"I'd never feel comfortable putting a really high-level candidate into a lower level position," says Ms. Eilbes, who recruits for Manpower and other clients."
This is why headhunters would fuck up the whole world if given half the chance.
It's also exactly the opposite of what real achievers know to be true. Real progress begins once people are bigger than their jobs.
The headhunters aren't the only ones to blame though. They operate off of the notion, often correct, that people who fill positions they are totally capable of doing with extra time left over, they will encounter perpetual resistance to the progress they want to motivate. Eventually, they will get fed up and move somewhere else that either isn't averse to change, or where they don't have time to think about progressive ideas.
The headhunter is just playing the averages, since she'll probably collect the same fee regardless. She won't be rewarded differently for that one overqualified hire who turns out to be a major catalyst for progress at a company, but she'll be penalized the same for all of the overqualified hires which hit the brick wall of bureaucracy and leave.
"Eventually, they will get fed up and move somewhere else..."
This has nothing to do with the fact that they were bigger than the job. They knew that going in.
It has everything to do with the fact that their talents have been wasted and a great opportunity has been squandered by their management, who also knew that going in.
There are so many examples and arguments I could make, but I'll leave you with just this one...
If you needed open heart surgery, would you prefer the surgeon who has done that exact same surgery 3 times or 100 times and published new procedures about that surgery? One has just been "promoted" into his job and the other is much bigger than his job and aspires to the next thing?
This is why headhunters would fuck up the whole world if given half the chance.
It's also exactly the opposite of what real achievers know to be true. Real progress begins once people are bigger than their jobs.