How to apply for jobs for which you are massively overqualified

With 29,000 jobs expected to go from the City between the start of 2008 and the end of 2009, and a mere 2,000 expected to be added in 2010 (according to the CEBR), there are still a lot of experienced financial services professionals out of the market. Equally, with banks firing up graduate recruitment again, it's possible they're feeding the headcount pipeline from the bottom rather than rebuilding at the mid-level. So, how do you persuade someone to consider you for a job that you could do with your eyes closed?

1) Avoid recruiters like the plague

If you're a VP applying for an associate level role, an associate who's trying to become an analyst, or an equities salesman who wants to move into clearing and settlements, recruitment companies are totally frank about their inability to be of assistance.

"If you're overqualified, then don't even think about applying through us," says the director of one recruitment firm. "Banks just won't pay us to provide someone who's not perfect for the role."

2) Network like crazy

If you're not going to go through a recruiter, you'll need to adopt different tactics.

Michael Moran, chief executive of outplacement and career coaching firm Fairplace, says you're most likely to get jobs you're highly overqualified for as a result of networking.

"A member of your network will be able to position you for the role. They can point out that based on your CV you might appear overqualified, but they can also endorse you as being highly suited to that position," says Moran.

3) Make a strong case why you want that particular job

If you're applying for a job you could do while computing 1.8 to the power of 212, you'll probably be viewed with suspicion by recruiters/line managers/HR people who'll suspect that you'll disappear and do something more suited to your skills the moment you get the opportunity.

If this is truly not so, you'll need to describe in some detail why you'll be happy doing a non-challenging job in perpetuity, or why you're happy to start several rungs down and work your way up again.

"It's all about making sure the employer knows your personal aspirations," says Moran. "It may well be that you're looking for that level of work because career security and work life balance are important to you. Alternatively, it might be that you've been to a higher level but this was the kind of work you really enjoyed, and you want to go back to that."

4) Do not fire your CV off for lesser roles in the mistaken belief that your experience/qualifications will be valued

Allied to the point above, it's not good sending out tens or hundreds of CVs in the mistaken belief that just because you could do a job, you'll be hired.

"Some people have a tendency to send their CV out for anything that's remotely similar to something they've done in the past," says Jim Nairn, a director at recruitment firm Cornell Parternship. "We can rarely help them unless they're an exact fit."

5) Don't lie

If you are honestly only looking to become a senior associate until an appropriate VP-level position comes up, or you're moving into settlements for a very brief interlude, maybe you should say so.

"Tell the truth," says the head of HR at one independent investment bank. "Recruiters might be quite happy to see you as an interim hire and someone who they'll benefit from for a short amount of time."

Promisingly, he adds that in the current market it's not unheard of for his firm to recruit director-level hires into vice president level positions. However, he also says that he's spotted a trend for the overqualified to downplay their qualifications, something he warns against: "If you have a university degree, an MBA and a vocational qualification and you only state the degree, CV checks will bring the rest up."

6) Be intensely unthreatening

Finally, few bosses will want to hire someone better than they are when they could have an obsequious underling instead. If you're going for an interview, it's therefore up to you to clarify to your potential boss that you're a totally non-threatening type who's not after their job and could make them look very good in the eyes of their superiors. Professional dishevelment is a good look. Think brown shoes.