A friend asks , If [I see a] job I could do, even though I don't meet the stated requirements, should I apply anyway? Short answer: yes. Longer answer: companies are all over the map here, although in general the less layers of bureaucracy there are between the team that the candidate will work with and the hiring process, the more likely the list of requirements is to be actual requirements. How can you tell? HR paper pushers like to think in terms of checklists because that lets them go through hundreds of resumes without any real understanding of the position, so they write ads like this one -- lots of really specific "5+ years of X," not much about what the position actually involves. But if it's the team lead himself writing the description, which you will see at smaller companies, then you get much more about what the position involves and less checklist items, because the lead is comfortable determining competence based on skill instead of p...