Under qualified for the job

Actual picture of an office from a candidate who thought he was underqualified 

Underqualified or telling the wrong story?

Underqualified candidates have it tough, but this is a post for those who may be considered underqualified.  I recently received an email from a reader who felt he was underqualified for a position but ultimately landed the job. He enclosed a picture of his new office, which was inserted above.  His email explained how he went from bagging groceries to a position with his own office. This blog played a small part in that. Needless to say, I was stoked for him and flattered to be part of his quest.

I asked the reader if I could post a picture of his new office and blog about his experience, as I am confident that other readers would benefit.  He didn’t want to be named and stripped his office picture of personal effects because he didn’t want anyone in HR to know he had gotten the job using some Nasty tactics, but he was happy to share.  Dude, you know who you are. Thank you.

Great story at several different levels

• In this challenging economy, a candidate landed a great job with a multi-billion-dollar company.
• We only communicated via email and blog. I have never met the candidate in person.
• I believe that landing a new job has the potential to be a life-altering event. I was part of that success. This, my friend, is some cool shit.

But what sets this offer apart from the rest

• Our candidate held a degree in general business. The job required a specific industry-related degree and either an MBA or an MS degree in finance. (Our candidate had neither)
• The candidate had minimal experience applying for, in his words, “real” jobs.
• This was a position I had never heard of, let alone never hired for.  This was an industry I hardly knew existed. 
• Some would say the candidate had no experience in this field. In theory,y he had no business applying for the position. 

In short, he was underqualified

Think about that. Underqualified and in one of the worst economies, our reader beat the system. 

To provide context, our candidate had emailed me before this, so there was already a relationship.  Below, I have included an edited version of his email regarding the interview process.

Hey HRN,

I’m hoping you might have some time to offer me a few tips. I’m narrowing in on my first real out-of-college job (currently a cashier) and just had the phone interview on Tuesday. They’ve scheduled me for an in-person, full interview for next Friday. I have questions about two things, but I’ll stick with the first one for this email, as I think answering both at once would take up too much of your valuable time.

I am applying for an (XYZ) position at (Multi-Billion Dollar Company Y), having no prior experience in the industry (X) or (Y), but possessing a business degree from (College U). 

Preferred qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree or higher in X

• MBA and/or MS in Finance
• Experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook
• Ability to effectively communicate a vision to a broad range of stakeholders

The phone interview went incredibly well, with the lady on the other side saying I would be a great fit for the company. However, she had reservations about whether the company would be interested in someone with no (X industry) experience and said she might encounter pushback in scheduling a final interview but would go to bat for me. I am doing my best to prepare by reading the company’s book (name of book here) detailing its management philosophy and am planning to head over to the library to check out some books on (specific industry, as well as sitting down with my friend’s dad who has worked there. 

But what can I do from here? How far can a “great fit” with the company culture take me?

Thanks in advance, and keep up the good work on your website; it’s already been a big help so far in this process. 

Our candidate is obviously doing his homework

He is going to the library to research, tapping into the company culture by reading their books and networking.  Despite this effort, he knows he is missing one piece.  He knows he is underqualified, and most would say by a long shot.  I like this guy’s style.   

Together, we reviewed the job description and identified the key points he needed to address to demonstrate his worthiness of the offer. 

Below is a slightly abbreviated version of the actual job description:  (I have changed the names to protect the innocent) 

• This is (position X) in the (Location) Region Team.  
• The employee will perform as an (XYZ) for the (Location) Region Team. 
• This position is located in (city in the US)
• This person will work to build strong business relationships within their operating areas and help drive process improvements, presenting innovative solutions to recurring issues. 
• A strong desire to be in the (XYZ) industry is essential, as this person actively represents (XYZ) and is involved in local and regional sourcing initiatives related to facility operations.
  

  RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Implement strategic sourcing and pricing options for the procurement of supplies at a manufacturing facility.
• Evaluate least-cost sourcing and pricing opportunities using analytical and innovative problem-solving skills.
• Ensure all transactions are properly documented and distributed.
• Work in conjunction with (XYZ) team to monitor and manage (a bunch of stuff) listed here: Administrative, Capital Employed, Transportation, and Supply Costs
• Ensure compliance with all health, safety, and environmental policies and procedures.
• Learn and adapt to new responsibilities that extend beyond the current knowledge base. 
• Use a creative problem-solving approach. Challenge the status quo, and identify and act upon opportunities for positive change.

       BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher

       PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in (specific industry)
• MBA and/or MS in Finance
• Experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook
• Experience in effectively communicating a vision to a broad range of stakeholders.

You have heard me say it before, and I will repeat it.  A job description may be two pages long, but there are usually just a few bullet points/requirements that matter.

For example, I enjoy fishing, but my last girlfriend didn’t share my interest in it.  You can bet your ass that the next girl I pursue will have a big truck with a camper, have her own worm farm, won’t scream when baiting a hook, and have an electric filet knife.  

