Join The Overqualified Challenge (For PhDs)

GO FROM OVERQUALIFIED TO PERFECTLY QUALIFIED

Stop Being Seen As An Overqualified, Or Overeducated PhD And Start Getting Job Offers

 

Privacy Policy: Your Information is 100% Secure

Attendees Get Hired At Top Industry Companies

What "Overqualified" Candidates Are Saying Now That They're Hired...

Lori Keeling, Ph.D.

Lori Keeling, Ph.D.

"I ended up getting three offers and took one with an incredible company in a management position. I had to turn down 2 interviews because too many replies coming in at once. So thrilled! Doing great and thanks again for your help and awesome program!"
Odeniel Sertil, Ph.D.

Odeniel Sertil, Ph.D.

"I just want to inform everyone that I've accepted a job offer for a leadership role. I want to say a special thank you to the dedicated staff at Cheeky Scientist for all their help and support throughout the job search stage."
Tracy Gardner, PhD

Tracy Gardner, PhD

"I accepted my job offer today. I was able to get 5k more + the exact PTO package I wanted. I am very happy and very thankful for everything that I learned through the event. I plan to stay involved with Cheeky Scientist as I love what y'all are doing and I'm still learning."
Chris Ewing, Ph.D.

Chris Ewing, Ph.D.

"After being unexpectedly laid off in October, the journey to this moment was not straightforward. It was a period filled with uncertainty, but also growth, resilience, and a renewed sense of purpose. I dedicated myself to learning and exploring new opportunities, which has led me to this incredible new role I just got hired into."

Why You Need This

Why You Need This

The overqualified label is used to misdirect job candidates who employers believe are too expensive, will ask for a promotion too soon, a flight risk, a know-it-all, not tech savvy, older, out of touch or who may push back when told what to do. These are the real reasons, or the real hiring objections, behind the “overqualified” label. 

Employers’ apprehensions about overqualified candidates stem from fears of high turnover, disputes about early promotions, and a lack of engagement. There’s a worry that candidates with extensive backgrounds will find the work unchallenging, leading to job dissatisfaction and a disruption in the workplace dynamic. 

Studies in Frontiers of Psychology and the Journal of Vocational Behavior validated these concerns, indicating that employees who view their roles as beneath their capabilities often exhibit lower job satisfaction and higher instances of counterproductive behavior. 

Understanding why employers may view a PhD as overqualified and recognizing the signs can empower you to navigate the job search process more effectively.

What You'll Learn During the Overqualified Challenge

COMMUNICATION: Showcasing Your Experience So Employers Don't See You As Overqualified

  • 6 reasons why employers see job candidates as overqualified
  • How to quit being pushed into part-time, fractional or consulting roles only
  • How to overcome objections like “you’re overeducated”, “too experienced”, or “too old”

CAREER FIT: How To Find More Jobs That Match Your Background & Career Preferences

  • How to access the hidden, “overqualified” job market of unlisted job opportunities by tracking external company hires
  • Review of the top 32 industry sectors that hire PhDs by volume and the top 20 companies in each sector
  • Sector, company and job title-specific action plans based on 12 years placement data from helping over 18,000 PhDs get hired

RESUMES: Writing PhD Resumes To Get Past AI Resume Filters When You're Overqualified

  • How to create a resume that gets past today’s very stringent AI resume filters
  • How to handle extensive experience, older dates in your work history and complex, interdisciplinary backgrounds
  • In depth analysis of how companies now use AI and ATS to collect, sort, filter, read and hand select (or, blacklist) resumes

LINKEDIN: Improving Your Reputation Score On LinkedIn

  • Picking apart LinkedIn’s newest algorithm updates so your profile shows up at the top of employer search results
  • A simple and painless process for automating your LinkedIn networking efforts to actually get responses and referrals
  • How to modernize your profile and demonstrate tech-savviness, while painlessly avoiding the “out of touch” or “inactive” label

INTERVIEWING: Sell Yourself To Employers & Avoid The "Overqualified" Label

  • How to be persuasive, get more networking responses and get more interviews
  • How to deflect verbal negotiation tricks and get past the final stage interviews to get the job offer that you want
  • What to say and what not to say when you’re asked difficult questions about your behavior, past experiences and your current worldview

Hear From Past Attendees Who Got Hired

Kelly Higgins, PhD

Monair McGregor, PhD

DeLisa West, PhD

Chris Ewing, PhD

Telema Briggs, PhD

Sandra Rebeor

Krista Meyer, PhD

Ladi Carr, PhD

Tracy Gardner, PhD

ABOUT ISAIAH HANKEL, PHD

CEO, CHEEKY SCIENTIST & CAREER SUCCESS MENTOR

Dr. Isaiah Hankel is the Founder and CEO of Cheeky Scientist. His articles, podcasts and trainings are consumed annually by millions of PhDs and other professionals in hundreds of different countries. He has helped professionals transition into top companies like Pfizer, Tesla, Amazon, Pearson, Google, Apple, Intel, Dow Chemical, BASF, Merck, Genentech, Home Depot, Nestle, Hilton, SpaceX, Syngenta, the CDC, UN and Ford Foundation.

Dr. Hankel has published 3X bestselling books and his latest book, The Power of a PhD, debuted on the Barnes & Noble bestseller list. His methods for getting PhDs hired have been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Nature, Forbes, The Guardian, Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine and Success Magazine.

Isaiah Hankel, PhD
Join The Overqualified Challenge (For PhDs)

Inflation, AI gains and a contracting economy have many employers chasing their margins by ignoring, rejecting or laying off “overqualified” PhD-level talent, especially those over 40 years old. Employers are hiring cheaper, less educated labor who will work longer hours with no pushback.

As a result, many of the most experienced and most educated workers in society are being forced into contract work, fractional work, consulting or entrepreneurship. These options are okay for some but often require working much harder, with no benefits and a very high level of unpredictability.

By focusing on communicating your value to employers in way that they can understand and learning the most modern job search techniques available, you can remove the “overqualified” label and get hired into your ideal industry job.

It all starts by signing up for the free, 5-day Overqualified Challenge.