But she still didn't get the job.

Judy was heartbroken.

However, after getting the generic turn-down call from HR, she mustered the courage to reach out to "Jim", the hiring manager.

Jim was really nice about it. In fact, he shared some candid feedback, because he liked her and wanted to see her succeed.

Here's what he told her:

The reason he couldn't give her the job was because Judy doesn't have any experience with a fairly new project management tool that barely existed three or four years ago.

He recommended that she brush up on her skills, maybe take a certification.

(If another job comes up in the near future, he indicated that he'd definitely be interested in interviewing Judy again. So the door has been left open for her.)

This is a common roadblock – especially with more experienced candidates.

Thankfully, it isn't too difficult to fix.

Now, I'm not saying that Judy, or indeed you, should stop applying for jobs until you have more qualifications or certifications. Absolutely not.

You should keep putting more irons in the fire.

However, I also recommend that you invest some time in the evenings or weekends brushing up on your skills. Because, all other things being equal, it should help you land better positions and/or negotiate a higher salary.

There are lots of ways you could do this.

You could listen to podcasts, read books, follow online tutorials, attend conferences, or study other educational resources.

There's a particular study resource that I really like called Skillshare.

It's an online training platform – and what I love about it is that it provides a structured learning environment, and lets you study the materials at a pace and schedule that suits your lifestyle and personal commitments.

Skillshare offers over 19,000 online courses about business, technology, and creative skills, and every class is lead by vetted industry experts who are at the top of their game.

And the best part?

They offer a free month of access to all their courses.

This means you could create an account now, take yourself through a few of them, and see how this platform could help you sharpen your skillset.

Here's where you can start your free trial: Skillshare