Comments on: Hey, Have You Seen This? Job Applicant Explains How He Got a Job He Wasn’t Qualified For

By: Joel Rigonan

Joel Rigonan — Mon, 28 May 2012 16:38:00 +0000

Well, it happens. And it looks like you really are qualified even you were not qualified. This is great!

By: Rob Bird

Rob Bird — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:19:00 +0000

I think the biggest thing is to take a big picture view of your skills, abilities, and tools and see how those fit into what the employer wants. The employer has X number of dollars to spend on an employee, so they want to be sure to get the most for their money.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:05:00 +0000

Hi Mahroof,
You should not fake or lie or deceive anyone on your application, that’s definitely not what I was advocating. What I was saying is that candidates need to take a hard look at their skill sets and identify what they DO have and amplify those. Often we fail to identify our own skills because we’ve only looked from one perspective. Some critical thinking can reveal skills that we might not have even realized we had.

By: Jrandom42

Jrandom42 — Sun, 20 May 2012 07:18:00 +0000

Let’s just say that being good at computer games isn’t relavant to working in IT.

Yet, I’ve seen a number of people think they’ve got relavant experience in IT infrastructure, because they’ve beaten the final level of Halo 3. None of them even knew what a DNS server was or why it was important.

Needless to say, they weren’t able to answer the question “Can you learn what you need to know to do the job successfully, fast enough that I won’t regret hiring you?”

By: Mahroof Ali

Mahroof Ali — Sat, 19 May 2012 11:19:00 +0000

But is it fare to fake someone that you can do something that you actually can’t?

By: Tim Murphy

Tim Murphy — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:41:00 +0000

Shawanda – Right on! Couldn’t have said it better.

By: Shawanda

Shawanda — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:39:00 +0000

It sounds like the first person you need to convince you’re qualified is yourself. Then, you can effectively sell your skills to a prospective employer.

By: Tim Murphy

Tim Murphy — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:32:00 +0000

Jrandom42 –

It’s a fine line. What I suggest in my series is, rather than admit, “Yes, I’m not qualified, I hope you’ll gamble on me,” job seekers are better off taking a hard look at their experience, finding what IS relevant, and amplifying that as proof that they ARE qualified. This requires a hard look at one’s past.

Now, obviously I can’t get a job as an oil worker because I changed my car oil last week, so this approach does have limits. But the takeaway is that, we usually have much more experience than we think. It’s just a matter of digging for and identifying what IS relevant and valuable and packaging it in a way that makes you valuable (and qualified).

So – if you can find something, anything to package yourself as qualified, that’s ideal (and what I discussed in the series). If the job application you’re making is a huge stretch, then I totally agree I agree with you. You’ll need to convince them that you’re a good bet. This is a tougher sell to make, but if the job is a stretch, it could be your only bet.

Thanks a lot for weighing in.

By: Jrandom42

Jrandom42 — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:09:00 +0000

If you’re aiming at a job you aren’t qualified for, then the company has to make the bet that you can learn what you need to do the job effectively fast enough so that you don’t become a drag on your co-workers and the company ends up regretting that they hired you.

What you need to do, is to convince them that it is a good bet. However, if it requires experience and credentials you don’t have, you’re out of luck.

By: Tim Murphy

Tim Murphy — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:59:00 +0000

Really cool to see this guys, thanks for the plug. Would love to hear any questions or comments from fellow Brazenites!