Ever applied for a job you think may be above your paygrade?

Any success stories?

Yep!

Nope, not here!

[quote="fantasma"]Ever applied for a job you think may be above your paygrade?[no, but I almost did. You can't win if you don't play!

I've seen many people get jobs above their level of qualification. I'd apply that to many of the people I have worked for.

Good one I know the feeling...

Yes.



Not in the traditional sense; as in, I didn't get the job. (They went with a guy who had more experience.) However, the interviewers were extremely impressed and feedback I received was overwhelmingly positive. I also received a boost in my professional reputation, and have a new group of people in my organization who know who I am and think highly of me (always a good thing).

Bottom line is I've never felt so good "failing" at something, and am extremely glad I tried for the job.

All of the best jobs I've had felt way over my head and I didn't feel qualified to do them at first. But I wanted to do them, and I grew into those jobs; there's something about a challenge. I think in each case I got the job more out of luck than anything else: I happened to find open-minded employers who decided to give me a chance because they thought I had it in me. The first six months were sheer terror, but it got better after that

Certainly there are positions that I am so unqualified for that it would be considered unprofessional to bother applying. However, in most cases I apply. I'm a generalist in my field (video and digital production) and know the fundamentals of basically everything, so I can rapidly adjust to specialist knowledge. In the meantime I use jobs I'm overqualified for to finance my life while I learn more skills I need to no longer consider myself underqualified for the better jobs. This is working out well for me so far, though I take nothing for granted.

One major reason I apply for jobs I'm overqualified for: they ask me questions like, "Do you know how to...?" and I then learn what I need to learn how to do next.

My first major job out of college was a job I was underqualified for, so I feel confident about my ability to grow into positions.

--DiB

Yes and yes - my current position required X years of experience, I don't remember the number now, just that I didn't have it. I applied anyway and even though I didn't have the years requested (or any experience with some specific technologies used here) my manager decided I had the skills anyway and hired me.

I am still applying all over even with my employer.