You’re reading a job posting nodding your head as you read through the description and go through the bullets. You’ve finally found the perfect job, you think to yourself, already considering how you’ll decorate your desk and where you’ll go to lunch with your new coworkers. But then you get to the last few bullet points and — oh no! — you realize you don’t meet all of the job qualifications. Don’t worry, you can prepare for a job interview when you’re unqualified.
In a 2014 Harvard Business Review study, researcher and women’s leadership expert Tara Sophia Mohr asked people why they didn’t apply for a job and found that 46.4% of men and 40.6% of women didn’t apply because they didn’t think they would be hired. Why not? “People who weren’t applying believed they needed the qualifications not to do the job well, but to be hired in the first place,” Mohr writes. “What held them back from applying was not a mistaken perception about themselves, but a mistaken perception about the hiring process,” Mohr adds.
“When you’re not 100% qualified for the job, remember that they are job qualifications, not job requirements,” says Tallia Deljou, co-founder and president of Mavenly + Co., a New Orleans-based professional development website for millennial women. Deljou notes that hiring managers aren’t expecting a candidate to meet all of the qualifications — so you shouldn’t expect yourself to either.
And be confident in the credentials you bring to the table. “Keep in mind that so much happens during the hiring process that sheds light on other qualifications you have that the company might not have even considered, so show them what they’re missing and explain why you are the best fit for the job,” Deljou says.
How to prepare for a job interview:
In order to score an interview — then nail it — you have to convince the hiring manager that you can do the job and do it well. Think of the job description as your guide for interview preparation by doing two exercises recommended by Jaime Petkanics, founder of the New York City-based job search consultancy, The Prepary. “Go through the job description line by line and, for any qualification you don’t meet, think of a time from your past experiences when you did something similar or relevant. Then, brainstorm three additional reasons why you’d be amazing at doing that task,” Petkanics says.
Be proactive about professional development. “If there is a program in the skills section that you’re not familiar with, take a quick — and low-cost — tutorial online so you can understand the basics. Then, if you’re asked about it in the interview you’ll be able to show that you took initiative and have the knowledge required — double win,” says Petkanics.
The job interview:
Demonstrate relevant skills and experiences as well as your ability to quickly learn new skills. “Focus your responses on the parts of the job where you can demonstrate your knowledge, experience, and expertise as well as the results that you’ve brought about,” says Alyssa Gelbard, founder and president of Resume Strategists, a New York City-based career consulting and personal branding firm.
Gelbrand also advises that you talk about a time you adjusted to a new job or new responsibilities in a role. Choose one or two times when you did not have any prior experience and were ultimately successful. “Discuss what you did to become familiar with the problem and how you figured out a solution and plan. The objective is to show that you are a quick learner and proactively took steps to get up to speed,” Gelbrand says.
When it comes to applying for any job, the main objective is to show that you are the most qualified person for the role. If you follow these tips as you prepare for a job interview, you can do just that…even if you don’t meet all the qualifications.
