<p>No matter how skilled you are, one day you will find a job that you want to apply for and you think you&rsquo;ll be good at it, but for a split second your brain will say, &ldquo;Well, you&rsquo;re not really qualified for that one. Why bother?&rdquo;</p>
<p>If you&rsquo;ve ever thought that, this blog post is for you.<br><br></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">The Role of Qualifications in Job Postings</h2>
<p>Most job postings follow a familiar format that includes:<span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<ul>
<li>An introductory paragraph that shares the job title and summarizes the role</li>
<li>A small section that shares more about the company</li>
<li>Details about the role itself, like what the successful hire will need to do on a day-to-day basis and what the role&rsquo;s responsibilities are</li>
<li>Qualifications which are often broken down into &ldquo;required&rdquo; or &ldquo;minimum qualifications&rdquo; and &ldquo;preferred&rdquo;</li>
<li>Contact details and any application steps to follow</li>
</ul>
<p>While the sections may move around, most job postings include all of these sections, but qualifications are often the section that stick out.<span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p>Qualifications are skills, traits, experience, and training that the company is requiring of the person who gets the role. They often include things like software proficiency, college degrees or relevant experience, particular soft skills, like &ldquo;attention to detail&rdquo; and &ldquo;communication,&rdquo; and more.<span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p>Qualifications are used to sort through the people who apply for a role in order to hire the one most qualified in the context of the needs of the team.<br><br></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Required, Preferred, and How Qualifications Scare Applicants Off</h2>
<p>Qualifications are a critical part of any job posting. After all, if a company is looking to hire someone who will manage a team of 15 while also managing a budget and providing mentorship, that&rsquo;s not the role for a person fresh out of college with no experience in an office environment.</p>
<p>But qualifications are also what result in applicants being less-than-willing to apply&hellip;even if they would be a good fit for the role.</p>
<p>And this often comes at the expense of more diverse applicants. According to <a href="https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/talent-solutions-lodestone/body/pdf/Gender-Insights-Report.pdf" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">a 2014 study</a>, women only apply for roles if they meet 100% of the listed requirements, whereas men apply if they meet 60% of the requirements. While that is changing slightly in current times, <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/08/why-women-dont-apply-for-jobs-unless-theyre-100-qualified" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">women still often feel more likely that they will be rejected for a job than men</a>.</p>
<p>When job postings say that <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/compensation/pages/college-degree-requirements-hinder-black-workers-earnings-advancement.aspx" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">the role requires a college degree that can end up dissuading Black applicants from applying</a>, even if they have the skills needed for the role.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But in reality, these qualifications are often a wish list of their perfect applicant. They aren&rsquo;t always expecting people to check off every box. In fact, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/18/how-to-land-a-job-if-you-feel-underqualified.html" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">in a 2019 study, 84% of employers said that they are open to hiring someone who doesn&rsquo;t have all of the requirements for a role</a>.&nbsp;<br><br></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">When To Apply Anyways</h2>
<p>It&rsquo;s worthwhile to still apply if:</p>
<ul>
<li>You have most of the requirements - If you&rsquo;re at 60 - 75% of the requirements, apply!</li>
<li>You have transferable skills that would make learning the qualifications simple, apply!</li>
<li>You are in the process of attaining the qualifications (i.e. nearly done with your Google Career Certificate), apply!</li>
</ul>
<p>It&rsquo;s important to not waste your own or the hiring team&rsquo;s time so make sure you&rsquo;re only applying for roles that you truly can do (for example, if you are a marketer, you shouldn&rsquo;t be applying for a senior accountant position).</p>
<p>But if you are simply concerned about hitting all of the qualifications, it can be worth giving it a try. The worst that can happen is you get told, &ldquo;No, thanks!&rdquo;<br><br></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">How to Apply for a Job You Feel Unqualified For</h2>
<p>There are a few things you can do to <a href="https://www.themuse.com/advice/should-you-apply-for-a-job-youre-not-qualified-for" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">put your best foot forward</a> when it comes to applying for a job you may not be 100% qualified for.</p>
<h3><br>Tailor Your Resume</h3>
<p>While you are more than your resume, it&rsquo;s the simplest way for hiring teams to get to know you. Make sure your resume <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/the-5-resume-tips-recruiters-want-you-to-know" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">highlights your transferable skills and the qualifications that you do meet</a> on the job posting.</p>
<h3><br>Use Your Cover Letter To Tell Your Story</h3>
<p>While not all companies require cover letters anymore, they can be a great tool when you&rsquo;re applying for a role that you may not 100% qualify for. You can expand the story around the skills you do have, while highlighting what you&rsquo;re doing to achieve the rest of the job&rsquo;s needs.</p>
<h3><br>Be Ready To Face the Questions</h3>
<p>If you move through to the interview stage, you&rsquo;ll likely be asked about the skills that you don&rsquo;t have. There&rsquo;s no need to lie, but it&rsquo;s important to reframe the question into how you are gaining those skills now or how you hope to gain them, just like you did in the cover letter.</p>
<p>You&rsquo;ll also be up against people who do meet more of the qualifications for the role, so remember to be enthusiastic and prepared for the interview so you can stand out!</p>
<p>Remember: You can use our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.careercircle.com/quizzes/interview-prep" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Interview Prep tool</a> to get ready!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br>While qualifications are important to make sure that companies are getting the skills they need into roles they need to fill, don&rsquo;t underestimate the power of passion for the position and dedication to learning.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">For daily job search tips including how to use AI tools to personalize your resume and how to build a job search schedule, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/careercircle/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">follow us on LinkedIn</a>!</p>

