it means to be overqualified and outlined 5 benefits employers gain from hiring apparently overqualified candidates, such as a shorter learning curve and problem solving experience. Kohut provided tips for how overqualified candidates can market themselves, including developing "Absolutely Qualified" resumes and cover letters, focusing on skills rather than years of experience, and having responses prepared to address common concerns about hiring overqualified individuals.
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Success of the Seasoned Search
- 1. Is proud to present a webinar with Guest Speaker Abby Kohut of www.Absolutely Abby.com Thank you for joining us!
- 2. Success of the Seasoned Search – The Benefit of Being Overqualified
- 3. Abby Kohut
- 5. Request the Slides Write to: tips@absolutelyabby.com Subject: Webinar Slides
- 6. Be The Captain of Your Career
- 7. “Overqualified” Defined Too much experience Too much education Higher salary requirements
- 8. Why wouldn’t an employer want to hire a candidate who is more highly skilled than the job requires?
- 9. Why The Concern? You will have a “been there done that” attitudeYou will have a “been there done that” attitude You will leave for a higher salary/titleYou will leave for a higher salary/title Your colleagues & manager will be threatenedYour colleagues & manager will be threatened You will want to/need to be promoted quicklyYou will want to/need to be promoted quickly You will keep lookingYou will keep looking
- 11. 5 Benefits of Hiring an Absolutely Qualified Employee Dependable, reliable & mature Problem solving experience Shorter learning curve Proven track record of success Works with different personalities
- 12. 1)Develop “Absolutely Qualified” collateral materials (resume & cover letter). 2)During the interview, elaborate on why you are “Absolutely Qualified”. Develop your 2-part strategy
- 13. Being overqualified is correlated with age yet is not caused by age
- 14. An Absolutely Qualified Resume Amount of years to list ?? Avoid mentioning # of years Graduation dates ?? List technical & tactical skills Do NOT lie about your titles Add social media links
- 15. Absolutely Qualified Interview Your foot is in the doorYour foot is in the door Expect a young interviewerExpect a young interviewer Check your ego at the doorCheck your ego at the door Discuss active activitiesDiscuss active activities Mention technologyMention technology
- 16. Abby, As an over 50 IT consultant, I am two-for-two in landing jobs after bringing an iPad with me on job interviews in the past year! I never even opened the iPad – I just had it with my portfolio during interviews. Leon
- 18. Being called overqualified is actually a blessing in disguise!
- 19. Anticipate the Objection "You can see that I've worked at a higher level before, but this position is exactly what I'm looking for and here’s why..."
- 20. Here’s Why… “I was proud to be a Nurse Manager but I really miss working with patients as my main function. I’ve had the big salary and big title but now I just want to make a difference.” “I understand the budgetary constraints of a non profit like the American Cancer Society. Money is not my main motivator because my kids are out of college.”
- 21. Clever Comebacks “If you were having open heart surgery, would you prefer a qualified surgeon or an overqualified one?” “If you were a passenger on a plane, would you prefer a qualified pilot or an overqualified one like captain Sully?”
- 22. When I interviewed for a job the hiring manager told me I was overqualified for the position. I said, why settle for a Chevy when you can have a Mercedes-Benz? I need very little training and I can hit the ground running . That was on Friday afternoon - by Monday morning my recruiter told me he decided to drive the Mercedes-Benz. Donna H.
- 23. “It’s impossible to BE overqualified unless YOU believe you ARE overqualified.” - Abby Kohut from an RV across America
- 24. How would you like to become a magnet for 188,000 recruiters? You can! How would you like to have your profile critiqued by a recruiter who has hired 10,000 people to be sure you set it up correctly? You can! www.PowerfulProfiles.com Code: worknet
- 25. Subject: WOW - This LinkedIn hint worked quickly! Hi Abby, Just thought I'd share a quick success story. I used the hint from your teleseminar about locations and job titles a couple of days ago - yesterday, an Atlanta based recruiter contacted me about a Chicago based opportunity for a Sales Controller, which is my top job title. Looking forward to your profile critique... Chris
- 27. Staying in Touch Abby Kohut www.AbsolutelyAbby.com tips@absolutelyabby.com See you on Facebook & LinkedIn!
- 28. Thank you to our Guest Speaker Abby Kohut of www.Absolutely Abby.com Thank you for joining us!
Editor's Notes
- Overqualified either means to a HM or recruiter that: You have too much experience Too much education Or higher salary requirements than they want to pay. Whether these things are true or not, if the hiring manager believes to be true you are deemed overqualified or basically “not the best fit” for the position. I want you to truly understand THIS statement… If a hiring manager believes that you are overqualified for their position, it is your responsibility to convince them that there are benefits for hiring an overqualified person for their job. REPEAT But before you can convince them, you need to first convince yourself.
