Google Engineer Annu Sharma Goes Viral After Being Rejected by Startup for Being 'Overqualified' - Read Now
More recently, a viral incident on social media included one from Annu Sharma, who is a software engineer at Google. She lives in Delhi and posted regarding being rejected by a startup for being "overqualified". The resident of Delhi wrote this letter of rejection from a startup on her X (formerly Twitter) handle and joked that she "Didn't know you could be rejected for being too good".
The startup letter stated they had reviewed Sharma's resume and felt that her qualifications were far beyond what they were looking for. They went on to say, "Our experience indicates that candidates with higher qualification often find the work unfulfilling and tend to leave shortly after joining." That straight-forward account got many people stirred up in an online debate, with many users scattering mixed reactions of amusement and frustration.
Soon, lots of comments from people who have had related experiences began to start trickling in. One commented and recalled a person who, after ten years at work, got rejected for the entry-level spot because he was overqualified; he received a callback later for a senior developer's position. One commenter actually loved the honesty of the startup, "They could have easily made up some excuse but instead owned up to their acknowledgement of your superiority for the role.".
Didn't know you could be rejected for being too good 🥲 pic.twitter.com/mbo5fbqEP3
— Anu Sharma (@O_Anu_O) October 17, 2024
The discussion does however bring to light a great issue in the world of job recruitment: the problems that companies encounter when they search for the right candidate. Organisations spend valuable time and money on recruiting so it is always a temptation to hire someone whose skills or qualifications match the position very closely to prevent turnover. Sharma's viral post on job applications and rejections has also driven home the message for job applicants to look for positions that perfectly match their set of skills and all their future career goals.
That is quite a reminder that, given today's competitive job place, sometimes to be overqualified goes both ways.