Congratulations, You’re ‘Overqualified’ — Now Please Starve Quietly

NGL*, this is the legit most difficult job search I have ever had in my life, and this is AFTER finally getting the society-recommended college degree. That ever-so-critical paperwork. To say I have applied for over 80 jobs would be an understatement. If you want to know about job boards of ANY KIND or for ANY INDUSTRY, I've got you. Reach out. My research and efforts are extensive.

Sealing that treasured moment at CofC, shaking the hand of the excellent President Hsu.

The stories of my successes in jobs are pretty intriguing, as I have always worked and I have never had difficulty running my own businesses or getting jobs I wanted and went for, and even in creating jobs that did not exist and making bank with them. This time, I am trying the "conventional" methods, and they SUCK.

The reasons for me not being contacted or hired could be many. As weird as it sounds, most of the time I am "over-qualified" because when people see my resume they will assume I want too much money (I don't, I just want my family to survive), or they do not understand why I would apply for a job that is perhaps a step back from former higher positions. I have my reasons, just as anyone does, for why they want to work or move the way they do. My fascinating stories are for another post . . . or series.

Perhaps my years of experience are a glaring admission of my age. Oh well. My POV on that is I should be seen as the Gen X'er that has a work ethic of steel, and will not cry ("there's no crying in baseball"), or walk off of a job because someone hurt my feelings or gave me constructive criticism. I'll do the work. I'll do it without guidance or hand-holding. I will also do it without being a moron, actually taking time to do my own research and solve problems rather than create more questions or complaints for those in charge.

It's ME! CofC Honors Grad -- Applied Communication; Summa Cum Laude

Long story short (ha, never), I went back to college to get my degree and relieve my "imposter syndrome," and to make sure any side-eye'er's could STFU when it came to judging me on whether or not I had a college degree. I do now, so pffffft. I did not need that degree to prove my value to myself OR to others, but I did it -- and I LOVED what I got out of it. I could SEE the value in going to college and some of the things I truly missed, never having done that in the normal time frame. I am grateful I went back now, in the 2020's, so I could have access to learning the new technologies and logistics on how our world moves. Now, I struggle.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

I've applied for well over (should I actually admit it -- yes, it might resonate with someone else dealing with this same situation) 80 jobs. Perhaps double that. That's bananas. I FEEL like if I shared my resume here and some saw it, they might agree it is, indeed, bananas. Now, in my own defense, it took me time before I realized my application, despite going through career platforms, might not even be making it to human eyes. I kept thinking, "If only I could get the actual INTERVIEW, with a human, they would see my value and hear my points and responses to questions they might have." It hit me that maybe I wasn't getting that far, so I did more research, asking AI how to get past AI. How to surpass what they call ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems). I redesigned my resume to be the MOST (boring) ATS-friendly. I went and re-uploaded that to ALL the same sites. Then, I got a bite.

I landed an interview, it went very well, and I got to the second interview. The boss liked me enough to put me through to the "skills assessment," and then that landed me what was to be the final/third round interview. Except, I did not take it. The job or the interview. Yeah, you might be surprised considering what I just shared about my struggles to get to an interview, but I want to maintain my value and prevent entering a toxic work environment before the job even starts. And, I don't want anyone else to do that either.

What happened during the interview process during that time was what can boil down to "scope creep," much like in construction jobs (or any project, really), where the cost/payment is specific for a set of things, and that is the cost. Additional things cost more. That is what should be expected. If Betty and Joe want to build a bathroom and the price proposal for renovations specify $28,000 for such and such materials and scope of work, Betty and Joe cannot just throw in a marble tub instead of the porcelain one and expect the price to stay the same. Who covers that extra cost? The builder? NO.

So, in getting the job interview, I gave my recruiter a minimum hourly rate (already $10 below my normal minimum rate, because -- as I have mentioned -- I was struggling to get human activity). My naiveté was in thinking the recruiter had the best interests of both parties in mind, but that is not so. She came back with a terrific job opportunity in wealth management, and it sounded like a viable situation that would benefit the employer as well as myself. But, "the employer only wants to pay ($2 dollars less than my minimum), because it IS fully remote." (DO NOT GET ME STARTED - SAVING THAT FOR ANOTHER BLOG BECAUSE NOOOO.) I did go ahead and say that would work for now, knowing I need to get money rolling in, so I was able to get that interview with the boss. DURING that interview is where the scope creep comes in.

