Too Qualified

I know a lot of you guys have heard me complaining about not being able to even get an interview. Well, now I have no problem getting that far, but it seems almost like they're calling me in to tell me to my face that I'm over qualified for the position being offered. No amount of explaining that my previous field is drying up (computer repair) and I don't wish to go back to a field that's crumbling away. That leaves me going for entry level positions in other fields. I'm truly willing to do anything but large chain fast food. I haven't been able to get any response for retail positions, not even auto parts stores.

College is out until we can get credit card bills payed off. That's about $6,000 we need to come up with before we can afford the extra that college will run us. I know I can do student loans, but we're barely making ends meet on my wife's teacher salary, and me not working is really putting us in a bind.

I've been a substitute teacher for a little over a year. During the current school year, I've worked 3 days. Three days in over three months. I bring home around $50 a day, so I'm not getting rich by any means.

I did get an interview at Ripley's Believe it or Not, but that's because the guy that would be my boss if I got the job is my brother's girlfriend's father, and I've known him for about 3 years. It's pay, but it's also 35 minutes away for $8.50 an hour, 6 hour shifts. It's only barely worth it.

What do you guys do when you get that "You're overqualified" line? Beg and plead? Die a little inside and remind yourself that they make damned good beer these days, but die a little more when you remember that you can't afford it?

Sorry for the rant, I just felt like I needed to get it off my chest, and you guys are a lot more experienced than anyone my age. I also tend to identify with people considerably older than I am. Heck, my wife has 4 years on me, and my youngest friend besides her has over a decade on me. I have several other friends with similar years beyond mine.

Maybe I need to put the horse in front of the buggy and find a good ditch digging company and work my fingers to the bone and make the money I need now and work on E36 M3 when I can.

Do you have any kind of degree beyond the school of hard knocks? If the debts are largeish, your credit score may be keeping you out, and they're using 'too qualified' to avoid hurting feelings. like that's possible when you want to get on with life and 'they' won't let you. Pulls a 30" vacuum on an onionsack, I know, but that's what you've got to deal with.

Credit score is fine. The debts only add up to about $6000 in credit card debts between both my wife and me, the rest is our car. My own debts are much closer to $3000 plus the $12,500 for the car. Never late on anything, not do I have a criminal record. Hell, I've never had any sort of traffic ticket, not even a parking ticket.

I don't have any degree, just 5 years in one field with nothing else. I'd have no problem getting the certifications employers want to stay within that field, but as I said, that field is shrinking like a lake during a drought.

Write a second resume.
If you really are over qualified, they are figuring that out by your own admission. I hate to say it but dumb yourself down for some instances. Altering of job title can be one way. If you were the manager of the computer repair dept and the job your applying for is not a manager position then drop that word from your resume.
If the job you are applying for is "drone" type work then highlight your task completing ability but don't spend too much time explaining that you are a "big picture guy" who can see how an entire business should be run.

I'm curious as to why the computer repair field would be 'drying up'? Have computers become so cheap that people don't repair, they throw them away and buy another? I just paid to have a new logic board put in my daughter's macbook pro out of warranty BTW, but I'm a 'fix it and keep using it' kind of guy. Could you not do computer repair on the side or even start your own business doing that?

I would take the Ripley's job and keep looking for more work.

I hire a lot of salespeople and shy from those not working at all. I hired a lady once who totally struggled with getting to work by 8:00am.

Having a job already means a lot to me in the interview stage.

jrw1621 wrote: Write a second resume. If you really are over qualified, they are figuring that out by your own admission. I hate to say it but dumb yourself down for some instances. Altering of job title can be one way. If you were the manager of the computer repair dept and the job your applying for is not a manager position then drop that word from your resume. If the job you are applying for is "drone" type work then highlight your task completing ability but don't spend too much time explaining that you are a "big picture guy" who can see how an entire business should be run.

THIS X2!!! BTW, a JOB even in a dying field, is still a JOB. And employers like to hire people who are currently working. When's the last time you got your credit scores--all three? There may be a surprise ot two.

According to the news, companies are not hiring the unemployed, those without degrees, and anyone who is not experienced in the exact job description already. It is an Employers market out there, and they are being picky because they can be. And my math shows that the cost of a degree will not be offset by your future salary, it's just a requirement that you have to shoulder. So yes, the markets sucks bad for anyone in your situation right now.

