> This begs the question, are majority of the job positions out there an over exaggeration of the requirements? I read "desired" requirements as "here's the ma

> This begs the question, are majority of the job positions out there an over exaggeration of the requirements? I read "desired" requirements as "here's the magic pony that could immediately fill any void with no ramp up time in our org" - and is likely out of their price range ;). It's not even that they're exaggerating per se, it's just that everyone wants everything. Doesn't mean they won't be happy with someone who only knows half the stuff - or less. > Should one apply to job postings even if they do not possess all the required skills? Worst case scenario, they'll simply say no. So... sure, why not? Even if their list of requirements really is a hard list of hard requirements for that position, it's quite possible that's not the only position they're hiring for. And even if it's normally a hard list, if they happen to be short a couple devs, they may care a lot more about not slipping further behind schedule than finding multiple perfect within-budget matches. Most are reasonable enough and realize "perfect is the enemy of good enough", so to speak. Now, personally, I prefer to be up front about any skill gaps - this way I don't waste my time nor theirs if I'm not enough of a fit. I'm sure one could debate how wise this is, but it's worked out okay for me so far - maybe works out as something similar to a humblebrag? Meh. For example, I'd point out my linux experience is moderate at best, and stale by a few years - unless you're counting "adb shell"ing into Android phones, or using the command line to script builds for iOS on OS X. I've only written a few hundred LOC of python, and maybe a few KLOC of Java and refactoring Java - all Android. And the only SQL I know is "give me parameterized queries or give me death". I didn't even remember to add password salt or password hash version fields into my last whiteboard schema, IIRC!