Why you should apply for jobs you feel underqualified for

By Jenesy Gabrielle Burkett Fox

Applying for jobs is stressful, especially when entry level positions require 1-3 years of experience after just completing your bachelor’s degree. According to a study, men apply for jobs when they meet 60% of the qualifications while women apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. Women also tend to apply to 20% less jobs than their male counterparts in similar job searches.

So why is it that women are both less likely to apply for jobs and more likely to only apply for jobs when they meet 100% of the written qualifications? Many assume it has to do with confidence, but it’s more likely that women are simply following directions.

Women have had to learn how to play the professional game that wasn’t designed for us. That’s not to say our male counterparts don’t as well, but for women there is a learned understanding that if we don’t play by the rules, we won’t make it professionally. We see not only not getting the job as a failure, but not preparing our application materials in a way that captures interviewers’ eyes as a failure. That if we apply without meeting every one of the required and preferred qualifications precisely, we’ve failed at understanding who should apply and what makes a good application.

When women look at job listings, we are most likely to start immediately calculating what the hiring committee is looking for so we can put that foot forward in our application materials. While this does help us prepare, it can limit us to only applying when we feel we’re 100% the right fit for the position.

So, how do you know when it’s appropriate to apply when you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications? It’s important to remember that submitting an application is the first step. What you are trying to accomplish with your first round of application materials is not actually getting the job. It is simply getting an interview. In many cases, the first round of two or three interviews.

Next, pay attention to the required qualifications and the position description. If you find that you read the position description and there are one to two of the required qualifications you don’t meet, it could still be worth it to apply. For example, many employers are willing to take a lower end of years of experience or experience in a different field depending on what experience you do have. This can be volunteer experience, intern experience, experience you gained part time in college. The important thing is to appropriately show in your cover letter or application questions that you have experience that has prepared you for the role as outlined in the position description.

Now, don’t go haphazardly applying to every job you’re not qualified for, but take this as a sign to apply for that job that seems a little out of reach. A man is probably already doing it.

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