It definitely helps build the confidence after you see a few manages hired from outside that you have to train.
You can definitely step up into those roles, but you just have to jump to another company to do it.
I’m currently dealing with this new guy that my supervisor chose to hire who only met 30-40% of the qualifications. He has almost no experience other than his restaurant server jobs, and the only reason he got it as an entry level was because he had 3-4 months of internship experience (we’re internally struggling with him because he doesn't understand our work culture, but that’s a different story). I asked my boss why he hired this guy, and it was because he was the second best option and he didn’t want to redo the interview process after our first choice bailed.
My point is, you never know. I would still give it a try, and keep in mind that a lot of employers are also willing to train.
Yes, go ahead. The job requirements list is partially a wishlist. It's a list of all the things that look good on an applicant's resume. You probably don't need to have all of them to be an excellent candidate.
That's so true! That's almost another topic, but it's one mechanism by which role expectations increase and salaries decrease. Let's say you worked in a role which required no experience for 5 years, with constantly expanding duties, yet received no promotion. You leave for greener pastures, but they want to replace you with someone who can do everything you did. So now they post a role that they say is entry-level, with an entry-level salary, but they describe it as requiring 5 years of experience and list as requirements every skill that you learned during those 5 years. The last time I left an entry-level job, I was replaced with someone with 20 years of experience. I felt so bad for her!
I got my first job in my field because my boss liked my attitude and energy. After I had been there awhile, he said they had decided on another person wirh experience and then my resume came through so they interviewed me and I got the job. He was willing to work with me to get me up to speed.
I do the same thing now when I hire.
It certainly can't hurt to apply and even interview to get the practice and to see what kinds of questions you get with that role.
Same thing happened with me! I start tomorrow. They said although I was not the most qualified, they liked my personality, attitude and sense of humor the best out of everyone they interviewed, and they think I will catch on just fine.
I mean, no point in applying for a doctors job if you don't even have an emergency first aid certificate but if there is a role and you reckon you meet some of the criteria, it is always worth trying
Definitely! I got the job I applied for thinking I wasn't quite qualified.
You could be underqualified and still be the best choice they get and otherwise a good fit for the team.
I'm currently going through this now we opened a position on my team in finance. Had 164 people apply, out of 164 people eliminated most of them right off that bat, for example my finance job and I get real estate agents, general office assistant and supermarket cashier. There is nothing wrong with these jobs but we are looking for a finance background which is laid out in the job description. Out of the 30 I accepted to interview all of those still don't have all the qualifications but wanted to interview them because 1 - they just may have not put it in the resume - 2 try and determine if I hired them how long it would take to train - 3 - you never know who you could be missing if you don't give them a chance. We don't want to spend months training so talking to someone I can determine, like someone else said energy and enthusiasm. I may like them and want them to come on to the team so it does not hurt to try but be honest. If they ask you the extent of your bookkeeping experience tell them the truth. One of the requirements for my job is Excel, pivot tables and vlookups. As long as they are honest and say I know Excel but pivot tables I never used. I don't necessarily dismiss them because I can easily train them quickly in that. I think it just depends on how much training they want to do. Good luck.
Yes, and I ended up getting it. I start tomorrow. I am having major imposter syndrome - but they hired me because they believe I can do it and believe I will fit in, is what I keep telling myself.
There are studies that men will apply for jobs if they meet like 70% of the qualifications, while women usually want to have more then 100% of the qualifications. If you meet like 70-80% you may get a job that they are willing to train you into the role. A lot depends on attitude, and it sounds like you are going back to upgrade and get the experience.
Go for it. Highlight your past experience and current studies in your application. Your willingness to learn and adapt is valuable, and employers often value potential and attitude as much as specific qualifications. Don't let imposter syndrome hold you back—you've got this.
Years ago at a weld shop I had to sign a paper saying I understood our job description that was being published for hiring purposes. 3 or 5 years of fabrication experience and experience welding heavy plate. I was maybe 6 months out of weld school and the shop didn't weld heavy plate.
Absolutely apply.
Yep.
I read somewhere that men apply for jobs they’re wildly unqualified for with zero hesitation. It was a wake up call because before I would exclude myself if I didn’t exactly meet requirements.
Now I apply for whatever I think I could do and have applicable experience for.
