The VP Who Was "Overqualified"
Why seniority without positioning works against you.
Built around the same ideas: paste a job description, see who actually decides the hire. grapevines.ai/intel
A VP of Engineering applied for a Director of Engineering role at a Series B startup. On paper, he was overqualified: 18 years of experience, VP title at a Fortune 500, teams of 80+. The startup passed.
The rejection email said "overqualified," but the real reason was different. The hiring manager told the recruiter: "I don't think he wants this job. I think he wants any job, and this one happens to be open."
"Overqualified" is almost never about qualifications. It's about positioning. When a senior leader applies without articulating why this specific role at this specific company at this stage is the right move, the hiring manager fills in the narrative: they're desperate, they're taking a step back because they have to, they'll leave as soon as something bigger opens up.
The fix is a Bridge Story that addresses the altitude shift head-on. "After scaling a team to 80, I realized the work I'm best at happens at the 10-to-50 stage" is a positioning statement that turns "overqualified" into "strategically choosing." The same experience, framed differently, tells a completely different story.