Katareen
5,000 Posts!
Member since 4/10 7180 total posts
Name:
Katherine
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Stepping back in career
How do you go about applying for jobs you are technically overqualified for, but want to change jobs for a better work/life balance?
I work long hours with a 45 min commute and would like to change to a less stressful job, 9-5 hours, closer to home. Anything that fits the bill I'm going to be considered overqualified for, but that is what I want. How do I spin this on a cover letter/ interview?
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Re: Stepping back in career
Initially (in cover letters, etc.), I would also see if you can focus on some work-related reasons for making the change, if you can.
Even if you are making a change within the same field, maybe there are ways to focus on new skills you want to acquire by stepping back into another role. For example, if you work for a bank and you were a manager in operations, but now want to switch into the business side of things, you could be willing to go into a non-management role to learn that new side of it. (Of course, it would also mean less responsibility and better hours, but I would focus on why, career-wise, you want to acquire this new knowledge and tackle this new challenge). Or if you are staying in the same type of job... say you did marketing for a pharmaceutical company and now want to do marketing for a different company, you can emphasize wanting to broaden your experience, learn about a new industry or product, etc.
Once you get further along, then yes, I would be upfront about looking to make a change to shorten your commute and that type of thing. And I would try to ask questions to get a sense of what type of work/life balance you will have, company culture, etc. But unless you are moving from a full-time role into a part-time one, I really wouldn't explicitly talk about wanting to work fewer hours. I think you should be honest, and find out their expectations for the position, because you don't want to take a job that is not going to fit what you are looking for. But I would just remember that the company hiring will be more interested in what's in it for THEM versus what's in it for you, so I'd try to emphasize how your experience will be an asset.
I think an employer hesitates to hire an overqualified person because they think that person will want more money than the typical candidate and that they hear the overqualified person will be hard to manage/not satisfied to do their job/take direction. So I think you need to address that and make clear that you are willing to be paid on par with the position and that you have the right attitude to take a step back in your career.
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