Four reasons why women should apply for roles when they don’t meet 100% of the requirements

It’s a common statistic that gets quoted by job seekers everywhere – men will apply for a job if they can do 60% of the requirements and women will only apply for a job if they can do 80-100% of the requirements.

We’re here to tell you that if you’re a female job seeker, while you should definitely be discerning when it comes to finding a new job (you gotta make sure it’s right for you), you should absolutely not count yourself out if you can’t do the whole job. There are many reasons why women won’t apply for a role unless they can do the majority – or all – of the requirements, but we’re here to give you four reasons why you should say “screw it”, and just apply anyway.

You’ll close yourself off to opportunities

This is probably the most obvious reason as to why you should be applying for those jobs you don’t 100% qualify for, but you’re missing out on some amazing opportunities. If you want your career to progress in the right direction, you can’t keep applying for the same jobs where you can do everything. Career progression requires growth and challenges, so make sure to find a job that gives you exactly that.

The requirements aren’t the be all and end all

Tara Mohr did some interesting research for Harvard Business Review. She wanted to interrogate and discover why women didn’t apply for jobs unless they could do the majority or all of the requirements. Her research showed that 46.4% of professional women, predominantly in the US, surveyed stated that the reason they didn’t apply for certain jobs was because “I didn’t think they would hire me since I didn’t meet the qualifications and I didn’t want to waste my energy”.

What this shows is that these women most likely didn’t understand the hiring process is more than ticking off the requirements. They’re important, but they’re not the be all and end all. Hiring managers also take into account personality, cultural fit, whether you’re interested in learning and growing your skills (which will lead you to do 100% of the job) and how you’ll contribute to the company. These are things that you can highlight and show off in your cover letter and resume and while interviewing with the hiring manager – but you can’t if you don’t apply!

Your job might not be very engaging or challenging

Once you’ve passed the excitement and challenges that come with starting a new job and you’ve settled into your everyday rhythm, things will probably start to get a little ho hum. This is especially true if you can absolutely do everything that’s required of you in the role and there isn’t anything for you to learn and grow into. You’re just there, day in and day out, going through the motions. Learning and challenging yourself to try new things is what makes a job engaging (and is one of the factors to wanting to stay around longer and not go on the job hunt again), so your next job should be one where you can’t do it all – yet.

When women apply for roles, they’re more likely to get hired than men

LinkedIn’s Gender Insights Report tells us that while women are more selective when they apply for jobs, when they do actually apply, they’re 16% more likely to be hired than men. When they apply for a senior position, women are 18% more likely to be hired than men. So when it comes to those roles where you’re afraid you’re not as qualified or well positioned as someone else who ticks more boxes, say yes and take the chance anyway – the stats are in your favour!

Ready to move on to a role where you can only do 60% of the requirements? Chat with us today – shoot us an email at hello@creativenatives.com.au.