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...why should he start as a janitor when he has years of experience doing the jobs he's apply for?

Yep. Also, most companies won't hire people who are massively overqualified for unskilled [or lesser-skilled] positions. In fact, many managers view unused skills as a waste [e.g., in the "Lean" philosophy / cult, it's called the '8th muda or waste'] and are specifically wary for that reason among others.

now of course, it's not always interpreted as a negative incentive to hire certain folks due to their having skill A, but instead to use skill A if someone has it -- but I have certainly heard it interpreted as one of the reasons to avoid overqualified candidates].

I wouldn't be surprised if part of the reasoning is there was a threat to power that would come from an overskilled person taking a position. For example, that overskilled person may not fall for certain lies or controlling aspects that the manager uses on actually-unskilled labor, who presumably don't have industry experience or are too afraid of losing their job to cause a fuss.

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