Not only was the position remote at the boss's insistence, but ALSO the workload was MUCH different and greater than the recruiter and pay rate implied. All of that work was well within my wheelhouse, but not at the rate offered. Still, I concluded the interview - pay was never discussed with the actual boss, nor should it have been at that stage -- and I waited to see how he thought it went. Clearly, very well, so I got that third and final interview offer. This is where I fought with myself over taking the job at the horribly low rate compared to the work expectations, because I have a family and we must continue to survive (and one day thrive), or continue to look for something I could feel positive about from the start. I did more research and confirmed my own feelings and knowledge that the job should have truly been offering double the hourly being offered, yet I was only asking for $2 more per hour. It felt like I was going to go into a toxic situation before I got there, IF I were to be hired, because if a potential boss is going to undervalue you that much from the start, and not be upfront about the expectations with all parties involved, what else would be piled on?

I reached out to the recruiter and simply let her know that I did appreciate the opportunity, and that she might not have been aware that the job being offered was not actually the same as what was discussed during the second interview. I explained I was happy to take the position, should it be offered, but at the rate I requested in order for it to be viable with the additional work expectations outside of the presented job title. Needless to say, I did get exactly the reply expected which was that he would not be paying more than that piss-poor rate he offered.

I did also explain in my letter to the recruiter that "while the position being remote is a benefit, I don’t believe that should translate to a discount in rate—especially given the level of responsibility involved." ALSO, I was not requiring to be remote. The employer is transitioning his own company to fully remote, even telling me during the interview that he had clients balking at the idea and "screw them" was his attitude. (Yes, that shocked me, too.) At that moment in time, I did step up to him on his own behalf and explain how I would be more than happy to help serve his older clients that might struggle with remote access. One would think that kind of attitude and initiative would be appealing to an employer. His loss. I am AWESOME. All that said, I am still in the job market for the opportunity that is perfect for ME.

And, you know what? This entire blog post actually started because of what I am sharing BELOW, and just got off on a tangent because I felt it really important to share my story -- I don't want anyone to SETTLE when it means they will UNDERVALUE themselves and start off feeling some kind of negative way towards a new boss or community. This will only set you up for health struggles, mentally and physically, potential stress and anxiety, and most likely the inability to do your best at your job if you are working with resentment. You're OVERQUALIFIED for something you want? How? And who cares? Employers should be so lucky as to have an applicant in that position, and the reasons people make those choices are diverse and personal, or simple and unimportant, not to mention irrelevant to if you are able to do the job. I bet you can.

Now that I have gotten myself to accept I made the right choice, even though it means continuing to wade through thousands of "job posts," I leveled-up my own self-worth in standing up for myself and knowing I have more value than was offered for my contributions. I left a toxic work environment in the past, and it has taken literal years to get beyond most of the physical and mental health issues caused by it (yes, that does happen from stress), and I won't tolerate another one. So, I keep looking . . . and applied to another nine so far this morning, and then this happened:

I spotted a job ad saying they were NOT a “ghost job listing” so I had to look it up. Clearly, I know they exist, just like the ones fishing for info., but ugh. I’m on a new (to me) site for the first time today, and it SEEMS to have good leads (ok, it's CareerBuilder). However, over this whole process, I’m getting kind of concerned with how many times I have been required to send my driver’s license, or send a pic of my actual face with me holding my driver’s license, or let the site biometrically scan my face . . . all the ways they are legit just farming for info and storing things to sell for massive profit . . . hordes of biometric and real ID info. from people who will use it the wrong way but pay big for it. It’s super easy to create a fake job listing to look amazing and legitimate. (I . . . AM . . . CONCERNED. Does anyone else ever think about that during their job searches?)

After finally earning that prized college degree — the one society told me would unlock opportunity — I thought this job search would be a victory lap. Instead, it’s been the hardest one of my life. I’ve applied to over 80 jobs (probably closer to double), redesigned my resume for the bots, and still find myself getting ghosted, undercut, or dismissed as “overqualified.” When I finally did land interviews, the pay didn’t match the scope — and I walked away, because I refuse to accept less than I’m worth. The kicker? This whole post started because I spotted a job proudly claiming “We are not a ghost listing.” And let me tell you — if you’re out here navigating scams, biometric data grabs, and underpaid “remote perks,” you’re not alone. This is for everyone who’s played by the rules, done the work, earned the credentials — and is still left wondering if the system is even built to let us win . . . or is overrun with bots keeping us out. I'll wrap this up by dropping the two screenshots of search results about "ghost job listings." If this resonates with you or someone you know, please share. 

Ghost job listings are a huge concern and the career platforms need to find a way to prevent them.

Check, Check, and CHECK, to ALL of the things in "Why they are frustrating for job seekers."

Good luck out there! Thanks for reading my story.

*This is what the kids say now, "Not gonna lie," for those that need a little text lingo update.