While We Were Very Impressed With Your Qualifications and Experience...
Ah, there it is. The clause that begins the "we feel that you are overqualified for this position" sentence. While not necessarily a kiss-off, hearing this does nothing for a job-seeker’s morale. Nothing! I know this from experience.

Last year I was "downsized" from a job I'd grown to love. It took me nine months to find a new job. During that time, I applied for 116 jobs, went to about 30 interviews, and sought a number of freelance assignments. I got the "overqualified" line a lot. Blog buddies Sister StaceyPatrick and Radmila know. Mr. Crabby knows too. At one of my last job interviews, I got the "thanks, but you're really overqualified" line after only twelve minutes. "In fact, you'd be qualified to do MY job", he chuckled. Well, as it happened, funny boy resigned shortly thereafter, and I took his job, thank you very much. Know what? I'm better at it than he was. Bring me in for twelve minutes, why don't you, punk ass?

Job hunting sickens me. My entire sense of self-worth, confidence, and security were shredded during those nine months of unemployment. For what it's worth, this new job is great, but I learned a lot of lessons last year about how much of myself I should invest in any position. Which is why I went on two interviews last week.

I applied last year for a shot at this particular position. Whoever they mistakenly hired didn't work out, so my name was brought forward again. They have called all my references. What to do? Starting over is hard, and I like my current job and co-workers. However... this new opportunity pays a pantload more money. How loyal am I? Should I let the almighty dollar make my decisions for me? Mr. Crabby's in the background cheering "Show Me Da Money". In a world of three and four per cent annual salary increases, an extra $10,000 a year would make a big difference. Should I let my current employer try to counter-offer?

What would you do?