3 ms·

It was a seasonal job (ie temporary) she was overqualified for. I don't see why that should be an issue.

by solarmist 12y ago

kjs3 12y ago
When/if you ever become a hiring manager, it'll get clear to you quite quickly.
- solarmist 12y ago
  I call bullshit. Especially because this is a temporary position, either way in a few months she would be gone. And if there's an attitude problem she could be fired. I've had plenty of jobs that were beneath me and I hated (I even worked at Taco Bell for a season as a graduate student), I did them and did them well then left when I felt it was time to move on, no harm no foul. And this includes computer science and programming jobs. Yes I enjoy programming and engineering and generally like my job, but all this fake enthusiasm is annoying. Most people are there for one reason to make money, either now or in the future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz2-49q6DOI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz2-49q6DOI
  - kjs3 12y ago
    Oh my...called bullshit. Knock yourself out. Objective reality doesn't match your preconceived notions. You'll find that happens a lot as you move through life.
    - solarmist 12y ago
      I don't doubt many of people feel that way and a lot of them are hiring managers, but I don't feel the need to question someone's motivations for applying to a job below their level. Life's complicated enough without trying to overlay my preconceived notions about why they're appling for a particular job onto someone else, as you say.
    - 2muchcoffeeman 12y ago
      Can you enlighten us then? The statistical improbability of getting hired for such a position aside, if someone overqualified wanted to work for you in a (very) temporary position, why would you not hire them? Or at least get them to interview?
kazinator 12y ago
Because someone overqualified (worse, an overly educated and successful writer) is assumed to look down upon the McJob. Nobody wants an employee who resents what they are doing, as something that they have sunk to. Also, nobody wants an employee that will bail as soon as their publishing activity picks up. Or one whose mind is somewhere else at all times.
- solarmist 12y ago
  Honestly I disagree with that and because I've been on the other side of that I will mostly give people the benefit of the doubt. They're applying because they really need the job. Period. Unless I see something else that indicates issues I won't hold that against them. There are very few positions I've ever had, even great jobs I loved, that I wouldn't readily leave for greener pastures. Why would I stay when another company is offering me more money and/or more responsibility for similar or more interesting work? Sure, I'm not going to drop my job at the drop of a hat, but I'll do what's best for me and that rarely involves staying for long periods of time at one company. I've had a boss that had no choice (it was an Austrian firm that refused to pay US market rates), but to hire people grossly overqualified for the position they were in and paid way below market rate for it and he put together a great team by finding "naive and/or desperate people" (I was both at the time, having just come back from Japan when Nova, the English school, when bankrupt suddenly). And I'm still grateful to him for everything I learned there about business, but he did his best to keep everyone advancing in their career and encouraged people to move along when it was time. Just as companies keep trying to make employees interchangeable that makes jobs just as interchangeable.
  - kedean 12y ago
    It's not about whether you'll leave for a better opportunity, it's whether you're actively looking for them. John Smith the high school dropout is glad to just have the job, they'll stick with it as long as they can. The emmy-win
  - kedean 12y ago
    It's not about whether you'll leave for a better opportunity, it's whether you're actively looking for them. John Smith the high school dropout is glad to just have the job, he'll stick with it as long as he can. The emmy-winning harvard graduate is going to be looking for alternatives every day she's working there, because she knows she can get hired at one. The likelihood of them leaving is much higher because they're coming to those opportunities instead of the other way around.

It was a seasonal job (ie temporary) she was overqualified for. I don't see why that should be an issue.

kjs3 12y ago

When/if you ever become a hiring manager, it'll get clear to you quite quickly.

solarmist 12y ago
I call bullshit. Especially because this is a temporary position, either way in a few months she would be gone. And if there's an attitude problem she could be fired. I've had plenty of jobs that were beneath me and I hated (I even worked at Taco Bell for a season as a graduate student), I did them and did them well then left when I felt it was time to move on, no harm no foul. And this includes computer science and programming jobs. Yes I enjoy programming and engineering and generally like my job, but all this fake enthusiasm is annoying. Most people are there for one reason to make money, either now or in the future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz2-49q6DOI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz2-49q6DOI
- kjs3 12y ago
  Oh my...called bullshit. Knock yourself out. Objective reality doesn't match your preconceived notions. You'll find that happens a lot as you move through life.
  - solarmist 12y ago
    I don't doubt many of people feel that way and a lot of them are hiring managers, but I don't feel the need to question someone's motivations for applying to a job below their level. Life's complicated enough without trying to overlay my preconceived notions about why they're appling for a particular job onto someone else, as you say.
  - 2muchcoffeeman 12y ago
    Can you enlighten us then? The statistical improbability of getting hired for such a position aside, if someone overqualified wanted to work for you in a (very) temporary position, why would you not hire them? Or at least get them to interview?

kazinator 12y ago

Because someone overqualified (worse, an overly educated and successful writer) is assumed to look down upon the McJob. Nobody wants an employee who resents what they are doing, as something that they have sunk to. Also, nobody wants an employee that will bail as soon as their publishing activity picks up. Or one whose mind is somewhere else at all times.

solarmist 12y ago
Honestly I disagree with that and because I've been on the other side of that I will mostly give people the benefit of the doubt. They're applying because they really need the job. Period. Unless I see something else that indicates issues I won't hold that against them. There are very few positions I've ever had, even great jobs I loved, that I wouldn't readily leave for greener pastures. Why would I stay when another company is offering me more money and/or more responsibility for similar or more interesting work? Sure, I'm not going to drop my job at the drop of a hat, but I'll do what's best for me and that rarely involves staying for long periods of time at one company. I've had a boss that had no choice (it was an Austrian firm that refused to pay US market rates), but to hire people grossly overqualified for the position they were in and paid way below market rate for it and he put together a great team by finding "naive and/or desperate people" (I was both at the time, having just come back from Japan when Nova, the English school, when bankrupt suddenly). And I'm still grateful to him for everything I learned there about business, but he did his best to keep everyone advancing in their career and encouraged people to move along when it was time. Just as companies keep trying to make employees interchangeable that makes jobs just as interchangeable.
- kedean 12y ago
  It's not about whether you'll leave for a better opportunity, it's whether you're actively looking for them. John Smith the high school dropout is glad to just have the job, they'll stick with it as long as they can. The emmy-win
- kedean 12y ago
  It's not about whether you'll leave for a better opportunity, it's whether you're actively looking for them. John Smith the high school dropout is glad to just have the job, he'll stick with it as long as he can. The emmy-winning harvard graduate is going to be looking for alternatives every day she's working there, because she knows she can get hired at one. The likelihood of them leaving is much higher because they're coming to those opportunities instead of the other way around.