- Even if no one tells you directly, these are them. LIST An employer doesn't want to invest in someone who they are going to receive a post it note from that says I quit within the first two years. As a former manager you must admit those are legitimate concerns. Think about it for a moment. If you were hiring someone, would you want to hire a person who would be challenged by the responsibilities of your open position or bored by them in 3 months? Here’s a real life example. Imagine if you were the VP of Marketing at Microsoft and you received a resume from a former VP of Marketing at Apple applying for a Marketing Manager position. Would you automatically consider hiring them or would you have concerns? It is your job to prove you’re genuinely interested in the position and that your advanced skills won’t deter you from performing the job, but rather will serve as a great asset to the company. You also must then convince them of why you are not a flight risk. We are going to spend the rest of this time discussing how to do that.
- The first step in convincing someone else that you are not overqualified, is to believe it yourself. To begin this process, let’s change the word OQ which has a stigma attached to it to Perfectly Qualified. In fact I’d like you to say it out loud now, I’m not overqualified, I’m Perfectly qualified. See how much better this feels? From now on, consider yourself perfectly qualified for every job that you apply for, courtesy of Absolutely Abby
- Hiring a job seeker who's Perfectly qualified for a position offers several potential benefits. 3) proven track record of success, loyalty, reliability and demonstrated results. Use in your cover letter or during an interview. As I said, you MUST believe these 3 things before you try to convince me of them.
- First, to become perfectly qualified, you’ll need create new collateral materials that highlight your Perfectly qualified experience. And second, in an interview, you’ll elaborate on why your experience, skills, and accomplishments make you the perfect candidate. And you should add a dash of passion for the company and the job.
- Older people have had more experience So, it is not your age that is causing the concern. It is your overqualified-ness. People who are 25 can be overqualified also. Target cashier I’m overqualified
- Let’s start with the collateral and let’s turn an OQ resume into a Perfectly Qualified one You‘re be judged on your most recent work anyway so just list roughly 15-20 years worth of jobs on your resume unless you have a compelling reason to leave them on like you have experience in another industry that you want to represent or because you won awards in a former company. Don’t list the number of years that you have worked in your summary. I have 30+ years of experience. Let them count and figure it out on their own 2) Omit college-graduation dates that are more than 20 years old. Omit listing numbers of direct reports if you are applying to an independent contributor role or a smaller role with fewer direct reports 3) List all the computer and other technology skills that are relevant to the job 4) Add your LinkedIn profile or your Twitter ID to show that you are up on the latest technology 5) List courses and professional-development activities that illustrate your willingness to learn and keep your skills updated. 6) Consider a functional resume. First list your skills & then your results, accomplishments, and achievements. Choose accomplishments that are relevant to the level you are applying for and that make people believe you will be more efficient than other candidates. You can omit a few details from your resume if you're seeking a lesser position than you've previously held. Some people call this dumbing down, but I think of it as targeting your document to the position you're applying for. Following that, list your job titles and years of working there. Listing your work history last has the effect of emphasizing relevant skills and de-emphasizing length of service and titles.
- Getting the interview is a major win for you because you've gotten your foot in the door. Modern clothing & hairstyle Skills and accomplishments that are valuable for THIS position— 1) make more money, 2) save money 3) efficiencies 4) develop new ideas and products. If they ask about other more senior positions, never tell them you are ok with both. You cannot come across desperate for the job. Even if you don’t say it, people can tell by the non verbal body language. 99% of the time, $ will come up during your phone interview. $ is not your main priority – stability or a good job/industry is lesser commute, a better culture, the chance to try something new, the ability to develop a new skill, or the opportunity to work on an exciting initiative. If you believe it yourself, will you be able to convince them. I am planning to work until I am 95 like my grandmother did.”
- This advice is counter to my usual advice to avoid mentioning negatives until the employer raises them If you feel that there is an elephant in the room, you may choose to address the issue in case they are thinking it o in case they start thinking it after you leave in case someone at a higher level mentions it to them later "You can see that I've worked at the Senior Director level before, but a recruiting position is exactly what I'm looking for and here’s why..." On the next few slides, I’ve listed a bunch of reasons Choose the ones that are 100% right for you for EACH job and practice saying them by heart.
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- You are good value for the company because they’ll get more knowledge and experience for their money
- I’d like to leave you with a quote straight out of my book. “It’s impossible to BE overqualified unless YOU believe you ARE overqualified. Your success with overcoming objections that you are “overqualified” starts by changing your mindset.” If you believe you are too old or overqualified, that is EXCATLY how you will speak and act. A savvy interviewer will see right through your words and body language. Before you approach any employers, you should first come to terms with why exactly you’re pursuing a lower position. You need to be truly interested in the position in question before you walk in the door and believe that you could truly be a value to the company in this EXCAT role. You MUST convince yourself that you are perfectly qualified before you have any chance of convincing me. Look at the 5 slides with all of the reasons. One of them needs to be 150% true for you for that particular job. If you truly are being honest with yourself, you will make the right decisions AND say the right things.