How To Respond As An Experienced Hire, When You Are Told ‘You Are Not Qualified For This Role’

How can an experienced hire be told they do not qualify for a job? Experience should mean that they clearly qualify right?

Allow me to put context.

A client was in the medical regulatory sector, having 10 years’ plus experience in that field, ensuring regulatory compliance in that field. Based on her stakeholder interfacing role, she had good understanding of what it took to work as a clinical trials professional in same industry. Plus she had a PHD, and the field of clinical trials is built on the need for core scientific research skills.

She had the fundamental abilities to succeed, but when she applied for a job, they told her she wouldn't be able to do the work because she had never done it formally before.

Or maybe you are a HR professional who worked in the retail sector in an African country and you moved countries, desiring to work in the tech sector, and you keep hearing lines like you do not have HR tech experience, so you are not qualified for the role from an industry perspective, though it is a job you are certain you can deliver on in your sleep!

Do you get context now? Beautiful! Now if you have ever been put in that situation I would give you two ideas to help you:

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1.????Never just accept their words of not qualified; you must fight back by giving perspective: Business leaders frequently prefer to offer a role to someone who has done exactly same thing before, because taking chances can be perceived as ‘risky’. However, giving them perspective to the fact that they are not giving you a chance is the right way to fight back. Show them how you've handled a comparable situation or how you possess the transferable skills needed to succeed in that position. Never accept their thoughts that says you are not qualified – Give perspective and reassure them on why you are perfect fit for their business need.

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2.????You might need to take a step back and start using data in determining which company to apply to: I had a coaching client who worked in the medical regulatory space of a government parastatal for over 10 years. Every time she went for an interview to become a clinical trial manager or program manager, they told her she wasn't qualified or, occasionally, they even suggested she was overqualified. Every time she received that kind of feedback she would cry so much, because it was a hurtful experience. I suggested that she characterize the organisations that give that kind of feedback and cease applying to businesses that ‘look like them’. Instead, she should make use of data to find businesses that do what they do, but welcome career changers and would be thrilled to have her onboard – She changed her job search strategy and she now works with a company that their talent strategy is taking onboard career changers (You will be shocked but there are many companies like that - you just need to use data to find them, simple!).

Have you ever been rejected because you were perceived as not qualified for a job or thought to be over qualified for a role? How did you fix that issue? If you have not fixed it curious to know what you have been doing to break that perception that hiring managers have. Feel free to share this with someone who may find this useful too.

Love|Faith|Hope

Ijeoma Nkwonta