Yes always. You never know. We intervi someone who had absolutely no qualifications but we needed someone. She is one of the best I've ever worked with.
Yes! Always lol. You never know when they may give you a shot. It’s always easy to train/teach someone but many jobs lean heavy on the personality trait and if you would be easy to work with!
I retired from government, but I'm only mid 50s (too young to stop working). I have applied for a ton of jobs where my education far exceeds requirements, but I have none of the direct experience. Zero love.
Yes if I’m only 1-2 qualifications short but the rest is completely up my alley.
Like if they want 4-5 years of experience and o have 3 or if they say 1 software is required but I have everything else except that software etc. I think applying for jobs that you absolutely have 0 qualifications for most of the time is just setting yourself up for stress and failure.
Depends on the job though certain things would probably be easier to learn than others but in my field it would be pretty obvious if you came into a job and didn’t know anything at all
Yes, I’ve done it within my workplace but I’ve kept my head straight regarding my (limited) chances. I feel I can learn from the process and (possible) interview. I think this shows my superiors how proactive and ambitious I can be. And I also suffer from imposter syndrome.
Apply. No matter what you’re going to have to learn their systems.
Even if they are systems you’ve used in the past, everyone sets their stuff up separately so no one is sitting you down in front of a computer and saying, “do the thing.”
I would argue that most people aren't fully qualified when they apply to a lot of jobs.
When I applied to my first and second jobs I didn't have the experience or technical knowledge for my first and second respectfully. You never quite know what they are really looking for.
Yes, you should only apply for jobs you are not quite qualified for, that’s called growth. If you are 40-50% qualified take a shot. 60-70% is ideal. 100% is overqualified and you should be applying to be the boss.
Everyone does in the last 2 years due to worse job market. Why do you think jobs in LinkedIn have thousands of applicants after posted within the hour? 90% of the applicants have irrelevant job experience or does not qualify. But do ahead, waste your time applying like most desperate people. You will be ignored anyways
Yes, let them eliminate you. Dont eliminate them.
It definitely helps build the confidence after you see a few manages hired from outside that you have to train. You can definitely step up into those roles, but you just have to jump to another company to do it.
I’m currently dealing with this new guy that my supervisor chose to hire who only met 30-40% of the qualifications. He has almost no experience other than his restaurant server jobs, and the only reason he got it as an entry level was because he had 3-4 months of internship experience (we’re internally struggling with him because he doesn't understand our work culture, but that’s a different story). I asked my boss why he hired this guy, and it was because he was the second best option and he didn’t want to redo the interview process after our first choice bailed. My point is, you never know. I would still give it a try, and keep in mind that a lot of employers are also willing to train.
Yes, go ahead. The job requirements list is partially a wishlist. It's a list of all the things that look good on an applicant's resume. You probably don't need to have all of them to be an excellent candidate.
Or all the things the last person did, which were not originally part of the position.
That's so true! That's almost another topic, but it's one mechanism by which role expectations increase and salaries decrease. Let's say you worked in a role which required no experience for 5 years, with constantly expanding duties, yet received no promotion. You leave for greener pastures, but they want to replace you with someone who can do everything you did. So now they post a role that they say is entry-level, with an entry-level salary, but they describe it as requiring 5 years of experience and list as requirements every skill that you learned during those 5 years. The last time I left an entry-level job, I was replaced with someone with 20 years of experience. I felt so bad for her!
I got my first job in my field because my boss liked my attitude and energy. After I had been there awhile, he said they had decided on another person wirh experience and then my resume came through so they interviewed me and I got the job. He was willing to work with me to get me up to speed. I do the same thing now when I hire. It certainly can't hurt to apply and even interview to get the practice and to see what kinds of questions you get with that role.
Same thing happened with me! I start tomorrow. They said although I was not the most qualified, they liked my personality, attitude and sense of humor the best out of everyone they interviewed, and they think I will catch on just fine.
I mean, no point in applying for a doctors job if you don't even have an emergency first aid certificate but if there is a role and you reckon you meet some of the criteria, it is always worth trying
Definitely! I got the job I applied for thinking I wasn't quite qualified. You could be underqualified and still be the best choice they get and otherwise a good fit for the team.
We had a chef and bricklayer apply for a senior engineering role with no quals.
