You Meet 7 of the 10 Requirements. Apply Anyway.

You find a role you genuinely want.

You meet 7 of the 10 requirements.

So you talk yourself out of applying.

Most candidates do.

And self-rejection removes more good people from hiring processes than lack of capability ever does.

Hiring managers are rarely asking whether you've done every single thing before.

They're asking whether you can help solve the problem in front of them.

Those are very different questions.

So if you're interested in the role, apply.

But apply strategically.

Most applications now go through an ATS before a human ever sees them. Hundreds of applicants. Algorithms ranking relevance. Hiring managers reviewing a fraction.

Mirror the language in the job ad or PD.

Make your actual experience legible to the system filtering applications before a person reads them.

Then - the important part - don't stop at the application.

Send a message to the hiring manager.

Better still, send a short video message.

60 to 90 seconds. Clear. Direct. Human.

This part matters more than most candidates realise.

Because almost nobody is doing it well.

Use this framework for your message:

• why them

• why you

• why now

Why them - what specifically caught your attention about the company, team, or opportunity.

Why you - where your experience overlaps and how you think you could help.

Why now - why the timing makes sense, what you're looking for, and why this role fits where you want to grow.

That's enough.

A CV shows history.

Direct outreach shows communication, initiative, confidence, preparation, and how you think.

Those signals often matter more than a perfect skills match.

Roles rarely stay static anyway.

What's harder to teach is adaptability, curiosity, commercial thinking, and learning speed.

The best candidates aren't always the closest match on paper.

They're often the people already moving toward where the role is going.