When to apply, when to not apply?

I feel kind of stupid asking this question, but when should you not apply for a job?

On some job postings I meet some of the criteria, but not all of the criteria. I don't want to waste people's time by applying for jobs that I have no chance at getting, but at the same time I don't want to pass up opportunities that there is a potential for me to get hired.

Do people get hired without meeting all of the job requirements?

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Comments

pinkydapimp

Yes, all the time. If you can get to the interview, you can get the job. So apply anyway. Almost every job i have gotten i have not had all the criteria they asked for.

srabiee

Most of these jobs will post a huge laundry list of "required" skills, but very rarely will a candidate meet every single requirement. I've seen requirements so long and ridiculous that they would literally have to pay $300,000+ to find someone that knowledgeable. Their offered salary.... $45,000...

I agree, apply for the job if you feel you meet the basic or overall criteria. The worst they can say is no.

Dakinggamer87

I would just apply the worst case scenario is you don't hear back but keep in mind there are plenty of opportunities out there. The IT field is huge with so much diversity and areas to specialize. I have got many jobs and I didn't have everything on the wish list they wanted.

Verities

Agreed with all of the above; apply to every position you think you can do regardless of the requirements. You are not wasting anyone's time by doing that, people get paid to look at resumes all day.

Mide

Agreed as well. Apply to anything as long as the core job you're fairly confident you can do. It's up to the company/HR to decide if you're a good fit for the position.

adam220891

Current position requested 5 years experience; I had zero.

Apply away.

aderon

I've never met all the requirements for any of the jobs that I've been hired for (In IT or otherwise). I'd suggest applying if you find a job interesting and you feel like you could do it well if given enough time. Other than that, it's up to the hiring company to determine whether to disqualify you or not. So, I'd say let them do the disqualifying, not the other way around.

ThePrimetimer

Agreeing with everyone here. When I got my first IT job, I only had a 2 years Associates degree and ZERO IT experience, but applied to everything under the sun. What happened? Landed a 2nd tier application support role in a fairly known bank in my area. As pinkydapimp said, it you can land the interview, you can get that job. I think it was my interviewing skills and preparedness that got me that.

dustervoice

Apply to all.. Its like the lottery "have to be in it to win it"

ImThe0ne

adam220891 wrote: »

Current position requested 5 years experience; I had zero.

Apply away.

Similar, my position wanted 5 solid years of nothing but Server admin work, I only had 2 but the interview went so well the manager told HR to shove it, that he was hiring me regardless. Have enjoyed it ever since.

You will also see that most job postings have "Required" and "Preferred" sections. I would be confident in saying that no company ever got an employee with every single item on their Required and Preferred lists and paid them the original salary amount. If you have multiple items in the Required list, apply for it.

I would, however, be frugal in the more SR roles. Obviously if you started IT less than a year ago, you would be wasting someones time when they are needing a SR role filled with at least 10+yrs of engineering experience. My current company is attempting to fill a SR. Server Engineer role for my team and we have received over 100 resumes with people that have been doing desktop support for around 2yrs and think they can land the job. I am curious to know what exactly they think translates their 2yrs of Win 7, Win xp admin work to SR level Server work, VMware, Hyper-V, Citrix, etc.

Either way, if you are close to meeting the requirements, apply for it!

kohr-ah

Always apply

As someone once told me "Why would you apply for the job that you already meet the requirements for? How are you supposed to learn and grow if you can't experience new things?"

markulous

The only reason I wouldn't apply for a job that seemed out of reach is if they had a long application process. While this isn't as common with IT companies as it is with minimum wage jobs (Target, Walmart, grocery stores, etc), I remember some applications taking an hour. They don't want just a resume and cover letter, they want everything filled out on their website.

Otherwise, why not? Worse that can happen is they don't respond or tell you you aren't qualified.

networker050184

kohr-ah wrote: »

Always apply

As someone once told me "Why would you apply for the job that you already meet the requirements for? How are you supposed to learn and grow if you can't experience new things?"

Good advice. Always aim high. I don't think I've ever met all the requirements for a a job I've gotten.

Codyy

Apply to anything and everything you're interested in. They'll never find someone with all of the qualifications you see listed, that person either doesn't or exist or already has a job.