To apply for a job I'm not qualified for?

[Loulou599]

I saw a job that looks great. Technically I do meet their requirements, in that I'm educated to the right level and have been working in a vaguely connected industry/role for the past 10 years, but I'm guessing there will be people applying with a Masters and experience in the exact right field.

A lot of the skills needed for the job, I've been developing and using for the past decade, just not in this specific industry.

Should I bother, or will they think "Why is she applying?". Do employers actually like people who have come from a different industry? (Think journalist moving into publishing, or performer moving into media, that kind of parallel).

Apply. You e got nothing to lose. I heard once that men apply for jobs when they have something like 25% of the qualifications, women feel they have to have 85%. Or similar. So just go for it!

You meet the requirements, you've got plenty of experience, and maybe the fact that some of it is in a related field will turn out to be useful - you might be able to highlight some of this in your application. Go for it - and get someone to check your application to make sure you're not under-selling yourself.

Sounds like you are qualified?
If you weren't then don’t waste your time, but as you are, then may as well try as have nothing to lose.

Of course you should as the PP says, v few men would even think about it.

It’s good to try and stretch yourself.

Yes! Apply but make your experience relevant to what they're asking for. I applied for a job last year in similar circumstances, I had all the relevant experience (mostly) just less in an education setting and more lived. I didn't get the role I was applying for but they created a new one for me to oversee the team, so you never know!

Good luck, if you don't try you'll wonder what if!

Came to say this but the stats are worse: men will apply when they have one or the "requirements" and women will apply when they have them all

Do it. Apply with the confidence of an under-qualified man and then trounce them at the interview stage

😂
You women are great. Okay then, I will connect with my inner man!

Be careful. I once got a job that I thought I could transfer my skills to as it seemed to be in the same realm. And it was. But what they wanted didn’t really match up with what I was doing. As in, it turned out that I did not have the specific skills. I almost did. Find out exactly what the job entails. This happened to me because I said yes, assuming it would work out.

No harm in applying.
I remember back when I was only about 21, I had graduated and was having a year deciding what I wanted to do next. I needed a job so applied to all sorts of stuff. Back then it was reading adverts in the paper. I applied for anything I thought I could do. One of them was managing a very small local shopping mall. I read the job description and thought ‘ I could do that’ and the pay was double any other thing I was looking at.
Obviously I had no idea what it really entailed and I had been eaten alive. However the manager doing the hiring was so intrigued that I’d applied that he asked to interview me. It was a really interesting (and useful) experience and he was such a nice, helpful guy. I’ve never forgotten it.

*I would have been eaten alive!

@Smartiepants79
That's a lovely story and it's made me smile yo think of this fresh faced girl confident she could run a shopping centre! Where does our confidence go with the years!
It would be fun one day to apply for something totally crazy and unrelated like a hedge fund management role. Maybe when I'm retired😅

I applied for a job in a very similar set of circumstances. I didn't think I was qualified enough and wasn't sure I'd even get an interview. Turns out, they thought I was way over qualified because of the different experience/perspective that I brought and they invented a new, more senior role for me.

Absolutely apply.

Apply you have nothing to lose

As a hiring manager I'd be intrigued.

What you must to is demonstrate how your experience meets the JD. Really spell it out.

Also, try and work in how that experience won't just enable you to do the role, but expand and enhance it.

So few applicants bother to take that sort of time. Even those that are perfectly qualified on paper.

What's the worst that can happen?

Yes, definitely apply

I've literally just done this. I'm not sure I did a good enough application. However I remembered the stats about the difference between men & women and thought why not.
You've gotta be in it to win it 🤷‍♀️👏

Apply! I moved from working in law to working in a Uni despite not having some of the essential criteria, I was just the right fit for the job. I hadn't even expected to get an interview!

Apply. A man would.

Honestly, it will depend partly on who else applies, and you can't govern that. They might prefer someone with more relevant experience/qualifications, but if they don't get someone with the perfect background you might be the next best.

But the exact sector affects it too.

In my field, if we ask for a specific masters or equivalent, and no one who applies has it we' would usually re advertise. But for other roles it may be more flexible.

What do you lose by applying? Absolutely nothing. What do you lose by not applying? A potential job you'd love to do.

100% apply

I did! Totally way out of my comfort zone, 600 applicants. 40 roles.

Met all the competencies on paper.

So I applied, got an interview.

The interview was brutal

Chucked away all my papers after I switched off the computer. Cried.

Got the job!

Just start applying.

Yep. A man wouldn’t think twice.

For years I was on 90% fit rule (dummy!!!) , then changed to 75% rule. Go for it