Don't get smart at job interviews
Looking for a job? Then here's a bit of advice: Try not to look too smart at your next job interview - or at least not as smart as your prospective boss.
That's a conclusion that could be drawn from new research coming out of the MIT Sloan School of Management, where Professor Robert Akerlof has looked into the question of "How Bosses Stay in Charge" and determined that one way they do is by hiring people who are not as bright as they are. (Akerlof is shown at right in a photo taken from the MIT Sloan website.)
According to an MIT Sloan press release summarizing Akerlof's research, managers looking to strengthen their authority are wise not to hire overqualified workers.
The MIT Sloan release quotes Akerlof as saying: "An overqualified person may be difficult to maintain authority over. They can have a bad attitude that’s infectious.”
The release continues: "Akerlof references what’s known as the '20 per cent rule:' bosses ought to be 20 per cent smarter than their workers. 'There’s the expectation that the boss knows more and is more experienced. That’s why he’s the boss. When you have an overqualified worker who is supposed to defer to the boss, that makes that worker feel lousy about himself,' he says. 'And if this overqualified worker starts to question the boss, then others might feel it’s okay to do so.'"
The MIT Sloan press release doesn't just quote from Akerlof; it also quotes from Groucho Marx: "No man goes before his time, unless the boss leaves early."
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