Companies always want experienced workers. But they don’t always want to pay for them. And the hefty raises many workers got while earning their experience during the past few years are now turning into a liability as they seek new jobs.
It’s not impossible to overcome the “overqualified” stigma. You can say that you want to learn about a new aspect of your industry, for example, or point out that the company is larger than your old one, so what looks like less responsibility may not be.
But if your old job paid more than the one you’re interviewing for–which many unemployed workers are finding is the case today–it can be a huge stumbling block.
It’s easiest to address this during an in-person interview. But many companies try to get a sense of an applicant’s salary history well before that stage. Some ask for salary history on a job application that must be completed before the interview process begins.
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There are some ways to avoid disqualifying yourself by naming too high a salary at this point.
One is to turn the question around and ask the employer what the position pays. Another is to simply say that your salary is negotiable. These may work in some cases. But some say often these responses just make the interviewer more insistent.
In some cases, you can try giving a range instead of an exact figure, and hope that at least the low end of your range overlaps with what the employer has in mind. But don’t lie about how much you were making. The employer may check this, and if you’ve lied, you could lose the job.
If you’re able to postpone a discussion about salary until later in the process, your best bet is to turn the conversation–or at least your answer–to the question of how much you’re expecting to make in your new job, rather than how much you were making before.
Karen Purtich, a human resources director who is doing consulting work and leading workshops for job seekers while looking for a full-time job, recommends researching the going rate for the position you’re interviewing for, then telling the company the salary range you would like.
Try to distance yourself from the number you give while sounding well-informed about the job and realistic about today’s market, Purtich says.
Even with strategies like this, there may be cases in which your previous salary simply disqualifies you from a job. The employer may not be willing to hire you for less, even if you say the salary doesn’t matter.