I’ve applied to 409 jobs since March. And I’ve gotten maybe 100 emails that say the same thing: "You don’t meet the qualifications.” I’m not applying to be a surgeon. Or a mechanic. So what exactly are “qualifications”? It's giving subjectivity as logic. Bias written as criteria. They’re waiting for a résumé that fits a mental image—one shaped by unspoken filters like: ✅ Worked at a brand they recognize or aspire to be ✅ Has a title that already sounds senior (even if the work isn’t) ✅ Comes from a team with prestige (Google, Glossier, Nike, pick your poison) ✅ Has followed a “linear” career path with no industry jumps ✅ Went to the “right” school or trained under someone notable ✅ Uses just the right buzzwords in just the right way That’s not about qualifications. That’s about bias toward familiarity, prestige, and sameness. So if what you're actually looking for is someone who’s done paid ads at a name-brand DTC startup, or built email funnels for a VC-backed wellness app, or shadowed a founder you admire SAY THAT. Let’s stop pretending these say anything: “3 years of experience” — years ≠ skill “Proficient in X, Y, Z” — how proficient? in what context? “Strong communication skills” — says every job post ever. Strong is subjective, you know? Everyone says they want someone “strategic.” But what they really mean is: Has scaled a brand (but only in our exact industry) Can create for TikTok (but only if it sounds like Glossier meets Duolingo) Understands email funnels (but only if they’ve done it for a household name) If that’s what you’re looking for SAY THAT. Otherwise, candidates are left guessing. And guess what? You’re filtering out the people who could do the job—just not in the exact costume you imagined. Because “qualified” doesn’t mean anything if we don’t say what we really mean. And if your ideal hire never makes it through the filter. That’s not a candidate problem. That’s a clarity problem. Let’s fix it. And if you’re hiring for someone who can blend brand, UX, copy, and growth, my inbox is open. 💬 What “qualification” have you seen in a job post that left you with more questions than answers?
I dealt with the same BS. I’m a director level or higher marketer with a proven record and was getting the same “don’t meet the qualifications” on jobs at a lower tier. It’s not you. It’s employers and recruiters not knowing shit about what they actually need or want and rely on some ridiculous market data to screen and reject.
That frustration is what led to me starting my own agency. You forgot to add, a bachelor degree requirement for a $20 an hour job. I think many businesses are in their own echo chamber with completely unrealistic expectations. They are paying too much attention to the highlight reels of their scrolling without taking the time to really consider what they want, what they need, and who would be a good cultural fit.
Strong communication skills - I love that ... I have strong communication skills, I can tell whoever to "f**k themselves sideways and j***k off the horse they rode in on", but I'm not sure that kind of strong is what they usually mean right? 🤣😏 So *please* be specific on the kind of "strong" - careful what you wish for. X years spent in an industry doesn't equate to being proficient in anything. Obviously the same is true the other way round, if you're just starting something that doesn't mean you don't have ground breaking ideas. I mean even very familiar faces admit that the hights of their career started with *one* ground breaking thought ... like Rory Sutherland, laying home ill one day and thinking, came up with a whole new world of marketing tactics. When hiring digital knowledge workers, I cannot stress this enough - hire for cultural fit and your goals as a firm. Why isn't anyone asking anything related to that? When a person is a good fit then they slot into the firm's culture without a "learning curve" and they will feel comfortable from day one, hence giving them the fertile ground to produce THAT ground breaking idea you need. Irrespective of their past, irrespective of their years.
I don't think it's about specifically looking for a household name on the CV. From the perspective of a hiring manager, saying "I want someone from TikTok/Google/name brand" does not make sense. Every decent manager is hiring for skills first. But it's an imperfect system. Recruiters have way too many CVs to review, so they don't spend too much time reading through it. When you work in a rush, you're looking for a "signal" for qualifications and that's where recognizable brands give candidates an unfair advantage. Luckily it's not the only thing that matters. The other piece is speed: how early you are in entering the applicant funnel. If there's 100 CVs for 1 role, the recruiter goes through maybe the first 20-30, and if there's enough qualified candidates, they won't sort through the rest to find someone "more qualified". If they find the right hire in that first batch of candidates, the rest of applicants get a "don't meet qualification" email or some other templated email. So if you get that email as a candidate, it most likely doesn't meet you don't meet the qualifications. It means you were probably late to apply and nobody even saw your CV. At the end, it's a numbers game and a bit of stupid luck with timing
Co-Founder and CEO @ Station Entertainment | Brand-Influencer-Creator Collaborations
8moJust my 2 cents for what it's worth. I would find the top 20 jobs you want. Find the hiring manager, HR or whoever posted the job. Connect with them. Write them an email about how badly you want to work there. Follow up on that email every 2 days until you get a response. If you get told it's not a fit. Thank them and tell them you'll follow up in a month because you REALLY want to work there. Most of the time it's just a matter of getting in front of the person and some autoresponder rejecting. A girl on my team applied with us 3 times and honestly never knew because of the amount of applicants. She did what I described above and has just hit her 1 year anniversary with us. She got in front of our HR person and was relentless. Anyways just my 2 cents.