To apply for a job even though I don’t meet all the qualifications?

[AvidBrickPombear]

The person specification for a job I’m interested in requires a qualification/experience that I don’t have. I’ve got most of what they’re looking for but I’m worried I’ll just be wasting my time by applying.
Is it unreasonable to apply anyway? Has anyone been successful in getting a job where you didn’t tick every box in the spec?

Yanbu to apply. You never know your luck. Plus, if you don't get it you'll know why, and there'll be no need to feel rejected in the way you might of you ticked all the boxes on paper.

It's hard to comment on whether you have much/any chance of success without knowing the role and how essential or otherwise the qualification is, but you have nothing to lose by applying

Go ahead! What's to lose?

My current job, I didn't have the top two 'essential' qualifications. What I do have is bags of experience. I applied, and got the job.

You say you have most of what they are looking for so on that basis I’d apply for the job. Other candidates may have less to offer than you.
You never know, few people tick every single box in the requirement list.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Yes absolutely but 100% tailor your cv and cover letter exactly to the job spec and put in loads of key words to hit the AI side of things. You need to get through the AI so a human can actually read your CV and make a judgement call as to whether you'd be offered an interview. Good luck.

Depends. In my area of work, essential criteria means exactly that, you wouldnt be considered without it. Desirable criteria are different.
But each industry is different.

Would you be willing/able to work towards it? Do you have other relevant experience or qualifications?

Definitely apply. Is it a qualification you could work towards.
Theres that stat women don’t apply if meet 9/10 but men apply 5/10 or whatever it is.

Go for it. A mediocre man would,

Believe in yourself and evidence as much as you can.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Depends how crucial the qualification is - it might be you're a better candidate than others who do have it or that no one else meets all the requirements either.

You'd be amazed by the totally unsuitable applications I've seen - they only take a few seconds, and maybe a few laughs, to discard.

Most people don’t have 100% the criteria that is asked for.

There has been some research done that shows that men will apply for a role even when they only have 70% of the requirements, whereas for women it’s about 90%.

Women need to be more confident and put themselves out there a bit more I think, so go for it.

We look for essential criteria but are so blooming niche and hard to find decent candidates someone meeting most but having some experience or willingness to learn one missing bit would get interview.

Indeed. Research has shown that a man is much more likely to apply for a job he isn't fully qualified for than a woman is. Go for it!

It’s not unreasonable to apply… but it’s also not a given they will take your application forward. Is there someone you can talk to about the role? First, it can give them a good impression before you apply, but secondly you can gauge how essential that essential criteria is

Men will apply when they have 60% of the criteria, women when they have 100%. So the best candidate is not even applying.

If you can back up three things then apply.

And I advise employers, is it really essential? One ad I saw had 45 criteria. I spoke to the hirer and said, women won't apply because no-one has all those requirements. It turned out to be a wishlist rather than requirements.

If it’s a relatively near miss and you think you could do the bulk of the job, then yes.

An awful lot of adverts are wish lists not actually must haves.

If it’s a professional role and it’s looking for a professional must have qualification that you don’t have, then save your effort (doctor, dentist, nurse, lawyer, engineer etc).

Yes I did this recently and got the job.
I went to some license to recruit training a few months ago and they were talking about how men apply when they meet just over half but women only do if they meet nearly all the criteria. Thought that was interesting!

Whoops you beat me to it. I couldn’t think what the actually stats they quoted were

depends on job role.
if it is for a role that requires a recognisable qualification and registration with professional body, then do not apply. Unless you just about to qualify. There would be no way around that and non negotiable

This surely depends on the industry. You simply wouldn't be able to do my job without qualifications as I am a registered professional and practicing without registration would be illegal.