Positioning Your Experience: Navigating Ageism and Being Overqualified

On February 19, 2026, Pivot with Purpose hosted a conversation with Jessica Hernandez (Great Resumes Fast) who spoke at length about the truth behind the “overqualified” label and how we can address our prospective employers’ fears about our experience to land our next role. Laura Sheehan (Georgetown SFS) moderated this event.

Last year’s unprecedented furloughs, layoffs, and RIFs that transitioned into termination prompted us to pivot. In our respective job searches, we’ve likely received these notices habitually: “You’re overqualified” or “We decided to move forward with a candidate whose qualifications more closely matched the role.”

Citing these reasons, employers are admitting to us that they have concerns about our candidacies before we are given the chance to address them. Hernandez wants to help us change this unfortunate reality.

According to Hernandez, companies’ hesitance to hire older candidates is animated by their desire to mitigate risk. It costs time and money to hire and train new employees, and hiring managers must weigh the risks of someone vacating a role soon after accepting it or simply not panning out when identifying candidates to hire.

Most companies, under difficult financial and political circumstances will look to mitigate these risks by hiring the least risky candidate: often, that is a younger job-seeker.

To overcome this challenge, we must challenge these assumptions proactively. In other words, we must bring the subject up, and we must assuage hiring managers’ concerns about our candidacies for certain roles.

During her presentation, Hernandez advised attendees to address these concerns directly in all application materials (e.g., resumes, cover letters, and letters of reference).

For instance, we can remove age signals from our resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Companies usually do not ask for specific graduation dates (just that we, in fact, obtained a degree), nor do they need all of our professional experiences to be referenced.

Instead, Hernandez implored participants to lead with their value and potential. Focus on what you can bring to a role, what potential you see in yourself for it, and how your skills can benefit a given company or role. Stated alternatively, focus on your achievements, not your age.

It is also important for us to contextualize our experiences in our cover letters. Remember: hiring managers are more likely to hire based on a combination of experience and potential (with the latter weighing more heavily).

Thus, in our cover letters, we should highlight what we will do and how it will bring value to their company. In addition, Hernandez suggests we cite recent experiences or certifications whenever possible—and when we do need to reference points earlier in our career, we only do so if it is directly relevant to the job in question.

Ultimately, hiring managers are our audience. So, we need to tie and tailor our experience to their needs, not simply explain how great we could be in a given role.

Finally, Hernandez explained the importance of being genuine in our interviews. Though some may fear they may be opening Pandora’s Box, addressing your age and experience openly and honestly is, in fact, a good way to counteract employers’ concerns.

In our interviews, we should explain why we are looking at a certain role at this specific time and how this role will “fit” within our personal and professional lives or interests. Also, we should be clear about where we want to go in a given role and how we intend to achieve our goals.

Stated simply, we should address the elephant in the room, lean on our extensive knowledge, and address a company’s age concerns head-on. Hiring managers make assumptions about us, whether we like it or not. It is, therefore, vital that we direct the impression they receive and remember in order to allay concerns and get our dream job!

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