What causes some extremely intelligent people to be well.............UNEMPLOYABLE?
When one hears the word unemployable, people visualize a person with below average, even low intelligence. They seldom visualize a very intelligent person being unemployable. They reason that extremely intelligent people are never unemployable as they have the prerequisite education and intelligence to retain a job/career.
Some times even with degrees and intelligence, even with hands.on training companies are looking for people with years of job experience in that field
Personality:
Someone just may not be the right "fit" in a certain work environment.
Or, intelligence means little if a person isn't willing to work hard or lacks ambition.
They may be rude or inappropriate in extreme cases; if this is the case then in most fields, from what I've seen and how I feel personally, you could be Albert Einstein and still get kicked to the curb.
More common are (intelligent) people who don't have the right social skills, which are sometimes very demanding in the interview and then more so later on in the job - be it in a business presentation, on the sales floor, handling employees, or being patient with pressing demands.
They may be strong in one area and week in another. They may be good in one aspect of character and bad in another.
It could be that they have a high level of arrogance and may not have people skills to work with others. If they are very intelligent but nobody likes to work with them and they are difficult to get along with, and word gets around in the industry, they may not get hired easily.
The jobs that intelligent individuals apply for may be jobs that they are over-qualified for and the company may not be willing to pay that type of salary. The jobs that offer large salaries are fewer than middle-class and entry-level jobs. Most individuals have a shot of being offered a position with such high caliber, but there is probably a lot of competition. So when that certain individual gets hired for an under-qualified job they may bring their arrogance with them.
could it be that being arrogant is in the mind of the beholder?
I mean, you may call someone arrogant, whereas other people may just call it smart, or fast learner, etc.
Peer pressure encourages conformity, especially when bosses are involved.
good question. My brother in law has a master, a degree for computer engineering. He was a assistant CEO before he resigned. Now, after so many years job hopping, he is still a programmer instead. His arrogance, ignorance resulted him in this state. He thinks that the company success was due to his effort. He was wrong.
Well, since I AM intelligent yet "hopelessly unemployed", I'll tell you why... I was laid off at age 51 in the middle of an economic recession. I applied for countless jobs every single day of the week, and actually got calls to schedule interviews for at least 75% of them... I have great skills & experience, so with daily interviews, surely I'd be hired in no time. Logical, right? Wrong. Once the interviewer met me, I could see their facial expressions change & felt the interview was just them 'going through the motions as opposed to actually INTERVIEWING. They saw a little grey hair and a few lines on my face & instantly I was no longer a candidate they wanted to seriously consider - despite my qualifications and steady employment history. I was simply too OLD. One company - who I'd applied to 3 different times and was interviewed each time - actually admitted that yes, it probably WAS an age discrimination issue even though that's illegal. After 17 months out of work, I got fewer call backs. According to labor statistics, chances of getting hired with a gap in employment history that long are less than 6%... IF your resume is even read. At 17 months, you're classified as hopelessly unemployed. I'm now 55 years old, and out of work since 2011. I only stand about a 1 1/2% chance of someone even glancing at my resume. I am by no means "unemployable". I'm in the best shape physically I've been in since my 30s, I'm always learning new things online or in a classroom, I'm very smart & learn things faster than most 21 year olds... But I have laugh lines on my face, and grey hair that I have to color just to make sure I have a chance!
It's discrimination, it's illegal, and it's just wrong to dismiss someone who is qualified and mature!
So yeah. Age is a factor in employability along with the gaps in your employment history.
And let me tell you - it really sucks! The frustration is mind bending, and the depression & feelings of worthlessness & inadequacy are unbearable a lot of the time... So much so, that some just give up altogether.
That's MY personal experience with this issue. It makes me angry because it's so grossly unfair, and this practice is a HUGE hindrance to the economic recovery of our country. Again -labor statistics confirm it.
And by the way, I don't see myself as being self centered or arrogant in anyway. I've always worked hard, been reliable, and extremely flexible - willing to step in to do whatever needs to be done... And my salary expectations have never been ridicul
It is indeed UNFAIR. It is beyond horrendous what you are going through.
Yes! This is happening to me! I am 56. I've come to believe they don't want to waste training time and dollars for someone this close to retirement. One friend says the businesses are intimidated by my obvious abilities, which is possible.
The issue is that if you are "perceived" as smart, then you deserve to be an outcast. People will push their rationalizations as fact. Also, at will employment help exacerbating the situation. A baseless judgement becomes a cash issue once fired!
They expect to step into a perfect position at high pay with immediate impact to the organization.
They find entry level positions with moderate pay and months to years of work before being as productive or recognized as they like.
So they stay home.
It is like the women who look for the perfect man, and alone at 40, think about the decent ones they left years ago.
by Karla Iverson 11 years ago
OK. I think I've just developed a pet peeve. I'm so tired of seeing perfectly intelligent people use "your" when they mean "you're". I've read three articles today and "your" has reared its ugly head in all of them. I'm not normally so picky, but this is a real...
by Abhaque Supanjang 13 years ago
Which one is the wiser in your family - your father or your mother ? How can you say that ?
by Grace Marguerite Williams 10 years ago
What are the 10 factors which causes highly intelligent people NEVER to be promoted in thecorporate world or at least, not being promoted to their commensurate intellectual potential?
by XactScienZ 10 years ago
Why the in depth employment history on applications for employment?Times have changed to a rapid growth of internet usage for employment procedures. In most cases you cannot go to your local hardware store with a resume and ask for an interview on the spot anymore. Procedure requires an extensive...
by Grace Marguerite Williams 9 years ago
What causes unemployed yet highly educated and qualified people not desiring to workalthough there are jobs available instead they prefer to make excuses as to the reasons they do not wish to work?
by Kelly A. Kline 12 years ago
If given the choice of hiring a 20 something or a 40 something, who has the advantages? I recall a boss who did not want me to hire the "old lady" - ironically I fought for her and it turned out she had the exact same birthday-month, date and YEAR of my boss who made that...
Copyright © 2025 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2025 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |