[blululu]

Not sure if these people are overqualified as much as the fact that people who check the box on paper are generally unqualified. Generally good people can only really do math up to a few years below the highest level that they learned in school. If you actually need someone to do basic linear algebra you probably want somehow who took classes that went well beyond the freshman/sophomore level that everyone has.

[DimitriPetrova]

Well if you have a mathematics undergraduate degree you would have taken classes "that went well beyond the freshman/sophomore level that everyone has."

I don't see why it's necessary to have a potentially unrelated PHD to do basic linear algebra.

[lotsofpulp]

Perhaps a PhD signals a higher probability of something the employer is looking for.

[VirusNewbie]

Is this something unique to math? I've never taken computer science courses in school, but I'm fairly good at it...

[SuoDuanDao]

I'd suspect someone who was self-taught in mathematics wouldn't have a disconnect between apparent and actual ability either; teaching math to people who primarily need it to pass an exam is a very different process from learning the same material out of personal interest.

[oneoff786]

If this is true, I suspect it is only true because most people can do arithmetic despite having taken high school math