Over qualified and still no job?

At present it is difficult to find the correct job and even more difficult to apply for jobs for which you are overqualified. What would your answer be if a company tells you that even though you have the qualifications to perform the job, in general you are well overqualified for the position? It appears to be the wall I'm currently facing, what is your take on this?

It may help to look at this issue from an employer's viewpoint. If they get an application which looks like the candidate has qualifications and experience in excess of what they feel they need to do the job it has two effects;

1. they may feel that the candidate may be after a salary that they can't afford
2. they may be concerned that even though you could do the job, that you'd be quick to leave them once the economy picks up and another higher level job is available to you - so they'd lose both ways.

The result is often that they bin these overqualified or over-experienced applications, especially when they're getting so many.

The secret is to make sure that your CV is tailored to the requirements of the job you're applying to. You may need to leave off some qualifications and/or tone down some experience if you're going for lower level jobs. This can be done through the expression of job titles and leaving off of some high level duties from the responsibilities listing.

The other angle is only to apply for jobs that you feel you're really interested in and want to get. It's very easy as an employer to pick up when a candidate is just whipping off a CV to a job, any job that comes up, as their covering letter doesn't communicate their passion for the role. If you are going for a lower level job, and you tone the CV down a bit, it may also help to explain why you want this job, what you can bring to it, and underline how it fits in your career path within the covering letter. This will help the employer feel safer about putting you forward for interview.