Happy-almost Friday!

We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately from you, our readers, which we absolutely love. The more we can interact with and help you, the better. Going forward, we’ll have a new segment called “Ask PrimeCB!” To ask a question, you can send us an e-mail at info@primecb.com, or you can leave a comment asking a question on this post.

For this week’s question, we heard from Joe, who says:

“My technical position was eliminated from a corporate facility that is close to home. After three weeks of job searching and, a check from the state, I took a temporary position that paid about the same as unemployment. Long story short, since then, I proudly earned a Commercial Drivers License and began training with a national trucking company. After six weeks of student driver training and being unable to maintain my home and financial responsibilities for almost continually being on the road, among many other reasons, I decided over the road trucking wasn’t for me. I’m a better Technician than a Truck Driver.

Should I be concerned about what a future potential employer might think about me trying something new and deciding it wasn’t for me? What should any of us think about taking a job that we may be overqualified for?”

Your question is a common one, Joe. First, let’s deal with the issue of what a future employer may think of you trying something new.

The economy does have a few positive aspects, one of which is that it’s the best opportunity you’ll ever have to try something new; no employer should ever blame you for doing so. If anything, I would assume that employers would find the fact that you took the time to earn a commercial driver’s license admirable. It shows that you take yourself — and finding a new job — seriously and that you are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed.

In an interview, if an employer asks why your trucking experience was so short-lived, all you have to do is be honest. The key is show what you learned from the experience. Explain that you wanted to expand your skill set and try something new, but you learned that it wasn’t for you. You can say that you learned you work better using technical skills or you found that you like to work a more structured schedule. Turn any negative into a positive and relay how those positives will help you succeed at the company.

Second question was, “What should any of us think about taking a job that we may be overqualified for?”

You should be applying to any job that sounds interesting to you and that you think you could do well; whether or not you are “overqualified” is subjective. Many argue that applicants with more experience than a job calls for will leave as soon as they get something more up their alley, while others say that if they weren’t generally interested in the job, they would not have applied.

Click here and here to read a couple articles about dealing with the overqualified label:

Remember, send your questions to info@primecb.com, or leave your question as a comment on this blog.