Pitfalls of overtraining –

Nowadays, it is very common for many people to “dumb down” their professional resume when looking for a job, denying certain qualifications and experience, so as not to appear overqualified and therefore unfit for a position that is really lower than their actual abilities. However, this kind of trickery is definitely not a good idea in the long term, on the one hand, because it is easy to expose yourself (what did you do during your university years?), on the other hand, because constant pretending can cause serious psychological stress.

We speak of over-education if the individual’s formal education, which can be supported by certificates and diplomas, is higher than what is required for the job held or intended to be held. But in this case, according to many experts, it might be more correct about underemployment to speak, because the person has not “overeducated” himself, he just does not use his acquired knowledge, experiences, and abilities to the extent expected by his environment. At the same time, it is often difficult to determine precisely what kind of education would be needed to fill a job, the more complex the given job, the more, because the more complex knowledge it may require. Thus, it is not necessarily clear in every case how someone is considered overeducated, although in specific cases most people consider this to be fairly accurate.

Reasons for overtraining

Is it fair to ask why someone can’t find a job that matches their qualifications if they meet all the requirements on paper and there is a demand for their qualifications on the labor market? There are several sociological, psychological, and of course social psychological concepts in this regard.

• The first lack of adequate social capital. A Pierre Bourdieu according to the theory associated with his name, the different capitals (economic, cultural, social) can be converted into each other, and one of the conditions for their validity is that the individual actually converts them. If you have money, get a good education, if you have knowledge, find a well-paying job, if you have influential acquaintances, get serious assignments. And ideally, he has all these capitals, because the lack of one of them already prevents conversions. In other words, even if someone has an excellent degree, if they don’t have the right connections (acquaintances, former schoolmates, relatives, etc.), they won’t even get to a job interview, or at least the chances are much lower than if they had the right “well-wishers”, personal connections.
• It is possible that the hopeful the employee simply does not have enough time, energy or money for a longer job search. Because the problems of making a living are urgent, there is a lot of pressure from the family to get a job as soon as possible, or, for example, he is a failure avoider who does not take rejection well, so he gives up after one or two unsuccessful attempts in order to find a job that matches his qualifications.
• And, of course, it is also conceivable that someone simply does skills do not match formal education. After all, even with the same education, people’s abilities can be very different, and they can be suitable for the same job to very different degrees. This is a case of a wrong fit, not everyone studies in a direction that really suits their abilities, because, say, there is strong parental pressure, the salary and/or prestige available with the chosen profession is tempting, or perhaps the given training is the most available right then and there. Because of these, a person can complete, say, an engineering education in a way that would be more suitable for a doctor or biologist. And he will not work as an engineer, at most as a subordinate technician, partly regardless of his degree.
• Finally, the already mentioned family situation can also lead to underemployment. Marriage and having children significantly reduce an individual’s (geographical) mobility, it is no longer so easy to move for a better job that matches one’s education. For a while, you can only choose from the jobs that are available locally or nearby. And by the time the children grow up and fly away, it is more difficult to change due to age alone, so overtraining or underemployment remains as part of the individual’s comfort zone.

But what is the problem?

Overtraining can cause problems in several areas and levels. It can be a problem for the individual (the employee), the workplace community and the employer (practically the management).

• The individual may often feel that because he is not doing a job according to his qualifications, he is out of place, that the situation he is in is only temporary and therefore insecure. Or, on the contrary, that he is “stuck” in the given job, and with the passage of time, his chances of breaking out and finding his way back to his original profession are getting smaller and smaller. That e.g. after several years as a trained worker, his liberal arts degree, which seems increasingly distant, matters less and less.
• A kind of ostracism can appear on the part of current colleagues, when the typically lower-qualified colleagues assume from the outset that the overqualified one looks down on them, that no matter how polite he is, it’s just a show, and that he wants to be the boss anyway, so he can finally show his teeth. Such prejudices are difficult to combat and can be another frustrating factor for an overeducated individual.
• And the employer can easily think that someone who is overqualified cannot be motivated enough in a lower position in the first place, that – partly in connection with this – he will resign at the first opportunity, or like colleagues, that sooner or later the subordinate’s ego will break through and become unmanageable. In connection with the latter, there is also a common fear that the presence of an overqualified employee will have a negative effect on his environment, and the often unspoken contradictions and tensions will make workplace cooperation difficult from the outset.

Counterarguments from the employee’s perspective

Of course, the appearance of the possible problems outlined above is not necessary at all, and counterarguments can also be raised against the concerns. For an individual considered to be overqualified, e.g. you don’t have to feel that your situation is temporary, insecure, especially compared to, say, unemployment. A lower position with a lower salary obviously cannot be completely satisfactory for him, but it still means a regular income and a kind of security. Compared to the zero HUF regular income of unemployment, even a more modest salary can significantly reduce your anxiety, since you have enough to buy food or pay the electricity bill. And precisely because of this, the employer does not have to worry about the motivation of the overqualified (or, rather, underemployed) person, because the need to make a living is enough motivation to do his job properly.

And in your immediate workplace environment, your presence can even be a motivating force, you can “pull” others with you, and with your ideas and insights from a specific point of view, you can help them do their work more easily, in better conditions, and more effectively. At the same time, you can contribute to breaking down any prejudices related to him, because actual help and cooperation are one of the most effective antidotes to them. In addition, the presence of a colleague who is considered to be overqualified can be such a positive reinforcement for the others that, if he doesn’t mind doing this job properly, then no one else has to shut up when they encounter a task they don’t like.

Is it worth denying overtraining?

As a general rule, no, for several reasons. On the one hand, it is not necessarily a problem if the employer is aware of our real knowledge and the skills that can be associated with it, because this can be the basis for a possible promotion later on, and on the other hand, pretending that we have lied about something fundamental does not cause unnecessary internal tension on an individual level. Here, too, the situation is that in the longer term, honesty always seems to be more rewarding, or it is better to be honest than to be nice, which can be translated to the specific situation as it’s better to be honest than to appear correct in every way.

And it’s good if we make ourselves (and, if applicable, also our potential employer) aware that it’s actually not possible to be “overqualified”. There is simply no such thing as being too smart and/or too educated for something, at most we have a different, more specific point of view compared to others. In addition, you can never know what the specific, unpredictable situations of a job are like, so passive knowledge, skills, and previous experience will come in handy. In other words, it is a lucky situation if someone understands more than just what is required in a basic situation to fill his position. A higher education, and especially the duality of a different/lower job alongside it, can indicate greater adaptability from the outset, which is a beneficial characteristic of any job.

In summary: over-training (under-employment), although not necessarily the most comfortable state, is not an elementary calamity either, as it presupposes the kind of knowledge reserves that can come in handy at any time, for adapting to a wide variety of situations. And it’s definitely better than being undereducated, which is why it’s not worth hiding, and even in controversial situations, the potential advantages discussed above can be highlighted.

László Bácsván
sociologist

The article was published in Patika Magazin. Look for it every month in pharmacies!

July 2024