Stop applying to jobs you are overqualified for

Dear Sam:

I am struggling to understand why, when I apply for positions I could perform with one hand tied behind my back, I do not get a call for an interview.

I have a master’s degree in human nutrition and a bachelor’s degree in dietetics, and I have significant experience owning my own practice as a dietitian, as well as working with an acute-care facility as their clinical dietitian. I am trying to market myself for a new clinical role and am finding I am not even getting a call back for support roles. What can I do to ensure I get looked at for these roles?

Dear Jasper:

Unfortunately, I hear this a lot from candidates; they are applying for roles they could “do in their sleep” and find it impossible to believe that hiring managers are not snapping them up for opportunities well beneath their expected pay grade and skill level.

Let’s think about this from the side of the hiring manager. Would you be the best candidate if you are not challenged, are not compensated at the level to which you are accustomed and perhaps are not used to being the subordinate employee? Hiring managers would think not.

When applying for roles, unless you are able to trim your experience and do what some call “dumb down” your resume by presenting yourself as a candidate for a position less demanding than your previous roles — you would never be seen as the best fit for a support role.

Hiring managers, especially in an employer-friendly market with an over-saturation of qualified candidates, seek candidates who are neither over- nor under-qualified. The best candidate will possess the majority of the required qualifications, will offer recent experience performing in a similar role, and will be assumed to have compensation requirements within the range offered. If you are well educated — perhaps more so than what is required — and possess significant leadership experience as a consultant and leader within an acute care setting, applying for support roles likely isn’t the best fit.

Instead, why not revamp your resume to communicate the strong management story you have to tell? From looking at your resume, I see so many opportunities to improve the content and the aesthetic.

First, create a Qualifications Summary communicating the breadth of your exposure. Promote the uniqueness of your candidacy by presenting highlights of your program development experience, your accomplishments improving quality and compliance, and of course, your patientcentered approach. Within this summary, be sure you are conveying all of the highlights of your candidacy that you cannot afford for a hiring manager not to know. Realize this may be the only section of your resume screened during the initial scanning process, so make the most of this real estate and time in front of the hiring manager.

Next, flow into an Industry Experience section where you communicate the depth of your expertise. Build your consulting role section fully, exploring your key engagements, the challenges you faced, the actions you took and the outcomes. The reader will value the experience only to the point that you present it, so do not dilute the impact by presenting just a sentence or two on some significant experience.

Once you revamp the content of your resume and realize the level of opportunities you need to pursue, hiring managers will see you as the best-fit candidate and your phone will start ringing. Samantha Nolan is a certified professional resume writer and owner of Ladybug Design, a fullservice resume-writing firm. Have a question for Sam? She can be reached at dearsam@ladybug-design.com or 614-570-3442. Find out more at ladybug-design.com.