There is interview prep work to be done regardless of the position for which you'll be interviewing, but receiving an invitation to interview for a job for which you're moderately to highly overqualified means you'll have additional preparation to do.

While it may seem counterintuitive, the higher caliber of your education or expertise can lead employers to pass you over for a less experienced candidate. To understand the reasons why, it's helpful for an interviewee to see the situation from the perspective of the interviewer, who after all, is simply looking out for the best interests of the organization. Here are a few of the most common reasons interviewers tend to dismiss overqualified candidates:

• Compensation and Employee Expectations
  
  The beginning salary for a highly qualified candidate may be very near the top of the pay range for the position. Offering a high initial salary to such an employee can lead to pay equity concerns, dissatisfaction among current staff, and even litigation, should a current employee making less money than the new hire become disgruntled and file a lawsuit regarding pay inequity against the organization.
  
  The employer also knows that bringing a new hire in near or at the top of a pay range means there is little to no room for rewarding strong performance and giving pay increases which can help with employee retention. Being locked in at the top of a pay range is not a very appealing concept to most employees. They may not remain in the job for long, which only means the company will be interviewing to fill the position again in just a year or two.
• Job Hopping Fears and Turnover Costs
  
  Employers fear that hiring an overqualified candidate will only result in increased turnover. An employee's salary expectations are just one factor. Employers are also concerned that employees who are overqualified will be bored with the job duties. Dissatisfaction leads people to seek employment elsewhere, leaving the employer to deal with turnover and the related expenses of replacing the departing employee.
  
  Turnover is costly and presents the business with other hardships, including disruptions to workflow and business operations, as well as moral problems that may come from other employees being expected to pick up the slack while the company recruits to fill the vacant position. It's estimated that it costs a company up to 1.5 times an employee's salary to replace him or her upon their departure. The reason for this is a combination of the lost productivity, training costs and search related costs to find a replacement.
  
  Employers additionally worry about overqualified candidates looking for a greater level of authority or responsibility than the position offers. This is especially true when the interviewee is a former supervisor or manager. The interviewer may be concerned that you'll overstep your bounds in the role and usurp the authority of your own leader, or that you'll end up searching for a job with another organization that does have leadership responsibilities.

Assuaging Employer Concerns

The interviewer has seen your resume or application and can discern from it that your education and experience may make you overqualified for the position, but you've been invited for an interview anyway. Obviously, they think that you're worth talking to about the job. They want to see if you may be a good fit for the position and it's your job to show them you are.

• Anticipate the Employer's Concerns
  
  Review your resume from the employer's perspective, picking out any areas which make it appear you're overqualified for the job. Practice speaking to those concerns. Be prepared to answer the following questions:
  
  
  • Why do you want a job with less responsibility?
    
    If your last position was management level with direct reports and you're interviewing for a role in which you will have no leadership responsibilities, how will you explain your desire for the job?
    
    One of the best ways to address this concern is to discuss how you wish to get back to your roots. While the management role you held offered its own unique challenges, you miss being on the front lines. You enjoy the hands-on work and intellectual challenges of a more customer-facing or involved role and feel that this job offers exactly the experience you're looking for in your career.
  • Why do you want a less demanding job?
    
    If you're interviewing for a position that is less mentally challenging than the work of which you're obviously capable, the interviewer will want to know why. They want to ensure that you'll not become bored with the job and look for another more challenging role.
    
    Discuss specific aspects of the work that you would find challenging, or areas in which you see opportunity to make an impact, given your greater level of experience. Be sure to point out areas in which you still have things to learn and room to grow. It's also important to convey that you believe job satisfaction comes from not only the position you hold, but the company you work for as well. Explain that you find the company's culture, mission and goals appealing and how you believe you can serve to advance those goals if hired.
  • Will the position's salary range be sufficient?
    
    The interviewer will want to know if the job's pay scale will meet your salary expectations, or if you'll be looking for a better paying job within a few months of being hired. This is especially a concern when you're interviewing for a position that is an obvious step down in pay from the last job you held.
    
    Explain the reasons that a less robust salary is appropriate for your current life circumstances. For example, maybe your spouse just received a promotion, making it possible for you to pursue a more personally rewarding career with fewer concerns for your family's finances. Or maybe you have recently moved, leaving behind an expensive mortgage in exchange for a less taxing lifestyle and lower financial obligations that come with renting versus owning.
• Spin the Over Qualification as Beneficial for the Employer
  
  When you can sell your more extensive experience or education as a valuable benefit to the firm, interviewers are less likely to see you as a person who will leave the job the first chance you get. Emphasize the positives of having a more experienced employee:
  
  
  • State that while you'll need a bit of training on company-specific software or processes, you're level of industry experience will shorten the timeframe for training and make you a more efficient worker from the start. Speak about how excited you are about the work and that you're looking forward to getting started.
  • Discuss the possibility of helping other, less experienced members of your department excel in their own jobs. A willingness to share your expertise with others can be of great benefit to the organization. Take care though that you don't come across as wanting to take the place of your prospective manager, particularly if you get a sense that s/he relishes the role of being a mentor to his or her employees.
  • Explain that you're able to problem solve beyond the scope of the position and look forward to the opportunity to provide input wherever the company may need your expertise. Be sure to emphasize that you will not overstep your bounds, but are there to help when needed.
  • Focus on what you can contribute to the organization rather than on past accomplishments. This informs the interviewer that you're interested in the job and won't be looking for a new and more interesting career opportunity any time soon.

Turn Overqualified into 'Well-Qualified'

Understanding why employers are concerned with over qualification is half the battle. Formulating appropriate responses to address the interviewer's concerns is the other half.

When preparing to interview for a job for which you're overqualified, you'll need to spend some time structuring responses to those questions which will inevitably come up during the interview - questions that probe your reasons for being interested in the job and the perception of you being overqualified. Prepare your interview answers with the mindset of changing this perception from one of you being overqualified to one of you being well-qualified. This requires that you anticipate the concerns of the employer and be capable of appropriately addressing them during the interview.

Be sure to formulate answers that will lessen the interviewer's concerns and practice answering in such a way that frames your qualifications as a benefit to the organization, not something that you have to downplay or hide. Showing the employer that the extra capability you bring is actually highly valuable can make the difference between being eliminated from the candidate pool and receiving a job offer.