CSN Session – 06/15/20 – Lunch Conversations with Randy & Teddy

On YouTube (unlisted) – https://youtu.be/cGNZeC91kK0

This week’s Topic: How do I present myself as not Over Qualified?
Sometimes – age discrimination.
Maybe we want to use our skills differently, and the interviewer misunderstands us.
They fear we may be using their job as a gap job, till we find then next great job.
Maybe the company needs to look at a quarter-quarter hiring of a highly skilled person to move them forward quickly.
The new trend is short term employment before moving on to another job.
The fear may be they will have to pay more $$ for someone who is overqualified.
They may want to hire for less $$.
Is it possible the company (Hiring Manager / HR) may not really understand the true job needs, and it may require more skills?
Address the skills you believe will create the greatest results for the role/company.
Present a factual case for your skills/experience/background in the role.
Try to determine is it really ‘over-qualified’, or is that just an excuse not to hire.
Maybe probe deeper with the hiring manager, department head, or business leader to discover the real challenges this position could help solve.
Control the process more yourself, rather than following the HR designed processes.
If the job is a non-stretch job, you need to share why you want it.

This week’s Interview question: How long would it take you to make a meaningful contribution to our firm?
JM – I feel I will make a meaningful contribution as soon as I get started. Dependent on the role and duration of the contract.
RK – There is also a corporate culture aspect of this question. They may not expect contribution until you get acclimated to the role. There may be an immediate task that needs to be done. Need to uncover the various projects.
GJ – The cultural fit is real. Maybe the departmental culture will play into this answer as well. Need to make inroads into the organization to become a ’team player’. The higher performance or more complex roles may include more ‘ramp up time’. Positions that aren’t so ‘high-performance’ contribution needs to be immediate.

What are you doing this week to move your self forward in your career journey?
RK – several networking calls, 1 in-person meeting, continue refining “who I am”, Building my ‘Happy List’ of roles/companies, customers (to filter out the junk stuff)
JM – working on her formalized plan and target companies. Will set up a schedule of tasks.
GJ – continue networking conversations, 4 ‘warm’ conversations that need nurturing, Prospecting work to do.

This week’s challenge – Practice responding to the difficult question – Overqualified, or you appear old (Teddy be facetious)

Next week topics: