4 Steps to Breaking Down a Job Posting
How to read a job posting to increase your chances of nailing your application.
Most roles have job postings that you apply for.
Amazing insight I know. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.
Seriously though, knowing how to break down, understand and use a job description to your advantage is one of the easiest ways to increase your performance during the interview process (and your chances of getting called for an interview in the first place).
The reading of a job description for most people goes something like this…
Role title. Match.
Company. Interesting.
Salary. Aligned.
Responsibilities. Alright.
Apply. Click.
To get to the top 20% of job applicants isn’t that difficult as long as your experience is somewhat close to what you’re applying to.
To get to the top 10%, top 5% is pretty straightforward too. You need to understand your value and how to tell that story for the interviewer.
It all starts with the job description.
Step One: Read it through fully once.
If you are actively looking for your next opportunity, you’re probably browsing a lot of job descriptions. Every posting is not going to be a match.
With that in mind, the first step is to read the job description through quickly once, and ask yourself two questions;
Could I do this job?
Would I want to do this job?
Only if the answer is yes to both should you continue through the steps.
Step Two: The Must Haves.
The second step is to read the posting again and parse out the must haves. These generally take the form of specific experience, skills, education/training and/or values that a person must have to be successful.
A posting is usually written by a few different people.
The hiring manager, human resources manager, recruiter and other team members all have some input. It can end up a long list of requirements, likely not all essential.
Similar to that long time single friend who has an extremely long list of things they are looking for in a partner… except this list was written by multiple single friends.
To help figure out what requirements are most important, note the following:
the order they are listed (most important things are listed first).
how many times they are mentioned (more mentions = more importance).
how specific they are about it in the posting (the vaguer the requirement the less important it is).
These will all give you an idea of what things are vital to success in the role, and what would be nice to have.
Step Three: Keywords.
By now, you’ve likely read the posting multiple times and identified the must have things a candidate should have to be successful. Great work.
The next step is to identify key words or phrases that are used. These will describe the job duties, requirements, skills and values.
By nature, job postings can be full of waffle and filler. Your job is to cut through the noise.
Aim to pull out key descriptions or phrases they use in order to customise your application (and interview answers if you get that far).
For example, if they mention “stakeholder management” or “managing complexity” multiple times in the job posting, you make sure to use those terms when describing some of your previous work experience.
The same goes for cultural references (growth mindset, team player etc.) or specific tooling or technology (if you’ve used the tooling/tech before).
Make it super obvious that you have the experience they are looking for.
Step Four: Red Flag Watch.
The final step is to do a final scan for buzzwords or overly vague descriptions.
Why?
Both are red flags. If they can’t tell you what they need, how will you ever know?
It is the first sign of an inefficient hiring process at best, or a disengaged team/manager at worst. Some common things to be on the look out for:
Unicorn Postings:
Those postings that list 1001 things that a person will need or will be responsible for. You know the type that describes the work of 4 or 5 different roles in one.
Be wary, could indicate unrealistic expectations or a manager who doesn’t quite know what they need.
“Entry level” postings:
Real entry level postings do not require 3-5 years of experience, because (you guessed it) they are supposed to be entry level.
This is a flag for many reasons, but mostly because it hints at the team not being able or willing to invest in training this hire.
Weird Promises:
If you see a role that promises that you will quadruple your salary in one year or has another offer that seems too good to be true, it likely is.
There’s a lot of chancers out there - so make sure you research the company and role thoroughly before sending any applications into these types of postings.
In Summary…
Your job when crafting your application is to help the reviewer join the dots between you and the job your applying to.
Understanding what they are looking for, how they are describing it and using that same language to describe your own experience is a great way to make that connection super obvious.
Not only that, understanding the role and company culture will help anchor your answers during an interview, helping you stay relevant and aligned.