Interpret Job Description For Career Change

Interpret Job Description For Career Change

When looking to change career you will most likely be replying to an advert or responding to a job description.

And will likely be competing with people with better fitting career history.

Therefore learning to interpret the job description or a job adverts becomes a critical skill.

Because your CV / Resume will have to score a direct hit with the reader on general experience and skills, and also convey strong personality.

You cannot leave any stone unturned in order to dig out all their needs.

For various reasons its not always easy interpret job descriptions or job adverts. Changes to legislation have meant that often the real message is hidden or softened to conform to legal requirements.

Therefore I would always recomend doing further reseach to help build a fuller profile of the skills and personality required.

Its not a difficult process, an organisation of your observations and thoughts, with a little research mixed in if the advert or job specification becomes vague.

This disciplined approach to interpreting the job description will serve you well.

Interpret Job Description For Career Change - Step 1

All that is required for this is the print out of the job description / Ad, a beverage of your choice, and a notepad and pen (highlighter pen if you have one).

A quiet place where you can interpret job description / job advert think and consider without interruption.

Simply read the job description or Ad 2 or 3 times SLOWLY – not the usual skim reading we all tend to do.

The idea is you relax and absorb the information into your brain.

Interpret Job Description For Career Change - Step 2

Highlight or underline what you consider to be the critical skills, experiences and behaviours required by the role. Some Ads and descriptions will leave you in little doubt by using words like critical, mandatory, or “must have” to describe key elements, others use vague wording such as “some knowledge of” or “experience of”.

Anyway don’t get stuck with this just highlight or underline everything you feel they are interested in, even the vague stuff.

Interpret Job Description For Career Change - Step 3

Starts getting a little harder. Grab your pad and write a top heading. The job title for example "Project Manager".

Then create 3 columns in your page, and head them. I have created a "Target Career Form" to make this easier download the Microsoft word version or the Adobe pdf version.

Skills / Function Market / Sector Behaviours / Soft Skills

List all your highlighted points under each heading (most will be under skills and function)

Interpret Job Description For Career Change - Step 4

Put a value against each point use 1 for critical points, 2 for quite important and 3 for “nice to haves”.

You will probably find that most of the items are listed under skills and function, and market sector as these are the easiest to detail in a job ad.

Behavioural or soft skills are harder to write about, though most will contain “dynamic” or “self motivated”.

However behavioural skills are very important, and though the job ad / spec may not go into detail, when you are interviewed they will be looking for these skills.

Interviewing is moving increasingly towards behavioural / competency based questioning, and though the ad or job spec may not specify the detailed behaviour the role demands. This invites you to set yourself apart from the majority of other applicants.

For example a project manager job ad may concentrate on the type of projects and market experience, but offer little in the way of behavioural requirements.

But any experienced project manager will tell you that there are a number of critical behaviours that a successful project manager must have.

If you knew this, and added them subtly to your CV / Resume, you give yourself a MASSIVE advantage.

Its vital to add behavioural context to resume. It will levitate it from being a dull page of facts and figures, by adding your desirable personality.

For example if you weave into your resume that you are commercially savvy, a good motivator, communicator and are calm under pressure all are core competencies / behaviours for a project manager.

Interpret Job Description For Career Change - Step 5

Look to identify 5 – 10 desirable behaviours that you can weave into your resume; as long as they honestly apply to you. Add them under your behaviours / soft skills heading, and rank them if you can.

You know have a great foundation of knowledge from which to build or to modify your Resume to specifically appeal to your reader.

Your next task is to take this information and ensure your CV / Resume addresses all the points rated as 1 (critical) and 2 (quite important), ideally you can also cover most of the nice to haves as well (3's).

You can now take this on to the CV / Resume building stage.

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