Written by Vaclav Koranda

When You Are Not a Perfect Fit

In today’s job market, many candidates meet every requirement on a job description, and they can bring even more to the table. You might well feel underqualified, overqualified, or worry you’ll be seen as a threat to your interviewer. You might crave change yet appear too steady, or wonder whether you should blend in or stand out on a team. These so-called mismatches aren’t deal-breakers—instead, they can become your secret advantages.

Underqualified: Sell Your Potential

Applying to jobs for which you are underqualified can often lead to only frustration. However, in certain situations, especially where the competition is low, it may lead to interesting opportunities. To have a chance to be considered, you have to transform your value preposition by:

  • Showing great motivation to grow into the job and enthusiasm to join the company.
  • Demonstrating rapid learning ability (supported by citing specific examples from your past).
  • Mentioning openness to a ridiculously low salary reflecting your insufficient qualification.
  • Suggesting a longer trial period or short-term contract for start to prove your aptitude and motivation and lower the employer’s risk.

By shifting the conversation from what you lack to what you can offer and how cheaply the company can get the job covered, you move from underqualified to potentially hired.

Read more here: Underqualified for a Job: Boost Your Chances of Being Hired

Overqualified: Position Yourself as a Resource

Being overqualified can raise concerns for employers—they may worry that despite your initial enthusiasm, you’ll quickly become bored or prove too costly. While it’s unnecessary to list every qualification on your resume, omitting your experience entirely isn’t recommended. Instead, position your background as a strategic asset:

  • Highlight your ability to mentor junior colleagues and contribute to the company’s growth.
  • Share what genuinely excites you about the role and how it aligns with your current career goals.
  • Offer to take on additional projects and duties that leverage your expertise and demonstrate the added value you bring.
  • Address compensation upfront by explaining why you’re comfortable with a pay cut.

Framing your experience as a resource—not a liability—shows that hiring you is not just safe, but a smart investment.

Threat vs. HiPo

Sometimes, hiring managers are looking for someone who can potentially replace them, especially in organizations with mature HR processes, where succession management is important. Many times, however, your interviewer will see you (if you are a high-achiever) as a potential rival, which can create tension, hostility and lead to your quick rejection. You can ease their fears like this:

  • Acknowledge the manager’s achievements and express enthusiasm for learning from them (even though they are genuine crap – be strategic).
  • Make it clear that you respect and support the existing hierarchy (although you plan to backstab them at the earliest opportunity).
  • Share your long-term goals in a way that shows collaboration rather than competition (and keep your real aspirations a top secret).

Reassuring your interviewer that you’re there to support can help build trust and rapport with them.

Breaking the Mold vs Holding the Line

Sometimes hiring managers are looking for a disruptor—a harbinger of change who brings fresh ideas and a new breeze of innovation to their team. Other (most of the) times, they simply need someone who can seamlessly fit into the existing structure and reliably carry on what’s already in place. Lean too far in either direction, and you risk missing the mark. That’s why you need to be a bit of a chameleon here. This is how to prepare and understand what’s expected:

  • Read the job description carefully (note caveat below!)
  • Leverage your network, use LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and informational interviews to research the company’s and teams’ culture and working styles.
  • Listen to the interviewer carefully and ask clarification questions.
  • Tailor your story both ways to show how you bring both adaptability and change—whatever the need may be.

Read more here:

Beware a Sudden Surprise

Once it happened to me that I was supposed to have an interview with two French gentlemen, I had their names, designations, and expectations, however I was met by an American guy with totally different expectations because the company underwent an acquisition in the meantime which the headhunter was not aware of.

Like in my example, sometimes it may happen that surprisingly you find out only in the interview that the real job requirements are different (and sometimes drastically) from the JD or the briefing you got from your headhunter. That can happen for several reasons:

  • The company uses very generic job descriptions for simplicity and ease of management but there may be a lot of other parameters to it which you will only learn during an interview (or from a (good) recruitment agency if they use one).
  • The job description was tweaked for marketing purposes. Sometimes HR will add or omit certain things from the JD to attract more candidates but that doesn’t mean they have changed their expectations accordingly.
  • The job description or the briefing the recruitment agency gave you is obsolete. Especially with searches that go on for a longer period of time, things may evolve, business requirements, leadership may change, or the hiring manager changes his mind over time.
  • The job description was written by someone else, not the hiring manager (usually by a higher level stakeholder) who has completely different expectations. This usually happens when higher management wants to introduce change to the team whilst the hiring manager thinks everything is perfect as it is.

So whilst you initially looked like a great fit on paper, to your surprise, you will find out in the interview that everything is the other way round.

Read more here: What to Ask in a Job Interview to Land the Job

Your Action Plan: From Mismatch to Must-Hire

Here is what you should do to prepare for all eventualities and turn potential disasters into victories:

1. Customize your narrative for each potential fit concern.

2. Ask strategic and clarification questions in interviews to uncover potential gaps.  

3. Use references and internal sources to validate your fit from different angles.  

4. Offer a proof-of-concept—whether a project outline, salary cut or a trial period—to demonstrate real value.

When you’re not the obvious fit, having a network inside your target company can be a game-changer. But what if you hate networking events? The Introverted Networker is a weekly newsletter for people who want to grow their network without the small talk, name tags, or awkward meetups. Join 2,300+ introverts learning how to connect in a way that actually feels good: https://theintrovertednetworker.substack.com/

Conclusion

“Perfect fit” is mostly a myth—on paper, at least. But when you tailor your story to match whatever the hiring manager may be looking for, you create a clear selling proposition that makes you the candidate they can’t resist to hire.

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Do you need my personal assistance? Simply send me your resume and a link to your LinkedIn profile at vaclav@getyourdreamjob.co and I will come back to you!

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