Every fresh college graduate has experienced rejection based on lack of experience, but eventually most graduates obtain enough experience to move past an entry level position and into a position with more responsibility and higher pay. Having experience is usually a good thing, but lately having too much experience has become an obstacle that thousands of seasoned job seekers face every day. The reasons for this vary. For starters, according to a recent Tribune Media Services report, the talent pool is overflowing, thanks to mass lay-offs of people with 15 to 20 years of experience. This means older professionals with lots of experience, which brings a higher price tag, are now competing with younger professionals with some or enough experience, which means a lower price tag.

The potential price tag of someone with too much experience isn’t the only reason employers might take a pass. Many employers also believe that someone with so much experience might move on as soon as a better opportunity presents itself or they might get bored. Fortunately, there are ways to position your qualifications, says Maribeth Kuzmeski, author of “And the Clients Went Wild: How Savvy Business Professionals in Win All the Business They Want,” and it doesn’t involve downplaying them.

Job applicants should never downplay accomplishments. It’s better to position your qualifications as assets—which they are—rather than drawbacks. Job applicants should tailor their resumes to reflect  skills and achievements, not a laundry list of former employers and job titles.

Steve Langerud, director of professional opportunities at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. adds that “presenting job titles and years of experience provides just enough information for an employer’s imagination to run wild, and not in the favor of the job seeker.”

Kuzmeski points out that job seekers should spell out other important benefits of their experience, such as the life experience that makes them more capable of handling difficult client situations or coworker conflicts. They should also be the first to bring up the topic of being overqualified. This is especially the case if an interviewer seems hesitant or keeps bringing up past experience, Kuzmeski says.

If this is the case, just ask what the concerns might be. By asking, you’re again showing that you are proud of your achievements and you care and want to hear what the employer thinks. It’s actually a great way to build on the relationship.

With unemployment soaring in the current recession, many Americans are taking jobs they would not have considered in the past.

Some of the dirtiest, smelliest, most dangerous jobs are suddenly looking a lot more appealing in this economy. People who have been out of work for months are lining up for jobs at places they once considered unthinkable: slaughterhouses, sewage plants, prisons.

“I have to just shut my mouth because I can’t do anything about it,” said Nichole McRoberts of Sedalia, Mo., who pictured more for herself at age 30 than working in a poultry plant, cutting diseased or damaged flesh off chicken carcasses.

Recessions and tight job markets always force some people to take less-desirable or lower-paying work than they are used to. But this recession has been the most punishing job destroyer in at least 60 years, slashing a net total of 6.7 million jobs.

All told, 14.5 million people were out of work last month, with a jobless rate of 9.4 percent. The result is that many people have had to seek jobs they would not have considered in the past.

Take Kristen Thompson. Before the recession, she worked at an upscale Los Angeles-area gym arranging pricey one-on-one personal training sessions. Now she’s a guard at a women’s prison in rural Wyoming.

Nobody wants to end up in this situation. Obviously, if you’re out of work, you have to start expanding your options. Hopefully we’ll start to see a rebound so this won’t be necessary, but many will have to deal with these realities for some time.

Looking forward, however, you should be making plans that will minimize the chances that you’ll be facing these tough decisions in the future.