In this job position, I identified what the hiring manager was missing from the last employee who held this position.  The “truck with camper” and the “electric fillet knife” mentioned in the above job description are as follows.  This is pulled from the 1st paragraph of the job description after the company description:

This person will work to build strong business relationships within their operating areas and will help drive process improvements and present innovative solutions to recurring issues.

When the hiring manager described this role to the recruiter, the above was likely the first thing that came out of the hiring manager’s mouth.  They didn’t say they wanted 2 years of experience; they didn’t specify that you needed experience in industry (X) or experience in the position (y).  The hiring manager sought a candidate who could establish strong relationships, drive processes, and propose innovative solutions to recurring issues.  I pictured that the hiring manager had someone with experience but an inability to build strong relationships.  This inability to get along caused trouble, and eventually, the relationship didn’t work out, AKA Pink Slip.  (This is just my humble theory, you didn’t hear it from me)

My advice to our candidate 

“Out of the entire job description, only worry about what is highlighted below.  The rest is just fluff. The bullets highlighted in Blue are your primary concerns; the Green bullets are the secondaries only because they are liabilities.  Don’t worry about the rest.”    

From the first paragraph of the job description:

• This person will work to build strong business relationships within their operating areas and will help drive process improvements and present innovative solutions to recurring issues.

From the PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS section:

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Forestry
• MBA and/or MS in Finance
• Experience in effectively communicating a vision to a broad range of stakeholders

What really matters

Out of the entire job description, I only highlighted 2 points in blue and 2 in Green.  The rest was generic fluff commonly found in job descriptions across other industries.

My advice to the candidate:

Look up the term Behavioral Interviewing and how to incorporate it into your answers.  This is a must. The definition is that prior behavior is the best indicator of future behavior.

Examples of building relationships and driving the process

Give as many examples as you can around the bullets in blue.  It doesn’t have to be in the (XYZ) industry. The examples can come from school, your sports team, the Boy Scouts, or other similar settings. These are skills you have, or you don’t. If you can provide a few specific examples, that may do the trick. Building strong relationships isn’t a skill a corporation wants to take the time to teach.

Frankly, I don’t know if that skill of relationship building is teachable. Driving processes and being an innovative thinker isn’t something anyone wants to teach. The company knows they will have to teach the technical aspects of the job. Even if someone has experience in this specific industry, the company will have its own way of conducting business. They know they will train whoever they hire. The company does not want to or cannot train someone to build relationships or drive the process.

      Your Goal

Your goal will be to provide examples from school, such as projects you worked on, internships, or even a fraternity you were involved in. The point is to GIVE EXAMPLES.  Don’t just say you built relationships. You need to give the details and the results.  

Talk about your documentation and how you distributed these ideas in school, at prior jobs, at study groups, and on field trips you took. It doesn’t have to be in the industry. We just want to show the mentality. 

Culture

I think you are on the right track with reading the books. This talks about the company culture and management style. Just make sure you TELL THEM YOU READ THE BOOKS, or better yet, reference facts from the book so they know you read it. This will show REAL initiative. Just saying you read the books isn’t enough.  They need to believe that you comprehended what you read.    

The Position

I would Google (Position X) and find out WTF that is and what they do. Sorry, I don’t know. I would ask your buddy to put you in touch with someone who may know what this job entails, and don’t waste time. Move NOW, this weekend.  

Underqualified

Lastly, I would consider this in relation to what is highlighted in green. This is our liability: Whoever interviews you is going to be wondering: “How the frick did this guy get in here? He doesn’t have experience, he doesn’t have the education, he doesn’t have the background.” The interviewer may or may not say anything depending on how big their balls are, but we have to assume they are thinking about it.  

Beat them to the punch and say, “I am sure you are wondering why I am here. (Don’t hope it doesn’t come up, own it!)  I don’t have a (specific industry here) degree or an MBA. But my thought is that even if the person you hire has experience, you will train whoever comes into this job in the (hiring company name here) way. You want someone easy to train, will have to work behind the eight ball and bust their ass to get up to speed. This person should always be trying to prove themselves worthy of the job. You will NOT have to train me on building relationships and driving processes, and here is why:”  

      The examples

“In college, I built this relationship with study partners. On my baseball team, I drove these drills with the team. In the Boy Scouts, I came up with the safety process for our camp trips. I did this, and I did that.”  Load up your interviewer with examples.  Look them right in the eye and own it. You have nothing to lose.

In the end, the candidate did his homework, networked, studied, and practiced his answers. He screwed up the courage to pull it off.  He lived by the axiom “getting a job is a full-time job” and didn’t give up. Like I said, I like this guy’s style. He faked it till he made it. Congratulations, Brother, and thank you for including me in the process.

Good luck with the new gig, and we will see you at the after party,

HRNasty

nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone who is good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.

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