After I read Liz Ryan’s blog post, “When Your Manager Is Afraid of You”, I suddenly got an “aha” moment. I got a sudden realization of the thought process of people with a high position within a company.
Liz Ryan tells an interview between her and Kate, a marketing associate that had started a job at a company not long ago. Within just ten months in the company, Kate had accomplished many things such as getting “the VP of Sales [to ask her] to speak at his annual sales meeting. [Pulling] the executive speeches archive together on [her own]. [Launching] a newsletter, [and building] a training program.” Her six-month performance review was stellar, however, her boss started to show enmity and “[pick at her] over tiny, stupid things”. After hearing this, Ryan instantly knew the problem. She states that the reason for the hostility is that the boss is “terrified. He worries that [she’ll] outshine him.” Ryan continues by insisting that he has a lot at stake, as he has a lot of status to lose.
After reading the article, a sudden memory popped up in my head. During the summer, when I was working as a data entry assistant at an office, my boss had told me a story about how someone he knew went to an interview for a position at a company. His friend told my boss that the interview had gone very well, from the beginning to the end. However, right when the interview was about to end, the interviewer said to his friend, “I’m sorry but I cannot hire you. You are exceptionally intelligent and qualified. In fact, you exceed the qualification and requirements and for that reason, I cannot hire you. If I gave you the job, my position will inevitably be threatened.”
At first, when I heard the story, I had laughed. How is it possible that someone could be considered “overqualified” for a position, and therefore not be hired? People that are lacking in aspects of skill or qualities may not be hired, but people that exceed the requirements or qualifications will not be hired either? It seems very ridiculous and controversial to me that someone can be unable to get a job or potentially be fired because they exceed qualifications or are doing their job “too well”.