Here's what you can do if you feel unqualified for a role, but still think you have what it takes to be successful in the position!

So You Feel Unqualified for the Role...

While qualifications are important to make sure that companies are getting the skills they need into roles they need to fill, don’t underestimate the power of passion for the position and dedication to learning.

<p>Career coaches help guide your job search by sharing industry knowledge and making sure you feel confident every step of the way.</p>
<p>But in order to make the most of those sessions, you need to know these key things.<br><br></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">What Is Career Coaching?</h2>
<p>First up...what even is career coaching?</p>
<p>Career coaching is when a professional career coach and jobseeker/employee work together to help the jobseeker reach their goals. Career coaches can help you uncover what you&rsquo;re interested in doing when it comes to your career and can provide resources to help you map out how to upskill or reskill depending on your goals, feel more confident in your career, and more.</p>
<p>Most often career coaches have formal work experience guiding people through their career journeys, like a recruiter or HR professional.</p>
<p>When it comes to selecting a career coach, it&rsquo;s important to find someone who has experience and success in your chosen career path. Some coaches specialize in helping people set goals, which is helpful if you're unsure about your journey.<br><br></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Is Career Coaching Worth It?</h2>
<p>While it will be different for every person, career coaching can be perfect if you&rsquo;re looking for:</p>
<ul>
<li>Personalized career advice based on your past experience and future goals</li>
<li>Guidance on how your values and goals align with a new career path</li>
<li>Advice about upskilling in your current role</li>
<li>Resume editing and portfolio auditing</li>
<li>And more!</li>
</ul>
<p>One of the most important things to remember is that<a href="https://www.betterup.com/blog/benefits-of-coaching" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank"> career coaching is <strong><em>not </em></strong>about being interviewed for a role</a>. Many people think that by working with a career coach you&rsquo;re guaranteed a role, but <strong>career coaching sessions are an advice session for your career</strong>.</p>
<p>Some career coaches may have a networking aspect of their work that allows you to connect with people who may be hiring. But ultimately, they are there to help coach you on your journey, not provide a job.</p>
<p>If you&rsquo;re on the fence about working with a career coach but still want to seek out an expert, consider reaching out to a mentor. A mentor is someone who has had a similar career path that you&rsquo;d like and is open to sharing more about their story and providing advice based on their experience with you.</p>
<p>If you&rsquo;re working with a mentor, you can prepare for your meetings the same way that you&rsquo;d prepare for a career coaching session!<br><br></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">4 Things to Do Before a Career Coaching Session</h2>
<h3><br>Reflect on Your Experience and Consider Your Goals</h3>
<p>When you&rsquo;re going into a career coaching session, it&rsquo;s valuable to<a href="https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-ensure-you-get-the-most-out-of-your-first-session-with-a-career-coach-aka-your-moneys-worth" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank"> reflect on your past work experience and what sort of goals you have for your future</a>.</p>
<p>Ask yourself questions like:</p>
<ul>
<li>What are your values when it comes to your work?&nbsp;</li>
<li>How do your goals align with your values?</li>
<li>What do you want to do for a living and why?</li>
<li>How do you want your career to fit into your life?</li>
<li>What skills and experience do you have that can map to those goals?</li>
</ul>
<p>If you have particular goals in mind, the career coaching session can be better geared towards what you&rsquo;re trying to achieve, but if you are unsure what sort of role you want, never fear! Career coaches can help you discover a good career path by using your skills and understanding your preferences from past jobs.</p>
<h3><br>Prepare Questions To Ask</h3>
<p>So long as it has to do with your career, there really isn&rsquo;t a limit to what questions you can ask.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Since career coaches often have experience working as a recruiter or HR professional, they&rsquo;ve often worked on hiring teams before which means they can share that expertise with you. You can check in on how a particular career may align with your values or the correct way to format a resume.</p>
<p>Remember to keep your questions limited to the time you have allotted for your session. If you&rsquo;ve only got 15 minutes, it may not be the best time to try to uncover what your lifelong career goals are, but that&rsquo;s a great amount of time to learn how to format a bullet point on your resume so that it highlights your accomplishments.</p>
<h3><br>Have Your Resume at the Ready</h3>
<p>You should always have your most current resume and contact information available to the career coach when you schedule the session. That will allow them to do their research so they can provide a more catered experience.</p>
<p>Your <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/resume-builder" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">resume</a> should include your contact information, work experience, any certificates or training that&rsquo;s pertinent to your goals, and your technical/hard skills like software programs or coding languages you know. If you need help building your resume, <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/the-5-resume-tips-recruiters-want-you-to-know" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">check out this blog post</a>.</p>
<p>You should also ensure that your LinkedIn and CareerCircle profiles are up to date with<a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/how-to-verify-your-google-career-certificate-in-careercircle" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank"> all certificates listed and verified</a>.</p>
<h3><br>Mentally Prepare for Feedback</h3>
<p>In your career coaching session, you will likely get feedback about what you&rsquo;re doing well as well as suggestions for what you can do differently. Hearing criticism, no matter how constructive and helpful it is, can be hard so mentally prepare yourself.</p>
<p>Remind yourself that career coaches are there to help you reach all of your goals and that often means doing things differently. If you didn&rsquo;t need to change things up, you probably wouldn&rsquo;t have reached out to a professional so be willing to hear and take on their advice.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br>Taking a bit of extra time to prepare for a career coaching session will make sure that you get the most out of it and can take the next step in your career confidently.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">For more resources about job searching, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/careercircle/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">check out our LinkedIn</a> where we share daily job search tips!</p>

