this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2024
83 points (94.6% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26916 readers
1783 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Or is it just a term made up to find an easier reason to reject job applicants?


So it looks like the consensus is "overqualified" is a euphemism for

  • "I'm afraid you'll leave this job because I'm assuming you'll have better chances elsewhere" aka "you won't accept being my slave forever due to lack of opportunities"
  • "I'm afraid you might actually understand how shitty it is here and want to improve things. can't have that"
  • "I don't want to figure out how much to pay you when you know your worth"
  • "You cost too much"
  • "I have other reasons, but won't say them"
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] sunzu@kbin.run 52 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

flight risk or/and asking too high of salary

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 5 points 4 months ago (4 children)

What does that have to do with qualifications? If a PhD applies for a job at a fastfood joint and asks for the same wage as everybody else, that has nothing to do with qualifications.

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 34 points 4 months ago

The guy with the PhD is much more likely to get frustrated to the point that they're either quitting early or stirring up trouble to "improve" things. Both cost money. That's a risk most employers aren't likely to take.

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 25 points 4 months ago (1 children)

A PhD can get a much higher paying (and likely less physically difficult) job than fast food. The unspoken assumption when someone is "overqualified" is that they will take a better job if the opportunity presents itself.

[–] atro_city@fedia.io -2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

A PhD can get a much higher paying (and likely less physically difficult) job than fast food.

That maybe be true, but they may be trying a different career, or unable to find a job in their field because of oversaturation, or whatever other reason.

The unspoken assumption when someone is "overqualified" is that they will take a better job if the opportunity presents itself.

Isn't that everybody though? If a cashier in fastfood got an opportunity to become a highly-paid streamer, they'd quit their fastfood job immediately too. But I do get your point: better credentials mean better job chances, mean greater likelihood of moving a job that's paid better.

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 months ago

Yeah but streamer jobs that pay better than a fast food job are extraordinarily scarce. Not worth thinking about for a hiring manager.

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

It's not a good comparison. You can also say that a PhD doesn't help you at all to be a fast food worker.

For a given profession, if you're looking to hire an entry level person at an entry level salary, and someone applies who has decades of experience in that profession, it makes a difficult situation for the organization. When it's time for raises, how do you fairly compare that person to the actual entry level people? If the person could legitimately get double their salary, are they going to stay on your team for the lower salary? Stuff like that makes it problematic.

[–] sunzu@kbin.run -2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

perception of the slave owner drives the decision making process here.