When I applied for my current job working at the Graduate Business Programs office, the job description played a pretty big role in influencing my decision to apply. I wanted to find something close by and this was on campus, even the same building and college as my major. Looking through the different requirements, I found that my experiences didn’t exactly match all of the requirements. However, this was an entry-level position for a part-time job at Oregon State and it sounded like a really interesting opportunity to pursue. I wanted to apply partly because the job description did a good job at describing what I’d be doing, but I’d also be able to gain those skills that I lacked so that I would be more experienced in the future.
The biggest differences between my then current experience and the job description were mainly clerical or office-related tasks. This was going to be a desk job and I had only worked food service up until that point. Another difference was that the position would require me to work heavily in applications and programs like Salesforce, Outlook, and several cloud-based platforms that I had limited experience with. On the other hand, I had the core skills down – things like organization, communication, and professionalism. Making sure to highlight the positive customer service angle, I found similarities with how the work was conducted as the job required me to frequently interact with “customers” – this being prospective students, current students, and faculty members. My experience may have been different and not entirely aligned, but the guiding principles behind it helped qualify me for the position.