From The Wall Street Journal Online

Not too long ago Alan Hamerstone was pulling down nearly six figures with Merrill Lynch & Co. Then, out of the blue, the ax fell. For months he looked around for work, going to job fairs and contacting headhunters.

No luck.

Mr. Hamerstone spent his free time fixing up his house in Lawrenceville, N.J. One day he was shopping at Home Depot when, on a whim, he applied for a job working on the floor of the home-improvement store.

"My severance package was running out," he says. "I figured maybe I should get something to tide me over."

One problem: The folks at Home Depot weren't sure they wanted him. At the interview, the human-resources manager popped the question: "Why do you want to do this?"

"I can't promise I'll be here for the next 20 years," Mr. Hamerstone answered candidly. "But I wouldn't be asking for the job if I wasn't committed. At the very least, it would be for a couple of years."

The interviewer chewed on that for a while, then came hard at Mr. Hamerstone with some real-life questions he might get from Home Depot customers. Luckily for Mr. Hamerstone, his work on his own house had given him the experience he needed to win over the manager. Two weeks later he started his new job, at an hourly rate that is modest but "better than minimum wage."

Like Mr. Hamerstone, many laid-off workers are finding that overqualification for a job can be a tough obstacle to get past. It's hard enough to swallow your pride and apply for jobs that seem beneath you. Now you have to convince skeptical employers that you're serious. "It's so easy for them to say, 'they'll get bored here, they'll go on to something else,'" says Bob Rosner, author of "The Boss's Survival Guide."

Here are a few tips on how to land a job, even when you're clearly overqualified.

Hold back on your brilliance. Conventional wisdom dictates that you splash all your stellar experience on the table right away. Not in this case.

"If you're going to a company that only has 100 employees, to say that 300 people once reported to you might not be the best door-opener in the world," says Mr. Rosner. So what is? "Limit yourself to explaining your understanding of the work that needs to be done," says Nick Corcodilos, author of "Ask the Headhunter."

Launch a pre-emptive strike. Bring up the overqualification issue before your interviewer even mentions it.

"You can tell that I've worked at a higher level, but I want to earn a living," Mr. Corcodilos suggests saying. "I realize you might be concerned about me leaving, but I promise to stay for at least six months."

Once you make your pledge, the ball's in the interviewer's court to judge whether or not you have the character to keep it.

Ease up on the salary demands. You're not likely to maintain your previous pay, so be flexible. The "smartest thing" Mr. Hamerstone did in filling out his application, he says, was to leave off his hefty prior salary.

If the human-resources manager presses you on whether you can live with lower pay, point out that you're seeking a better work/life balance. Mr. Hamerstone, for instance, takes advantage of his part-time schedule to care for his two-year-old. In fact, he's now thinking of going to work full time at Home Depot.

"It's easy for me to shine there," Mr. Hamerstone says. "I'm working beneath my capabilities, but at the same time, I find it a hell of a lot more rewarding."