Taking a bit of extra time to prepare for a career coaching session will make sure that you get the most out of it and can take the next step in your career confidently.

4 Things to Do Before a Career Coaching Session

4 Things To Do Before a Career Coaching Session

<p>Inclusive language is about more than not offending people. It&rsquo;s about taking an active role in making people feel welcome and included in the workplace.</p>
<p>Transitioning to a more inclusive way of speaking may feel daunting, but with a few changes you can make an impact.<br><br></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">What Is Inclusive Language?</h2>
<p><a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/inclusive-language#:~:text=Inclusive%20language%20is%20the%20words,%2C%20socioeconomic%20status%2C%20and%20ability." rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Inclusive language</a> is using words that aim to include people in a statement, rather than exclude them. It is used to avoid bias and discrimination against people based on their sex, gender, race, ability, etc.</p>
<p>For example, if you&rsquo;re writing a job posting that reads, &ldquo;The best candidate for this role is a proficient Microsoft Word user and he or she should feel comfortable training others,&rdquo; that is an example of non-inclusive language. &ldquo;He or she&rdquo; doesn&rsquo;t capture the full breadth of human pronouns.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In order to write inclusively, you would update the sentence to &ldquo;The best candidate for this role is a proficient Microsoft Word user and they should feel comfortable training others.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Creating a culture of inclusive language also often moves beyond protected identities, like gender and race. It can mean avoiding things like jargon or slang that may not be known by everyone on the team to avoid making anyone feel excluded.<br><br></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">How To Embrace Inclusive Language in the Workplace</h2>
<h3><br>Understand the Difference Between Intent and Impact</h3>
<p>When it comes to inclusive language, it&rsquo;s important to understand that intent and impact are two different things.&nbsp;</p>
<p>While it may not have been your intent to hurt someone by saying that you&rsquo;re &ldquo;<a href="https://www.rethink.org/news-and-stories/blogs/2021/10/ocd-is-not-an-adjective-or-a-quirk-so-let-s-all-stop-using-it-as-one/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">just so OCD</a>&rdquo; about the order of company files, the impact is that the person on your team who recently got diagnosed with OCD is feeling uncomfortable.</p>
<p>When we&rsquo;re learning a new skill it can feel uncomfortable when you get told that something you said hurt someone. Understanding that many language mistakes come from an unintended impact, not from malicious intent, can help you understand and correct those mistakes with the right attitude.</p>
<h3><br>Create a Company Acronym and Inclusive Language Guide</h3>
<p>Have you ever considered the acronyms that you use everyday as an exclusive language?&nbsp;</p>
<p>Using acronyms like CTA, YTD, EOD, or jargon and terms like &ldquo;boil the ocean,&rdquo; &ldquo;over the wall,&rdquo; or &ldquo;low-hanging fruit&rdquo; can feel like a whole different language to someone who isn&rsquo;t familiar with them.</p>
<p>As part of your onboarding process, consider putting together <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/03/how-to-make-your-organizations-language-more-inclusive" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">a guide to the acronyms and jargon most commonly used at your organization</a>. It&rsquo;s an easy way to make your language more inclusive and ensure that no one walks away from a meeting more confused.</p>
<p>For some companies, having a list of non-inclusive terms and their more inclusive alternatives can help make inclusive language even easier to embrace. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7051604968671203328/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Here are a few common ones</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/careercircle/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">follow us on LinkedIn</a> as we share more diversity tips!</p>
<h3><br>Remove Gendered Terminology From Job Postings</h3>
<p>Most companies have shifted to using the gender-neutral &ldquo;they&rdquo; pronoun in their job postings which is an incredible first step. If your team hasn&rsquo;t yet, now is the time. It&rsquo;s one of the simplest changes to make and it has a huge impact on the people applying.</p>
<p>To take it a step further <a href="https://www.allegisglobalsolutions.com/en/workforce-insights/podcasts/unconscious-bias-in-hiring" rel="follow">consider how the terms you use may have a gendered bias</a>.</p>
<p>While individual words in English may not have a gender,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/how-to-recruit-a-diverse-workforce-in-2023" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">they can have a gendered tone to them</a>. Consider how terms like ruthless and aggressive feel versus collaborative or dependable and how using each could affect who applies to your roles.</p>
