Shall I apply for a job that I do not fully meet the requirements for?
I am currently a QA Software Testing graduate at a large FinTech who's graduate scheme finishes this year around mid July.
I do not have a technical background and did a Business and Management degree at uni. I feel like over the past 2 years I have not really learnt alot. I have realised and come to the conclusion that Software Testing is not a career path I want to pursue. I would much rather go into a Project Management role within tech because I feel like I can more effectively utilise my soft skills.
I was looking at getting a certification into project management like Agile PM or Prince 2. However they're very expensive courses and also i have been informed experience overrides any sort of qualification or certification usually.
I did try to rotate into a Project Management role within my Graduate scheme but my managers desperately wanted to keep me and did not want me leaving so they prevented this from happening.
I now really want to leave my team because I feel like I am not learning anything new and exploiting my skills to a maximum. I also feel like with Software Testing if I want to progress in my career, I will have to learn coding and technical automated languages which I really do not have a passion or interest in.
So I was looking at external Project Management roles (entry level or Junior PM roles) and wanted to ask if its worth applying for these jobs externally even though I do not fully meet the criteria? My biggest fear is getting a payrise of say 30% from my existing company, then starting the new job and underperforming. I am also fearful of imposter syndrome and having to pass probation again. Do people learn on the job and are employers expecting you to pick up things straight away especially for someone nee into project management?
Please advise on what your thoughts are on my situation. Thank you.
I do not have a technical background and did a Business and Management degree at uni. I feel like over the past 2 years I have not really learnt alot. I have realised and come to the conclusion that Software Testing is not a career path I want to pursue. I would much rather go into a Project Management role within tech because I feel like I can more effectively utilise my soft skills.
I was looking at getting a certification into project management like Agile PM or Prince 2. However they're very expensive courses and also i have been informed experience overrides any sort of qualification or certification usually.
I did try to rotate into a Project Management role within my Graduate scheme but my managers desperately wanted to keep me and did not want me leaving so they prevented this from happening.
I now really want to leave my team because I feel like I am not learning anything new and exploiting my skills to a maximum. I also feel like with Software Testing if I want to progress in my career, I will have to learn coding and technical automated languages which I really do not have a passion or interest in.
So I was looking at external Project Management roles (entry level or Junior PM roles) and wanted to ask if its worth applying for these jobs externally even though I do not fully meet the criteria? My biggest fear is getting a payrise of say 30% from my existing company, then starting the new job and underperforming. I am also fearful of imposter syndrome and having to pass probation again. Do people learn on the job and are employers expecting you to pick up things straight away especially for someone nee into project management?
Please advise on what your thoughts are on my situation. Thank you.
Reply 1
15
Apply for the new job! Your degree sounds very good for this and would be a strong point for your new role, on top of this you seem to have a good amount of work experience with your current role and there will be some transferable skills also. You have all the right reasons to leave and it's just a grad scheme at the end of the day - would be worth getting a new job before leaving this current one - to ensure you are financially stable and so that there can be a smooth transitioning process for all this. It shouldn't be a difficult change, because it is an entry level role so it's not going to be as intense as senior roles and there will be opportunity for training and networking - As someone that has worked multiple roles in different environments, I have always been given training and you should be receiving that too, you can't be 100% perfect from the start and making mistakes are part of the learning journey, you are being way too harsh on yourself! Working on a project also means working collaboratively with other people so that will help you overcome imposter syndrome and by communicating effectively with your manager - you'll do great on probation. Good Luck!
Reply 2
If you applied for a job where you met 100% of the criteria it would not be an especially useful role in terms of building your skillset and experience. There has to be some scope for development.
As to whether to apply, it usually depends on exactly how close you are to meeting the requirements. For a lot of places, two-thirds to three-quarters would probably put you in with a shout of being shortlisted, but recruiting practices vary.
As to whether to apply, it usually depends on exactly how close you are to meeting the requirements. For a lot of places, two-thirds to three-quarters would probably put you in with a shout of being shortlisted, but recruiting practices vary.
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