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Connecting with the ‘Overqualified’ Job Candidate: Why the Highly Skilled Candidate May Be the Best One for the Job (and Five Ways to Connect With Her)

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These days, any position that becomes available generates a deluge of résumés. If your policy is to automatically discard those belonging to candidates you deem as ‘overqualified,’ it’s time to rethink your strategy. Here’s why.

When a job opens up in today’s economy, it receives a lot of attention. And no wonder: Over 15 million Americans need work. And if you’re a hiring manager, you may have found that the best way to shrink that pile of résumés on your desk is to weed out the seemingly ‘overqualified’ workers first. After all, you reason, those candidates will want too much money and will jump ship the minute they find a better offer. Right?

Not necessarily. In fact, a recent Harvard Business Review article suggests that when you ignore these candidates you’re missing out on the opportunity to add highly qualified talent to your organization.

The article points out that ‘overqualified’ candidates tend to show a better work ethic, stay, on average, longer than less qualified candidates, and as long as they are empowered are actually happy workers.

To back up these assertions, the HBR article cites studies from folks at the University of Connecticut, the University of South Carolina, St. Ambrose University, and Portland State University, respectively, which show that overqualified workers are high performers, less likely to quit, and value autonomy.

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About the Author

Maribeth Kuzmeski, MBA, is the author of five books, including …And the Clients Went Wild!: How Savvy Professionals Win All the Business They Want (Wiley, 2010) and The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life (Wiley, 2009). She is the founder of Red Zone Marketing, LLC, which consults with businesses from entrepreneurial firms to Fortune 500 corporations on strategic marketing planning and business growth. Maribeth has personally consulted with some of the world’s most successful CEOs, entrepreneurs, and professionals. An internationally recognized speaker, she shares the tactics that businesspeople use today to create more sustainable business relationships, sales, and marketing successes.

Doing ‘Different’ Right: Ten Big-Time Difference Makers and How They Made Some Serious Dough Thinking Outside the Box, part 2 of 2

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The Difference Maker: The Bargains Group

The Dared to Be Difference: Teaming up for A-level customer service. Jody Steinhauer began The Bargains Group in 1988 from her kitchen table by purchasing a variety of different clothing and reselling it to discount clothing stores. Today, she runs a multi-million-dollar firm with over 4,000 different items for sale, but the most interesting aspect of the company is its employees.

The Bargains Group is a discount wholesaler of promotional business products, family clothing, accessories, gifts, toys, bedding and linens, personal hygiene products, and tradeshow promotional materials. So how exactly does a small firm with only 20 employees manage to make millions every year without offering prices much lower than their competitors? It’s simple: They hire the right people. By focusing on hiring fun, vivacious people who believe strongly in the culture of service, they are able to actually service each of their customers personally. They don’t even have a voicemail system!

While a lot of firms advertise how ‘different’ their people are, or how they focus on service, The Bargains Group actually proves this assertion. They don’t advertise or employ salespeople – yet they manage to make millions of dollars selling their products. Make sure that your staff is a differentiator for your company. There is great value in good customer service. Happy customers will not only stick around, they will also spread the word!

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About the Author

Maribeth Kuzmeski, MBA, is the author of five books, including …And the Clients Went Wild!: How Savvy Professionals Win All the Business They Want (Wiley, 2010) and The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life (Wiley, 2009). She is the founder of Red Zone Marketing, LLC, which consults with businesses from entrepreneurial firms to Fortune 500 corporations on strategic marketing planning and business growth. Maribeth has personally consulted with some of the world’s most successful CEOs, entrepreneurs, and professionals. An internationally recognized speaker, she shares the tactics that businesspeople use today to create more sustainable business relationships, sales, and marketing successes.

Doing ‘Different’ Right: Ten Big-Time Difference Makers and How They Made Some Serious Dough Thinking Outside the Box, part 1 of 2

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If you’re looking for ways to set your business apart in this economy, look no further. There has never been a better time to be different. Here are ten companies that have done ‘different’ better than the rest.

In today’s business world, ‘business as usual’ is likely to put you out of business. If you’re using the same old marketing strategies today because they brought in business in years past, you’re in danger of being pummeled by your competition. In order to keep your customers happy (and happily spending!), you have to get their attention, and that means your typical tried-and-true marketing tactics aren’t going to cut it anymore. To beat your competition, you have to stand out and find ways to be you – uniquely!

With all the noise in your clients’ and potential clients’ daily lives, it certainly hasn’t become any easier to attract attention and appeal to your target market. But for your business to survive, you have to find ways to cut through that noise. Attracting attention often means that you have to step outside of the current norms and stand out.

If you aren’t sure where to get started, take a cue from other companies that have taken innovation to heart and used it to successfully win and keep customers.

Read on for some innovation inspiration from companies that found ways to make their customers take notice – while sticking with their values:

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About the Author

Maribeth Kuzmeski, MBA, is the author of five books, including …And the Clients Went Wild!: How Savvy Professionals Win All the Business They Want (Wiley, 2010) and The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life (Wiley, 2009). She is the founder of Red Zone Marketing, LLC, which consults with businesses from entrepreneurial firms to Fortune 500 corporations on strategic marketing planning and business growth. Maribeth has personally consulted with some of the world’s most successful CEOs, entrepreneurs, and professionals. An internationally recognized speaker, she shares the tactics that businesspeople use today to create more sustainable business relationships, sales, and marketing successes.