<h3><br>Acknowledge the Need for Nuance</h3>
<p>Inclusivity relies on a balance of equality and equity. As an organization, you need to be able to give people what they need to feel welcomed and successful, while still creating an equal expectation amongst your company.</p>
<p>Take people-first language for example.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/science-health-public-trust/perspectives/writing-respectfully-person-first-identity-first-language" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">people-first language (terms like &ldquo;person with autism&rdquo;) was written into law in the Americans with Disabilities Act</a>, in recent years, some in the disability community have voiced their preference for <a href="https://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/identity-first-language/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">identity-first language</a> (terms like &ldquo;autistic person&rdquo;).</p>
<p>When you are creating your inclusive language guide, open the conversation publicly to allow everyone&rsquo;s voice (especially those within the communities you&rsquo;re referencing) to be heard before making a final call. But remember that you will likely have some employees who use different terms to refer to themselves and there isn&rsquo;t anything wrong with that.&nbsp;</p>
<h3><br>Be Ready To Make Mistakes and Know How To Correct Them</h3>
<p>Adopting inclusive language is all about learning together and holding each other accountable. You&rsquo;re going to make mistakes and that&rsquo;s okay, what matters is how you face them.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>When you&rsquo;ve said something that has caused offense:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Recognize and own up to your mistake and apologize. Don&rsquo;t spend too long diving into your apology as that can turn the attention towards making people feel obligated to say, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s okay&rdquo; when, in reality, it&rsquo;s not.</li>
<li>Thank the person who raised their concerns to you for taking the time to educate you. Shifting directly from the apology to gratitude for the education helps to get the conversation on track.</li>
<li>Make a plan to do better in the future. You can do this part internally, but consider where your mistake came from and what words you can use instead in the future.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>Here&rsquo;s an example to use as a template: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry. I didn&rsquo;t realize that term was offensive, so thank you for taking the time to correct and educate me. I&rsquo;ll do better in the future.&rdquo;</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>When you hear something non-inclusive:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Be careful with calling someone out in front of a room of people. This can feel overwhelming at first, so consider talking to the person privately. As the culture of your company changes, there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with taking the appropriate action to correct in public.</li>
<li>Assume good intent. Chances are the person didn&rsquo;t make the mistake on purpose, so approaching the correction as a judgment could put people on the defensive and no one grows when they&rsquo;re focused on defending themselves.</li>
<li>Call them in rather than calling them out. Consider sharing some resources with them to learn more.</li>
<li>If they continue to use exclusive language, it&rsquo;s likely they aren&rsquo;t the only one making these mistakes so it could be a good opportunity for the organization to learn together. You can always talk with your manager about getting some more training on the calendar.</li>
</ul>
<p>Here&rsquo;s an example to use as a template: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure it wasn&rsquo;t your intent, but &lsquo;crazy&rsquo; is often used as an insult and we should aim to use words like that less. I like to use &lsquo;wild&rsquo;&rsquo; instead, but I&rsquo;m always looking for more alternatives if you find any others!&rdquo;<br><br></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">It&rsquo;s important to remember that using inclusive language in the workplace isn&rsquo;t about reaching a finish line. It&rsquo;s a journey where people learn and grow together, so take your time to make these cultural changes.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Approach these changes with flexibility and compassion as you continue to learn and it won&rsquo;t be long before your team feels more included.</p>
<p></p>

Inclusive language is about taking an active role in making people feel welcome and included in the workplace.

How To Embrace Inclusive Language in the Workplace

Inclusive language is about more than not offending people. It’s about taking an active role in making people feel welcome and included in the workplace.

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So You Feel Unqualified for the Role...

4 Things To Do Before a Career Coaching Session

How To Embrace Inclusive Language in the Workplace

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