You’ve seen your dream job, its got everything you want and more – but there’s a catch.

You don’t quite have the levels of qualifications or experience they’re looking for. But before you cry into your coffee, I urge you to read the rest of the article because I’m on your side.

I’m going to help you convince that prospective employer to give you a chance to show why you’re the candidate he or she wants, even though other applicants might have more experience or qualifications.

I see literally dozens or CV’s and covering letters every day from candidate who are just itching to get into a role – although they may not have the most relevant skills or be as time served as the next person.

“If you would be willing to take a chance on me I will prove to you that…” and “I know that there may be more experienced candidates but..” are just two things I’ve spotted on introductory emails, letters and CV’s already this year and I’ll tell you for a fact that this just isn’t going to get you that job.

It drives me crazy and it has to stop. Now!

Putting this kind of waffle on your CV or covering letter is going to make the employer switch off completely and they’ve probably now made the assumption that you’re not what they’re looking for.

See it from an employers’ perspective. You’ve just given them reason to doubt your ability to do the job, and if they have a pool of candidates that can then why should they even consider interviewing you?

Because I want to do the best for candidates (and I’m a generally lovely person) I’m going to let you in on some trade secrets to give you the best possible chance to get the employer to sit up and take notice of your CV.

But first you’ve got to swear to me that you’ll never use one of those lines above on your CV ever again. Promise? Ok…

Stop drawing attention to you lack of skills or experience

In the majority of cases the person who’s going to make the decision to interview you or not is looking for the best ‘fit’ for their business and not necessarily the person with the best skills or experience. Stop apologising for your lack of something and make the most of what you do have.

Keep a positive tone and focus more on your strengths for the role than the weaknesses.

Show how your skills are transferrable

There is a high degree of cross over between many roles, and it’s up to you to spell it out to the hiring manager. Don’t expect them to make the connections themselves because frankly they don’t have the time or inclination to do the work for you.

Here’s a good example of what you could add to your CV or covering letter to showcase why you might be suitable.

“While my Marketing role didn’t directly involve managing a team, I was fully responsible for managing workloads for and communicate effectively with designers, printers and website management teams plus managing multiple projects at a time, all of which would be helpful in a management role.”

Don’t think of it as you’ve lost time in a different industry, rather that you’ve picked up experience in that area which you can use in this role.

Perfect your application materials

Even the smallest flaws can knock you out of the running, so make sure your CV is perfect in everyway. Spellcheck, proof and even get a friend to go over your application to pick up on any errors or mistakes – don’t let a small oversight lose you the chance of an interview.

If you follow the steps above, you’ll stand a much higher chance of scoring that interview where you can go all out to show just how well you’ll fit in to their culture and the enthusiasm you have for the position.

And if you can ace that interview, then you just might get that hiring manager to take a chance on you.

• – Hannah

I hope you enjoyed my post, for more tools, tips and advice for candidates just give me a call on 01782 338787