Why am I getting rejected for being overqualified or underqualified?
Employers often dismiss experienced applicants with contradictory feedback, claiming they are either underqualified based on interview scores or overqualified for the roles offered. This completely invalidates a candidate's years of service and previous direct experience, preventing them from securing an offer even after dozens of interviews.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
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- 1Maintained interviewing skills by continuously interviewing since starting a previous jobDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I've interviewed all over USA and currently work in New England area.”source ↗
“I've gotten to final rounds for some. But for whatever reason, I always get an overqualified response or a response saying I am underqualified.”source ↗
“I've probably interviewed just around 50 companies by now and have always been given the no.”source ↗
“I was working there as a substitute a little more than a year ago and now that I’m certified I’m suddenly not good enough to be on the list?”source ↗
“They are offering me, a certified teacher, a role that they know I am overqualified for. It’s insulting.”source ↗
“They told me I didn’t score well enough on the interview. Even if that is true, do my years of service in the board and community mean nothing?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Why do I keep losing final round interviews to more experienced candidates?
- 9Why am I getting rejected for jobs for being overqualified?
- 2Why do I still feel unqualified after years of experience?
- 5Why am I getting zero interviews despite having accounting experience?
- 2Will past job mistakes block my professional license?
- 6Why can't I get a job as a generalist?