A great job just showed up this week that I’m excited about. I talked to the hiring manager informally and my soft skills qualify me without a doubt but the nitty gritty would be fairly new to me. Not 100% new but not something I’ve done, just watched other people do.
I know the hiring manager from hallway conversations and conversations specifically around this area of responsibility so she knows I’d be excited to work on it. I know a lot of people connected with the job and get along with everyone (no snarky comments plz) so those soft skills I’m good to go on. I think I was able to convince her I have a lot of people I could tap for advice and mentoring to make up for what I lack in direct experience.
I’m pretty confident I can do it but will be overwhelmed at times. And it would be an awesome job and career opportunity. I’m really good at interviewing too. I can turn on the charm when necessary and come across as confident even when I want to pee myself. But, I’d be interviewing with some senior executives that will likely see through any of my tap dancing. This is very high visibility.
I talked to a colleague who has been around for a while and he said it wouldn’t hurt my career if I didn’t get it. It would show I’m “available” and willing to take a risk, which around here isn’t a bad thing. The re-org has thrown the gates open for a lot of people to shuffle and I think it is being encouraged to an extent.
This is a stretch for me. My usual MO is to talk myself out of going for things like these but I don’t want to do that this time. I’ve already started down that path.
How did you get yourself psyched up and not talk yourself out of going for it?
Go for it! Sounds like you know you can do it but it’ll take a little work. Eventually it’ll become easy once you’ve done it a while so the stress from the unfamiliarity will be temporary but the long term gains to your career seem certain.
If you don’t, will you regret it?
If you don’t get it, at least you tried.
Go for it X2. You have to stretch yourself otherwise you’d still be doing that job you had at 18 years old
Even though you see you weaknesses, your employer doesn’t necessarily see them. If you sit on your hands, the person who gets the job might not have your qualifications but they were the best one who stood up.
Does jumping from a paleontology/anatomy type of career to IT code geek count? Especially when pretty much self taught as a coder?
The big thing you need to show in your interview is that you can pick up new skills quickly. If you can ramp up to full speed in a month or two rather than six, plus have the soft skills which are harder to acquire,you should be good to go. So look through your work history - I am betting somewhere you had a whole new set of tasks thrown at you for which you were not supremely qualified, and were just expected to handle them. Emphasize those in your interview as evidence that you learn quickly, and can function under a stressful environment.
I was fortunate to make the jump in the late 90s. Nowadays I would have a tough time getting through the electronic resume screening since my degrees are in Zoology/Geology.
I have never had a job I was 100% qualified for. Not a single one.
I second that emotion.
Eventually I’m >100% qualified and move on to the next one I was under qualified for. Current job is an exception; I’m over qualified and it’s easy, but the hours are great and near impossible to beat and it’s really low stress. It allows me a lot more time with my twins.
Always good to, as you said, show you are “available”. Their could be another position open soon that everyone feels is a better fit for you, that you wouldn’t even be considered for if you didn’t try on this one.
I wasn’t remotely qualified for my first job in public health. My education (at the time) was strictly in exercise physiology and all of my working experience was in strength & conditioning for college/pro athletes, was hired to be the community health manager for one of the largest non-profit organizations in the state of Texas. Excitement and a good first impression can sometimes go a long way…honestly I think they were excited that a young male was applying, 95% of my co-workers were middle-aged women.
I have never had a job I was 100% qualified for. Not a single one.
This. I usually don’t even check the qualifications. If the job description is something you think you can do, then I’d go for it. OJT is the best way to learn.
How did you get yourself psyched up and not talk yourself out of going for it?
Who says you shouldn’t talk yourself out if it? I’m not saying you should but there is certainly risk in taking a job that you’re not entirely sure you’re capable of doing.
That being said, assuming you are at that point that you’re reasonably sure you can do the job, you have nothing to lose. You apply and it’s the people’s responsible for hiring job to determine whether you’re qualified or not. As long as you don’t lie about your capabilities then I don’t see any reason not to try and get an interview.
Short of something that takes specialized training that you don’t have (which I don’t know what that would be in your case) - you’re more qualified than you think.
I read a study that said that virtually anyone can do any job once they receive the proper on the job training (there are exceptions, of course). You shouldn’t be worried about underperformance for an opportunity. The fact that you have doubts is a GOOD SIGN as it simply means that it is a challenge and a good “next step” into your career.
I say go for it. You have nothing to lose really and it sounds like you already have an “in”.
The author of “Plane crash in South China Sea” can surely do this… Unless being supportive makes you crumble and someone telling you you can’t is all you need to do it. Then forget it. It will never work.
Go for it, but it helps to go in candid about your need to grow into the role. I’ve been hired into jobs that I needed to grow into and I’ve hired people who needed to grow into the role. It works as long as the stretch isn’t too far and in many cases you hire someone who is really motivated to hit a stretch goal.
but it helps to go in candid about your need to grow into the role.
Thanks. Good advice. I don’t want to hide where I’ll need to put in the extra time but I need to balance that with emphasizing it is something I can do. I suppose prepping a plan of action for how I would ramp up might be a good idea.
I’m capable of the job, just don’t have some specific qualifications they are looking for. And the hiring manager said they’d need someone who could hit the ground running. That may be what holds me back from getting the job.
It is easy for me to focus on what parts of the job I can’t do instead of what I can do. Part of the psyching myself out problem.
I guess I’ll give it a shot and see what happens. If I post a thread about unemployment in a couple weeks you will know this didn’t turn out as expected
but it helps to go in candid about your need to grow into the role.
Thanks. Good advice. I don’t want to hide where I’ll need to put in the extra time but I need to balance that with emphasizing it is something I can do. I suppose prepping a plan of action for how I would ramp up might be a good idea.
I’m capable of the job, just don’t have some specific qualifications they are looking for.** And the hiring manager said they’d need someone who could hit the ground running.** That may be what holds me back from getting the job.
It is easy for me to focus on what parts of the job I can’t do instead of what I can do. Part of the psyching myself out problem.
I guess I’ll give it a shot and see what happens. If I post a thread about unemployment in a couple weeks you will know this didn’t turn out as expected
They ALWAYS say that. The only person that could hit the ground running is the person that was doing the job before. No matter who you hire, they need ramp up time in some aspect or anaother. Even if they found a candidate from outside that ticked every box on their list, simply adjusting to the nuance of how business is done in a new company would take time.
Don’t let that phase you
And to extend the running analysis further - you, ultragirl of all people should know - if you go out running too fast you will probably not succeed in your end goal.
I have a sideline doing ergonomic assessments for government and private industry from time to time. I am subcontracted by third party for this. When they first contracted me they asked me if I knew a lot about ergonomics. I told them that “I’m the guy who wrote the book”. Of course I had never done an ergonomic assessment previously. Fortunately my educational background and natural assessment abilities allowed me to learn really quickly. There were great resources on the topic and I devoured them ASAP to declare myself as an expert even before doing my first assessment. Everything has worked out great and they love my reports, but sometimes you have to bull shit a bit and blow your own horn a bit to get the job. But always do it in a subtle manner.
