Do you need to meet every qualification when you apply for a job?

If you have recently graduated from universities you have most likely also attended many classes based on preparation for when you apply for your first job. However, it can be said that the skills taught in your classes are not what you need to succeed in your job role. This is where the application procedure can get complicated.

One of the main factors, when you have got a job after graduating, is that even though you have learnt the skills for the industry in your classes not everything is covered. Meaning that your employer is mostly to use resources and tools that have not been covered in your classes and this is where additional training will have to be put into place. Therefore, when you have a look at jobs and the qualifications you will notice that there are many things that you have yet not come across.

Something that is highly important to keep in mind is that no you may not have all the skills and qualifications and this does not mean that you shouldn’t apply for the job.

Lots of companies want newly hired candidates, and people that are new to the industry to ask questions, make some mistakes that will in the future help them understand better, to want a mentor to accommodate them in their job roles. Therefore, you don’t always need to apply for jobs that you are qualified for completely, it’s always good to give yourself a challenge and at the same time allow yourself to grow.

There are many people, especially women it is sad to say they only put their full focus on jobs that they are qualified or even overqualified for. There are drawbacks to applying to these jobs is that they will always be completing the tasks to a high standard and just simply getting the job done is all good for making your employer happy and it can increase your confidence. However, it will not allow you to grow and gain progress. Specifically, if in a workforce there are some sets of skills needed to carry out the next job role, you will have to learn these skills in your own time also known as “off the clocks”, as you will be overqualified for the position you are in already. Whereas, in other situations learning these new skills could be put into your daily job role.

Imposter syndrome is something that can leave someone feeling like they don’t deserve or earned a job position. This holds them back from sending in applications, which is an explanation of what an imposter syndrome is. Someone that suffers from imposter syndrome worries that if other people were to find out that they are unqualified for the job position that they are in they would not be allowed to keep their job role.

It can be said that imposter syndrome is a “slapstick” because it is just an assumption that the person has, as you can not see or read people's thoughts. By doing this they don’t often see that those people also had to learn the same skills that they may need to learn in order to get the job, and they put their confidence down when it comes to applying for a job that they think they may be unqualified for. A good way of looking at a new job piston is as a challenge.

Overall, it can be helpful to think of job advertisements as a set of guidelines of what the job role requires and not a set outline of the requirements. It is key to meet some of the requirements that the job needs. However, be sure to limit yourself for a job where you are overqualified.