Note that the weighted absolute dif

Note that the weighted absolute difference method penalizes a person for having more of any competence than the job requires. Intuitively, it makes sense that more of one competence (e.g., very high achievement orientation) should compensate for lower competence than the job requires on some other competency: A very motivated person would be expected to develop a competency he or she lacked. The penalty for overqualification comes from evidence that people with more competence than a job requires will pay attention to the wrong aspects of the job. For example, a supervisory engineer too high in achievement orientation will spend his or her time solving interesting engineering problems instead of managing.