You will be underemployed…deal with it

There is a very good chance at some point in your career you will find yourself rejected by an employer for being too qualified.  Or you will be considered to be a flight risk for being part of the disgruntled underemployed.  Now I say there is a very good chance because people are underemployed for a reason, either financial or due to the need for more workplace flexibility:

• There is a recession on and they didn’t plan for a rainy day, or they did and that rainy day lasted a really long time
• They have a family member: parent, child, spouse, sibling that they need to and want to care for
• They have just left college and there are no jobs out there that they are qualified for…but at the same time, they are too qualified to simply answer the phone
• They have relocated due to their spouse’s job and can find no jobs in their field
• They are older and therefore going to be retiring at some point, so it’s just easier for workplaces to prevent the pain of having to replace them at a bad time for the company and instead eliminate their position and hire someone with more updated skills and train them

So in other words if you’re young, if you’re older, if you’re middle aged, if you’re a child of someone, if you’re a parent of someone, if you’re married or have a significant other you will find yourself in this conundrum.  Even if you work in HR…you will find yourself in this conundrum.  So we can look at surveys and we can make snap judgments and we can do what is always done, discriminate against these people in the workplace…or we could use more common sense than that.

Employers:

So you want to hire people who are engaged and who are going to stay with your company and you don’t believe the “under”employed fit into this model.  I would suggest trying these steps (as one who has been underemployed very happily, and also very crankily)

1) We’re all adults – yes that’s right your employees are adults…please treat them as such.  If they are over qualified it is quite possible they will do the work faster than others may.  Don’t punish them for this.  You have hired them for a job…not to fill a chair.  If they can do that job in 30 hours instead of 40…great!  Then they have more time to exercise, be with family, run errands, live life.  They will be happy, you will have your goals met…it’s a win/win.  But if you stand over their chair at work, log their hours mentally, get annoyed by their Facebook usage and other silly details, you will lose.

2) Pay for the skills you use.  How great, they have more skills that you can utilize as the company needs.  But you know what?  You’ve entered into a business arrangement with them to accomplish tasks that require specific skills.  If you’d like to use more of skills than you asked for previously, it’s time to amend the business arrangement and compensate them accordingly.

3) Communicate openly and honestly.  It’s okay to be concerned about an overqualified employee.  But it’s not okay not to talk to them about it and get more information.  So put it on the table – at the interview stage, once hired, and on a regular basis.  This isn’t a secret.  They are overqualified.  It should be discussed in a productive, adult way.  Find out if they are unhappy…and if so why.  See if it is something that can be fixed.   Of course, there is a chance it can’t be fixed…but there is also a chance it can.

Understand that at any point in time…part of your workforce is most likely considered “under”employed.  You can either fix it…or you can ignore it and hope it goes away.

Employees:

You may be smiling after that…but now it’s your turn.  You may not be smiling soon…

1)  You are an adult.  Yep, you are.  If you are given a task to do and it is “beneath” your capabilities…oh well,  you are in that situation for a reason.  It is a choice.  You can be an adult and do your work well and on-time and celebrate the extra time you have to live life.  Or you can fill a chair, complain to co-workers and family, and become disgruntled…your choice

2) Understand what you’re selling.  You may be asked to do more, give more to your employer as you are more qualified than for the job you are doing.  But think hard about how much you’re willing to give them extra…and whether you want to give it for free or not.  Employment is a business arrangement.  If you don’t like the arrangement you have it is up to you to take some responsibility for that and either re-negotiate or say “no.”

3) Communicate open and honestly.  So you have more skills than your employer needs.  Talk about it.  Why is that?  Why are you making the choice you are making?  What do you see as the challenges and rewards to this arrangement?  And check in regularly if things aren’t working quite right.  Do not suffer in silence…or everyone loses

Understand that you will find yourself in this position more than once in your career.  The responsibility is on you to manage it well.

This isn’t rocket science people…it’s life…it shouldn’t be this hard to live it happily!