“I think I might be overqualified.”
She didn’t say it with confidence. She said it almost apologetically, as if naming it might somehow make things worse.
We were talking about a role she had just been passed over for. On paper, she was more than capable — years of leadership, proven results, the kind of experience most organizations say they want. And yet, she didn’t get the call.
Not because she lacked something, but because, somehow, what she brought didn’t seem to land.
At one point, she paused and said, “I know I have something to offer … so why does it feel like it doesn’t count?”
It’s a question I hear more often than people realize.
When experience stops translating
There’s a particular kind of disorientation that can happen at this stage of a career.
You’ve spent decades building something — skills, judgment, resilience, perspective. You know how to navigate complexity. You’ve led, solved, adapted, delivered. And yet, in certain rooms or conversations, it can feel like none of that is fully seen.
Sometimes it shows up in subtle ways. An interview that ends more quickly than expected. A polite but distant response. A comment about being “overqualified” that doesn’t quite make sense, and hits home hard.
Other times, it’s quieter than that. You start to question how to talk about what you’ve done. You wonder if your experience translates anymore. You catch yourself editing your story, trying to make it sound more current, more relevant … more acceptable.
Underneath all of it is a deeper tension: if everything you’ve built still matters, why doesn’t it feel that way right now?
What’s really happening
Here’s what I’ve come to understand, both through my clients and my own life:
Your experience isn’t the problem. But it may not yet be positioned so it can be fully seen.
Experience doesn’t lose its value. It just needs a new context.
Much of what you’ve built wasn’t designed for this moment — not because it’s outdated, but because you developed it in environments where its value was already understood.
Inside an organization. Within a role. Under a title that helped others translate it.
When that structure changes, whether by choice or circumstance, you’re often left holding something incredibly valuable, but without the same context that once made it obvious.
That’s where the disconnect begins.
The shift most people miss
It’s easy, in those moments, to assume something has been lost. That you need to update, repackage, or even downplay parts of your experience just to stay in the conversation.
But what if that’s not the real work?
What if the real work is learning how to see your experience differently — so you can express it differently?
Because experience, at its core, isn’t just a list of roles or accomplishments. It’s pattern recognition, judgment shaped over time, knowing what matters, and what doesn’t, without needing to prove it every time. It’s the ability to walk into complexity and find your footing.
That doesn’t disappear. But it does require a new way of communicating it.
You’re not starting from behind.
You may just be standing in the wrong place.
Sometimes the environments you’re pursuing aren’t designed to recognize the depth you bring. Sometimes the language you’re using doesn’t fully capture it. And sometimes — and this is the harder truth — the next chapter you’re meant to step into doesn’t look like the one you’ve been trying to return to.
A better question
That realization doesn’t always come with clarity right away. It can feel like standing in between, no longer wanting to go backward, and not yet seeing exactly what’s ahead.
But this is where something important begins to shift.
Instead of asking, “How do I fit into what already exists?” a different question starts to emerge:
Where does what I bring actually belong now?
That question opens up entirely new possibilities. Not because you’re starting over, but because you’re starting from experience, just in a new direction.
What’s still true
If you’ve been feeling this tension lately — the sense that you have more to offer, but aren’t sure how it’s being seen — you’re not alone.
It’s a real part of transition. And it’s not a sign that your value has diminished.
It may be a sign that it’s ready to be expressed differently.
Because your experience hasn’t lost its value, it may simply be waiting for the right context and the right conversation to come fully into view.
If this resonates, you’re not the only one navigating this question.
These are the kinds of conversations we have inside Betweenward — conversations about what still matters, what’s changing, and what might be possible from here.
So, I’m curious…
Where has your experience felt most valuable, and where has it felt hardest to translate right now?
If you’re open to sharing, I’d love to hear what this moment is looking like for you.
María Tomás-Keegan is the co-founder of Betweenward™, a career and leadership coach, award-winning author, and trusted guide for women moving through meaningful change in work and life. Through her coaching, writing, and speaking, she helps women reconnect with who they are now, trust the wisdom they’ve earned, and lead forward with clarity, courage, and alignment. She created The Ripple Journey™, a framework for transforming work and life.
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