The only advice that I can give is to look for a bigger company with an IT department or a systems integration department that sells an odd product. (Automated Systems like material handling, fountains, robotics, ROVs, etc) They require basic computer skills, but their products are so unique that no one is going to already be skilled. That means that they provide on-the-job training. Any company that is replacing manual labor with automation is a good bet right now.

You can also look for a company that offers tuition reimbursement. Get in with the IT department, and they load up on classes to get your degree. You will be tied to that company for a while, but if they offer some room for advancement internally, then what's the harm?

What about Microsoft Certification? I know my friends are always looking to hire people in the MS CRM space. Could be cheaper and faster than a college degree.

"Overqualified" is just a nice way of saying "thanks, but no thanks". It doesn't make you feel any better, but there is a problem somewhere. The resume, the interview, the credit rating(yes they DO look), your expectations, or maybe, just the "fit". There is a job coach at most state employment services. Use them, it's a great, free, resource.

In reply to jrw1621:

That's the only thing that I think can be going wrong, as I tend to interview pretty well. I wrote my resume with a professional job in IT or consulting in mind.

In reply to nedc:

Yes, the consumer computer repair field is drying up. I have very little experience with Macs, other than to know that they are most often worth fixing, especially one less than 5 years old. PC based desktops and notebooks have gotten cheap enough to be thrown away when they break. For instance, my $400 laptop that I'm typing this reply on has a $300 motherboard. By the time you add in labor, you've spent more than simply buying a new laptop.

I consider the sub $300 Dell to be the reason the PC repair business is going away.

In reply to pinchvalve:

This is one of the reasons I'll take just about any job right now. I want to move into another field, but it seems that substitute teaching is considered unemployed.

I do think the tip about finding a company that does off the wall things would be a good fit for me. If I had a background in programming, I probably would have really looked into that.

Microsoft Certification isn't really something I'd want to pursue. I don't particularly want a job in which I have to deal with Microsoft issues day in and day out. Give me a nix system and I'll be happy. It seems that most firms that do robotics and materials handling use nix variants, at least on the front end.

In reply to minimac:

This is actually a bit of a fear of mine. What if this cycle continues, and I never get even the E36 M3tiest job flipping burgers at Five Guys? My expectations are low.

The job at Ripley's (if they offer it to me) is in housekeeping. I have absolutely zero problem with that. Yeah, I might have to clean up puke and E36 M3, but I get to clean up puke and E36 M3 in a cool old building that's been turned into a cool museum. Hell, they have a Peel P50 sitting in their lobby that the workers will take out on occasion.

I've never really cared about what job I had to do. I won't do teleservices anymore (nervous breakdown from that one), but just about anything else is fair game. What I do care about is the environment in which I am working. As long as everyone isn't all doom and gloom all the time, I can enjoy myself to some extent.

If you do not want to appear unemployeed then change the illusion.
How about some collusion? I hate call it outright lying.
Do you know anyone who is doing small computer repair, even if just out of their house, but as a searchable business.
If you have this you can be claiming to do some side work for this entity. Executives call this consulting. The key here is that the small entity will verify your employeement should the new company call for a reference.

Heck, the sub-teaching may fill this need. I bet the only thing done is that they verify that you are in fact a sub. I imagine that how many days of work you do does not enter the conversation. Surely, the school system will verify you as a sub. Your motives would seem correct in that you are looking for something more than the part time work your current employeer, the school district is offering.

That's the only thing that I think can be going wrong, as I tend to interview pretty well. I wrote my resume with a professional job in IT or consulting in mind.

Use that resume when applying for IT. Use something else when applying for "burger" work. Customize your approach.

i had a hard time finding a job this summer because i made too much money in a totally different job than what i was applying for 150 miles away 5 years ago. the pay scales up this way are about 30% lower than where i'm from, and they thought i'd be demanding my old wage after a short time. a couple of places actually told me this, and a few of them kind of hinted at it. i finally got a job- thru a temp agency- when i left the wage i was making off that high paying job on the application.

i got that job in August, and just quit it a week ago to go work at one of the places that wouldn't hire me in May..

Have you sent your resume to any of the IT contracting firms? I know that you want to get out of IT. I don't know where you live but I have a good realtionship with a local guy that works for a contracting company that has offices accross the contry, feel free to PM me and I will get him your info and see what happens from there.

You should try having to explain "flat rate pay" to an interviewer when they ask why you get paid $20/hr and want a low paying $9-10/hr job now. It is because the low pay is a pay raise!!!

What really grind my gears is a non-answer is now the answer. Complete total bullE36 M3.

Brian

tutor-for-hire? around here, tutors are charging between $20 and $40 per hour for one-on-one at the elementary school level. most are working for cash.

Tutor for hire usually requires some sort of actual educational background.

I do use the school district as my current employer, advise them that they may indeed contact them, and that I'm looking for full time work instead of the part time work I'm getting.

I guess I need to bone up on my resume. Really get it suited for lower level jobs.

I could go back to the call center and commit seppuku after about 30 minutes on the phone. Yes, I hated that job that much. It makes Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" look downright PLEASANT.

Oh, and I got a reply back from Ripley's. No go, they hired someone else. I figured that would happen. My hair is too long for them, I think.

While it wouldn't pay off right now, I could start a lawn business. I'd need to take out a loan for equipment, but I have experience here. My dad does it and has been trying to get me to do it. Maybe that's the ticket here. Make my own job, screw everyone else.

Tailor your resume and cover letter for each gig you apply for. Think about what they are looking for and in their ad/post/job description - make sure your app/resume/letter address every skill and attribute they list. Sounds kinda hokey, but HR depts look at how to reject folks - get past that and you get the interview. As far as interviewing pretty well - don't want to sound like a jerk but you're getting to the interview and somewhere during that session a decision is getting made that you're not the guy. I don't think it's the background checks - it costs to do them - at least at our place that doesn't happen until we've pretty muched wrapped up the decision-making part of it - we also don't bring in folks to chat if they're not a viable candiate - at least on paper. During your interviews, are there any questions or points where you notice any kind of change in posture or body language of your interviewer? That might give you a hint of where things are getting derailed or questions that you may need to rethink how you respond.

The point I see any change on their side is when I tell them that I think computer repair isn't a viable career path any longer and want to seek other opportunities.

Maye they're not buying it - we are in desperate need of PC techs (usually software stuff), so what they're hearing is a stance that the computer technician field is dying - maybe it is, but if the perception isn't there, you may need to reframe why you want out of that field. just a thought...

Red flag to me if you say computer repair isn't a viable career path. It is viable, just not to you. You have to say something like that at your last job, you topped out in their organization. And while looking for a different gig, you saw the same things around the industry. Then somehow tie it back into you have a family to provide for, yadda, yadda, yadda. You have to make the job you interview for as a positive, not a horizontal positioning of yourself to jump to another industry or somehow the job is a downgrade. With that said, the interviewer is probably thinking the same thing I just said, don't like it, he'll just ship to another industry.

Good point on both of those last posts.

I should say that the local computer repair industry is dead. In order to really get back into it, I would need to commute a good distance, an hour or more, for a job that pays $9 an hour.

Maybe I should look back at computer teching in a different city. I tried on my own here and failed hard because I couldn't sustain the business with so few customers. Now that my credit is more established, and my wife makes enough money to support the household, maybe I should just open a shop. I know one of my failings last time was I had no store front, and people around here want a store front. A lesson learned too late.

I might do a little more market research and see if it's something I can pull off. In doing it, I would end up hurting at least one of the other shops in town, because there are 3 of them that are barely scraping by.

The reason I want out of the field is because I see so many shops pop up and die within 6 months. The market is a little saturated, so I'd have to have something special that would put me on top. None of the local shops are hiring, and the one where I used to work wouldn't hire me back last time they needed a tech. Maybe I'm just a little jaded.

In reply to Derick Freese:

You sound a lot like a friend of mine. He ended up getting a job driving a truck on weekends, and makes good enough money doing that to get through college. You don't have any traffic tickets, so that's a good start. Just need to get that CDL.

could you do a geek squad kind of thing, ie bring your PC repair expertise to the home and/or small business user? car becomes a write-off, as does any home space you use for supporting the biz.

In reply to AngryCorvair:

I tried that, and got exactly one customer. I spent more advertising than anything else, and I advertised well, but stayed within the letter of the law. That is seemingly a failure of mine.

At this time, I'd need to front the money for a car. I have an XJ, but it looks like crap and I'm not 100% trusting of it. Heck, I can't afford to get the title transferred to my name yet. I've had it for months and haven't been able to afford to put more than $20 or so in it at any single time. The wife said I can finance something if I get a job, but I'd have to make enough to pay the payment and insurance increase.

I live in a place that's kind of stuck in time. People still haven't fully adopted the internet around here. I mean a lot of people, not a hand full.

Well, I have decided to swallow my pride and go back to work at Verizon. I really don't enjoy it all that much, but I can get our bills payed off a heck of a lot faster this way, and afford to live, as opposed to just survive like we've been doing.