Actually, my real sentiment is close to my hypothetical interview answer.
The "overqualified" problem is a dilemma. "Overqualified" could be a convenient euphamism for "over 40." On the other hand, you might not want to hire someone who is coming to you as a last resort. A person who wants a job as a step up might be a better worker in the long run than someone who wants the same job as a step down.
Anybody who really needs a job will swear up and down that they will be happy with a low-level dead end job. But there are two pitfalls: 1) The person is unemployed because they are really not as qualified as they claim; 2) They will work for a year before being overtaken by the resentment of their ideas being completely ignored, while lesser people are promoted above them.
At the very least, you might want to see that the person has been successful in a similar position elsewhere. It occurs to me that the person who is looking for a step down, is in roughly the same boat as a person who is just starting out. In both cases, the person probably needs to find a "stepping stone," such as a job at a small company where they can demonstrate their experience before looking for something permanent.
