Applying for jobs you're not fully qualified for

Must-haves versus nice-to-haves in the ad

Many job ads describe an ideal candidate who may not exist. The person writing it lists everything the role could use, often starting from the last person's skills, and then hopes to find most of it. So the first job is to sort the ad into two lists.

The must-haves are usually few. Look for anything the law requires, such as a practising certificate, a driver licence for a driving role, a trade registration or a security clearance. Look also for a core skill the ad names more than once, or states as essential or required. The nice-to-haves are the rest: words such as "ideally", "desirable", "an advantage" or "bonus points", and long lists of tools or sectors.

If you meet the must-haves, the nice-to-haves are where you compete, not where you are ruled out. If you miss a legal must-have, applying usually wastes your time and theirs, unless the ad says the employer will support you to get it. If the ad names a contact person, a short call or email asking whether a gap is a deal-breaker is the cheapest test there is.

The 60 to 70 percent rule and its limits

A common rule of thumb is to apply if you meet about 60 to 70 percent of the listed requirements. It is a useful nudge for people who hold back until they tick every box. It is not research, though, and it has two limits.

First, not every requirement weighs the same. Meeting ten nice-to-haves and missing the one must-have is not 90 percent. Count the must-haves first, then the rest. Second, the rule says nothing about the gap you would bring. Missing experience with one software package is easy to close. Missing five years of managing people is not, however many other boxes you tick.

So use it as a starting point. If you meet every must-have and most of the rest, apply. If you meet the must-haves and only half of the rest, apply if you can show you would learn the missing parts quickly. If you miss a must-have, look for a role one step closer.

Addressing the gap in the letter

Do not hide a gap and hope nobody notices. A reader who spots it may assume the worst. Name it briefly, then show why it will not hold you back:

• A related skill. You have not used their system, but you learned two similar ones quickly in your last role.
• Evidence of learning. A course you have started, a certificate in progress, or a project where you picked up something new.
• What you bring instead. A strength the ad values that other applicants may lack, such as customer experience from another industry.

Keep it to a sentence or two, and move on to what you do offer. Most of the letter should be about the requirements you meet, with real examples in the ad's own words. Our guide to writing a cover letter in New Zealand covers the structure. If you are moving into a new field, our guide to changing careers in New Zealand covers how to present transferable skills.

Your CV needs the same care. Put the experience that matches the ad first, and use the employer's words for the skills you genuinely have. The CV Builder is free and needs no account, and it lays out a New Zealand CV and saves it as a PDF. AI-written cover letters come with On the Move.

Applying above and below your level at once

There is no rule that says you must apply only at one level. A sensible mix during a hunt is a few stretch roles, a larger number that fit well, and perhaps one or two safer roles you would still be glad to take. Stretch roles lift your ceiling. Roles that fit well are usually your best chance of an offer.

Be honest about the safer ones, though. If you would turn a job down, or take it only while you keep looking, it is not worth much of your time. Keep your stretch applications as strong as the others, too. A stretch role is not the place for a rushed, generic application.

Scoring the fit before you send

Before you send, check your CV against the ad. Go through each requirement and mark it as met, partly met, or not met, with the example that proves it. That tells you how strong the application is and where the letter needs to do more work.

In jobtracker.co.nz, the free CV check in Everything mode, once you have uploaded your CV and saved the ad on the job, shows what share of the ad's key terms appear in your CV and lists the ones missing, so you can add those that are genuinely true of you, in the ad's words. CV Match, part of On the Move and the Career plan, uses AI to go further, sorting the ad's requirements into essential and desirable and showing the line of your CV each judgement rests on.

Know your fit before you send