"The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn." – David Russell, Scottish classical musicianIt’s that time of the month to break open the Laid-Off Life mailbag. I received this question from a fan (long time listener, first time caller) in Philly:
"I find myself a leading candidate for a position I'm pretty sure I'm not qualified for. I haven't lied on my résumé or to any questions asked of me in any interview. But in getting to understand the position, I'm pretty sure I am under-qualified for the job, and there's a lot I'd be expected to do that I don't know how to do. Maybe they think that they're pretty sure I'd be able to do anything I knew how and figure out anything I didn't, but if that was the case, I'm not sure I'd agree with them. I haven’t brought up these concerns to the interviewer (obviously). Would I be wrong to take the job if offered? Lord knows, I need the money, and I need a job, but I'm stressed as to what I should do. Should I accept a job offer for a position for which I'm pretty sure I'm not qualified?"
- (Editor's Note: above letter not actually from Kevin Kolb. But it could be.)
However, that previous paragraph starts to answer the question itself. I have sat here for 23 weeks now writing pseudo-advice columns about job hunting even though I’m "under-qualified for the job" and even though there’s a lot about writing this that "I’d be expected to do that I don’t know how to do". My only expertise is my own life experience. And I would suggest that follow that same advice. Take that life experience – or work experience – and use it to learn as-you-go. Use the skills you have, and develop the ones you don’t.
I’m going to try to expand on this, coming from both sides of the equation. First, I suggest you take the job, no reservations. You say you didn’t lie on your résumé or in your interviews. I’m going to go out on a limb and also say that you didn’t lie-by-omission either. I’m not suggesting that you give your interviewer a laundry list of all the things you don’t know how to do, but there’s a fine line between making yourself look good and perjuring yourself, between under- and over-selling yourself. I trust when you say you didn’t lie, you didn’t fail to mention any huge elephants in the room. It’s a moral question, I suppose, and only you know if that is the case.
One would have to think that given all of the information on hand available to a potential employer – your résumé, your interview, follow-up conversations, background checks, social media searches, LinkedIn listings, industry contacts, recommendations, references, psychic readings – that the onus at the end falls on the employer. Caveat emptor can go both ways (caveat employertor?).
There are two ways that this can go at this point:They were right (and clearly very visionary) and you wind up thriving in your new job, learning quickly as you go, and using your already-established skills to excel at the position. The things that you didn’t know how to do you learned, and they weren’t the hurdles you thought they would be. Your new employers were aware of your theoretical shortcomings, even if you didn’t think they were. See, you had nothing to worry about.
They were wrong (and clearly without insight) and you wound up over-your-head in your new job, fell behind before you even started, and it was a bad match for all involved. You were assigned tasks you didn’t know how to accomplish, and needed to ask for help so often, you were starting to get a reputation as a time-waster and a liability. Your shortcomings became quickly apparent, and it was true that they had expectations of you that were unrealistic. There were things they thought you knew and skills they presumed you to have. If you’re lucky, they’ll realize they overestimated you but know how much time and effort they’ve already enlisted in your hiring. Maybe they’ll have patience and allow you to learn the skills you didn’t before and give you the chance to catch up. If you’re less lucky, they will decide it is best for all to part ways, no-harm-no-foul. They know it was their fault (again, assuming you didn’t lie about yourself), and they just have to bite-the-bullet. You were just an employee that didn’t work out, and you go your separate ways.
Regardless of whether you are over- or under-qualified for a job, the burden is on the company to shuffle through the haystack to find the right needle for the job. Despite all the analytics and research that goes in to filling a key position, it’s a crapshoot. Sometimes the house wins, sometimes the house loses. They’re going on a small percentage of information they’ve gleaned from you, and making a best-guess. Most of the time, they’ve hired the right person for the position, and things proceed seamlessly. Sometimes that doesn’t happen, and a smart company will know that it’s not your fault (again, if you haven’t lied) and sometimes crap happens. Then it’s up to them whether or not to continue the experiment or cut their losses. And hopefully they won’t be bitter or retaliatory if you aren’t the right fit (or, more directly, just can’t do the job).
Which brings me to the other alternative: Don’t take the job. If you really honestly think that you cannot perform the duties as assigned, even if the employer seems to think you can, pass. You know you much better than a company will ever know you before you start. They’re opinion is based on a one or two page résumé and a couple hours of speaking with you. There’s bound to be a lot of things about you and your skills that just don’t come up, or aren’t delved into deeply enough. Even if you’re the greatest idea person in the world, it will never come through if you don’t have the skills to implement them. Only you can be the proper barometer as to whether you can really do the job or not.
"But Michael," you ask, "why not just give the job a shot and if it doesn’t pan out, then you admit the error and quietly have the job annulled?" Good question, you. If you take a job and fail, you’re affecting three different sets of people: you, your employer (or lack thereof), and other job seekers.If you take a job you shouldn’t have, picture the impact on the person that finished second. It’s possible they were actually the perfect person for the position, they just didn’t express that as well as you apparently did. In the time between you decide to take the job and possibly fail at the job, that person may have taken another not-as-good job, or they may have moved on to something else unknowing how that will end. Maybe they were generally excited about the job, and could have taken the company to much higher places. And maybe losing this job was their last straw and they’ve just had enough and… well, I’ll let you fill in the rest.
What about how it impacts the employer. They’ve spent money, time, and resources hiring you, training you, and accommodating you. They’ve planned work and projects around the assumption that you’ll be there and doing the job well. Your failure or departure leaves a big hole in their plans and could have a ripple effect on the work produced by having to cover your sudden not-there-anymoreness. Depending on how far in to the job you would get, all other appropriate candidates may have moved on and they’ll have to start the process all over again. And one guess who they’ll blame.
And of course, there’s the affect on you. Primarily on your reputation. Whether or not it’s true, the perception will be that you sold them a bill of goods, you bait-and-switched, that you’ve Rick-Rolled them. And remember how small a world this is, especially in the social network cloud. You never know when your perceived transgressions are going to follow you, and you never know who will pop up again in the future at a different company. The person you let down at Initech might very well show up when you’re interviewing at Taggart Transcontinental. Be careful reaping where you’re sowing.
So there are the various states of affair on both sides of the coin. I have no specific advice further than do what you feel is right and best for you. You can decide that if the company sees something in you, who are you to argue, or you can decide that walking in to a job you have no business having is bad business for everyone. But no matter your choice, the outcome will come back on you.
But like I said, I’m not an expert, I just play one on TV.
Michael Hochman
LaidOffLife@yahoo.com ◙ Laid-Off Life on Twitter ◙ Laid-Off Life on Facebook
Michael is a Copywriter, Creative Marketer, and Broadcasting Professional still in search of full-time employment after 15 months of full-time job hunting, thanks to an "involuntary career sabbatical". A Philly native and Syracuse graduate, Michael will gladly accept any job offer you may have for him. Any. Really. Please give me a job??"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." - Drew Carey
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