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”
Definitely, it is extremely rare though, and usually has a good reason for it. Had one guy I worked with who used to be Rihanna’s sound engineer, I asked him why he stopped doing that and started working for a local corporate AV company. His simple response was that it wasn’t worth the stress, and he got to stay home and see his kids.
Dude was easily one of the best sound engineers I’ve ever heard, he could make anything sound way better than it had any right to be, and yet he was the local guy pushing cases, running cable, and basically playing second chair to all the corporate AV guys thinking they were sound engineers, including myself for a while. All because it meant he could see his kids and not be stressed about it.
I ended up making him my go to audio guy anytime I needed someone, and stepped back so I could learn.