Overqualification Theory, Research, and Practice: Things That Matter

Abstract

In our focal article, we contended that overqualified employees may present unique advantages to hiring organizations and that decisions regarding overqualified employees should be made considering the strengths as well as potential limitations of employing overqualified employees. In this response to commentaries on our original article, we identify distinctions researchers should pay attention to. Specifically, measurement of overqualification (whether objective or subjective measures are used), dimension of overqualification in question (overeducation, being overskilled, overintelligence, or overexperience), when and from whose perspective overqualification is assessed (before or after employment), whether overqualification occurs within the context of other overqualified employees, the degree of choice available to the job applicant in becoming overqualified, as well as the specific nature of the population being affected by overqualification are important issues that affect the theory as well as management of overqualification.