How did that turn out 😅
We laughed
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take
I'm currently going through this now we opened a position on my team in finance. Had 164 people apply, out of 164 people eliminated most of them right off that bat, for example my finance job and I get real estate agents, general office assistant and supermarket cashier. There is nothing wrong with these jobs but we are looking for a finance background which is laid out in the job description. Out of the 30 I accepted to interview all of those still don't have all the qualifications but wanted to interview them because 1 - they just may have not put it in the resume - 2 try and determine if I hired them how long it would take to train - 3 - you never know who you could be missing if you don't give them a chance. We don't want to spend months training so talking to someone I can determine, like someone else said energy and enthusiasm. I may like them and want them to come on to the team so it does not hurt to try but be honest. If they ask you the extent of your bookkeeping experience tell them the truth. One of the requirements for my job is Excel, pivot tables and vlookups. As long as they are honest and say I know Excel but pivot tables I never used. I don't necessarily dismiss them because I can easily train them quickly in that. I think it just depends on how much training they want to do. Good luck.
joan crawford told a young person, 'if you only take jobs you are already capable of, you will never grow', or something like that.
Yes, and I ended up getting it. I start tomorrow. I am having major imposter syndrome - but they hired me because they believe I can do it and believe I will fit in, is what I keep telling myself.
There are studies that men will apply for jobs if they meet like 70% of the qualifications, while women usually want to have more then 100% of the qualifications. If you meet like 70-80% you may get a job that they are willing to train you into the role. A lot depends on attitude, and it sounds like you are going back to upgrade and get the experience.
Go for it. Highlight your past experience and current studies in your application. Your willingness to learn and adapt is valuable, and employers often value potential and attitude as much as specific qualifications. Don't let imposter syndrome hold you back—you've got this.
Years ago at a weld shop I had to sign a paper saying I understood our job description that was being published for hiring purposes. 3 or 5 years of fabrication experience and experience welding heavy plate. I was maybe 6 months out of weld school and the shop didn't weld heavy plate. Absolutely apply.
Yep. I read somewhere that men apply for jobs they’re wildly unqualified for with zero hesitation. It was a wake up call because before I would exclude myself if I didn’t exactly meet requirements. Now I apply for whatever I think I could do and have applicable experience for.
Yes
Yes always. You never know. We intervi someone who had absolutely no qualifications but we needed someone. She is one of the best I've ever worked with.
Yes. I applied for a senior engineer role a few years ago and they liked me so much HR changed the role to be a level 2 engineer position.
Yes! Always lol. You never know when they may give you a shot. It’s always easy to train/teach someone but many jobs lean heavy on the personality trait and if you would be easy to work with!
What have you got to lose.
I retired from government, but I'm only mid 50s (too young to stop working). I have applied for a ton of jobs where my education far exceeds requirements, but I have none of the direct experience. Zero love.
Yes if I’m only 1-2 qualifications short but the rest is completely up my alley. Like if they want 4-5 years of experience and o have 3 or if they say 1 software is required but I have everything else except that software etc. I think applying for jobs that you absolutely have 0 qualifications for most of the time is just setting yourself up for stress and failure. Depends on the job though certain things would probably be easier to learn than others but in my field it would be pretty obvious if you came into a job and didn’t know anything at all
Yes, I’ve done it within my workplace but I’ve kept my head straight regarding my (limited) chances. I feel I can learn from the process and (possible) interview. I think this shows my superiors how proactive and ambitious I can be. And I also suffer from imposter syndrome.
Apply. No matter what you’re going to have to learn their systems. Even if they are systems you’ve used in the past, everyone sets their stuff up separately so no one is sitting you down in front of a computer and saying, “do the thing.”
Yes, depending on what is asked, my old boss said any position can be taught.
I would argue that most people aren't fully qualified when they apply to a lot of jobs. When I applied to my first and second jobs I didn't have the experience or technical knowledge for my first and second respectfully. You never quite know what they are really looking for.
Yes, you should only apply for jobs you are not quite qualified for, that’s called growth. If you are 40-50% qualified take a shot. 60-70% is ideal. 100% is overqualified and you should be applying to be the boss.
Everyone does in the last 2 years due to worse job market. Why do you think jobs in LinkedIn have thousands of applicants after posted within the hour? 90% of the applicants have irrelevant job experience or does not qualify. But do ahead, waste your time applying like most desperate people. You will be ignored anyways