The Overqualified Trap
A recruiter for a job I interviewed for multiple times just called me to say: “We really enjoyed talking to you but we decided to go in a different direction with a more junior candidate. We were very impressed by you, so keep in touch.”
She acted like she was paying me a compliment by telling me they were going to fill a position with someone else. What she was really saying was “you failed to convince us that you are worth the chance we would take on you. Best of luck convincing someone else and we’d love you to hire us as consultants when you do find some other sucker to hire you.”
I wish they would not pretend like it is a complement to say that they are not willing to hire you for a job that they acknowledge you could do exceptionally.
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever given this feedback to a job seeker?
