"Overqualified" Is Code for We Want You Cheaper. Let Me Translate for You.

A recruiter told me I'm "overqualified." That word sounds like a compliment. It's not. It's code for: we want your experience at someone else's price. What "overqualified" actually means, why companies are afraid of engineers who know their worth, and what 8+ years of watching hype cycles teaches you that no bootcamp ever will. A recruiter actually said it: "You might be a bit overqualified... Is DevOps still where you want to be at your age?" I'm 34. And apparently that's senior enough to question my career direction. Job posting says 10+ years of DevOps experience required, "startup mindset," "high energy" - they want a decade of experience at a 25-year-old's salary expectations. The math doesn't work. What companies are actually afraid of: that you won't pull all-nighters for pizza, that you'll know your market rate, that you'll push back on unrealistic deadlines, that you'll recognize toxic culture. They're right to be nervous. Because you will. And that's not a weakness - that's called judgment. The strategy that actually works: lead with impact numbers, not years. "Reduced incidents by 70%" matters more than "15 years experience." Stay genuinely current - not…