We need to prove our capability.

On Monday night I was in Serdang, Selangor where over dinner at a barbecue and steamboat restaurant, I met this vivacious young lady who went overseas for further studies, got her degree and masters but stopped short of going for her PhD. Something in her told her it was not for her.

However, according to her, there was this friend of hers who went on to his PhD and succeeded in it. Well, this lady has landed herself an excellent job with a enviable income. As for the guy who has a PhD behind his name, he just could not get himself a job.

Without a suitable job overseas can be a panicky experience as the expenditure over there is terribly high. He had no alternative but to take on jobs like waiting at tables, dish-washing and just any thing that came along to survive. Eventually, with no change in his fortune, he returned to Malaysia. That did not bring any job along either. Today he is a jobless PhD.

In a place where most people know you, you just do not lower your dignity and take on any miserable job that comes along. Friends know you have a PhD. You do not want them to laugh at the sight of a PhD doing odd jobs waiting at tables. Of course, there is the pride, yours and the family's. Another weak point is that you know there are the parents whom you can turn to for a decent meal whenever you need one. And parents in Malaysia, unlike the European ones, (Forgive me if I am wrong and do tell me if I am, but that is the story I have heard about European parents.)are always quite generous to their children, even grown ones, especially when the parents are well-to-do. The ego must be safe-guarded at all cost. And that is the problem.

As it can be seen from this true life example, being over qualified can bring problems to the person possessing the qualification if that person think of it as a means to the best jobs around. No, qualifications is merely a permit to try for high posts but it may not necessarily turn out to be so. It is not a guarantee. The person concern must look for the opportunities to prove his worth. Having a qualification is one thing, being able to perform is another. And the higher the price a company has to pay the more cautious and careful they are in choosing the talents. Are they really getting what they pay for?

So, an individual with a high qualification must be willing to lower his/her expectation in order to enter or reach for a chance to prove his/her worth. Any big company will pay for someone who will bring in or put in more than what his/her talent is capable of. Either that or the company is too small to need such talent or will not be going anywhere very soon.
capable of.