Conventional wisdom says that if you hire a person who’s overqualified for the job, they’ll be heading for the door at the first opportunity. New research says conventional wisdom’s wrong.
Dr. Anthony Nyberg’s study — based on an analysis of 5,000 workers’ behavior over a 25-year period — found that in positions with “low cognitive demands” — in other words, don’t require much brain power — employees with “higher cognitive ability” — smarter — were less likely than others to leave.
Another interesting note: The research indicated the most mentally demanding jobs produced job dissatisfaction at three times the rate of the simplest jobs.
High-intelligence job candidates have many reasons for seeking a simple job, Nyberg said — a lifestyle or health choice, an affinity for a company’s values or the simple need for a paycheck.
Best bet: Rather than automatically rejecting an applicant who is overqualified, a hiring manager should probe to fully understand the applicant’s motivation to apply for the job.
Nyberg is a business researcher at the University of South Carolina. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
