Or is it just a term made up to find an easier reason to reject job applicants?
So it looks like the consensus is “overqualified” is a euphemism for
- “I’m afraid you’ll leave this job because I’m assuming you’ll have better chances elsewhere” aka “you won’t accept being my slave forever due to lack of opportunities”
- “I’m afraid you might actually understand how shitty it is here and want to improve things. can’t have that”
- “I don’t want to figure out how much to pay you when you know your worth”
- “You cost too much”
- “I have other reasons, but won’t say them”
I’ve seen a few people with PhD who want to be developers being put into management roles, getting quite unhappy.
That said, if this type of PhD clearly communicates they want to be developers, the often still get jobs, maybe with lower pay compared to the manager but a bit higher pay compared to the developer