Individual dynamics of overeducation are analysed for vocationally trained workers using work history data from the German Life History Study (GLHS). The primary focus of interest is whether overeducation is a persistent or a temporary phenomenon for the affected workers. To analyse this question, we compare the career patterns of vocationally trained overeducated workers with those of their unskilled co-workers with respect to upward mobility to higher skilled jobs, horizontal mobility to subsequent unskilled jobs and downward mobility to unemployment. Our results from parametric hazard models suggest that for workers who have completed initial vocational training of intermediate or high quality, overeducation is not a persistent labour market status. These workers have significantly better career prospects than their unskilled co-workers. In contrast, the career chances of overeducated workers with low-quality initial vocational training and unskilled workers are similar. Thus, for the former, overeducation proves to be a long-run phenomenon.
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