If you’ve ever made it to the final stages of an interview only to hear, “I’m concerned you don’t have as much experience in [specific area] as we’d like,” you know the pit in your stomach that can follow.
This is a pivotal moment. The hiring manager likely sees a lot of potential in you—but they’ve zeroed in on one area of hesitation. How you respond can make or break the opportunity.
First: This Isn’t a Fatal Flaw—But It Is a Test
This kind of concern doesn’t usually mean you’re fundamentally unqualified—like missing a required certification or never having led a team. Instead, it typically shows up when your experience seems a bit light in a specific domain: maybe your Kubernetes experience is more peripheral than hands-on, or you’ve led two large migrations but haven’t managed a full data center exit.
The key is recognizing that this is a calculated objection, not a disqualifier. And it’s your chance to redirect the conversation toward your full value.
How to Tackle It Like a Leader
Before any interview—especially at the senior level—do your prep from the company’s point of view. What’s their biggest technical challenge right now? What capabilities are they likely to prioritize for this role? If you can anticipate the weak spot in your profile compared to their wish list, you can address it with clarity and confidence.
When that concern is raised, respond with this structure:
1. Acknowledge the importance of the skill or domain
Don’t dismiss it or dance around it. Show that you understand why it matters.
“Absolutely—I know observability and tracing are critical, especially in a distributed architecture like yours.”
2. Explain how your experience might go deeper than it appears
Often, a resume can’t fully capture how much exposure you’ve had, especially in matrixed teams or in leadership roles.
“While I wasn’t the hands-on implementer for the full tracing rollout, I led the initiative from a systems reliability standpoint and worked closely with the platform team to define SLIs and SLOs.”
3. Highlight your unique combination of strengths
This is where you shift the focus. You’re not just bringing experience in one area—they’re hiring your entire toolbox.
“And when you combine that with my background leading large-scale re-architecture efforts and my track record building high-trust, cross-functional teams, I believe I bring the right mix of leadership and engineering depth to help solve the problems you’re facing.”
Why This Works
It does two important things:
- It directly addresses the concern with relevant, real-world context.
- It reframes the conversation around the total value you bring—your leadership, your systems thinking, your pattern recognition across tech stacks—not just the one bullet point you didn’t check.
Final Thought
Senior technical roles are rarely filled by someone who checks 100% of the boxes. Hiring managers are looking for capability, adaptability, and leadership. When they surface a concern like this, it’s a sign they’re interested—but want to see how you think under pressure.
So don’t shy away from these questions. Embrace them as your opportunity to demonstrate the very skills they’re looking for.