How long do you spend reviewing a job description before you apply?
I read a dismal statistic recently that said job seekers spend about 7 seconds reviewing a job description before they decide whether or not to apply.
They look at the title, salary/benefits, and location. On that basis they decide to apply.
That’s a missed opportunity.
If that’s your criteria for applying for jobs it’s small wonder you never hear back.
Applying to jobs without studying them and understanding how you match up to the qualifications is a waste of time. [Tweet this.]
Instead, I urge you to really look for the messages an employer is sending through a job posting. Review it to figure out how you match up with the skills required, and use it to prepare your stories, questions, and presence for an interview.
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#1: Identify the Employer’s Pain Point.
The reason that organization hires you is because you have the ability to help them solve their business problems.
So in the job description, look for ways that you can identify the pain point that you alone can help them resolve.
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If you look at the job description below you can see they are looking for someone who will oversee and implement the firm’s multi-faceted marketing needs revolving around project pursuit media outreach and managing marketing resources.
So what that says to me is they have a deep need to improve the way they send messages about their organization to the external world so that they can grow more business. Boom! Pain Point: Clear messaging that grows business!
Now, as a great communications person, you can talk about exactly how you’ll help them do that.
#2: Study the deliverables of the job.
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Deliverables are the outputs you’ll be expected to produce day in and day out. This will give you an idea about what a working day might look like. It’s also a good jumping off point for asking questions in an interview.
For example, in the position below you can see the deliverables are focused on writing and editing proposals, press releases, and media outreach.
There’s also a focus on idea creation for marketing campaigns, and collaboration with others. As well, you’d be responsible for establishing systems to organize information and archives.
Knowing all that, you can now develop your cover letter content and develop questions in the event you are invited to interview.
#3: What are the required skills + experience?
This will tell you what skills you need to provide evidence of what you’ve already done; to prove you are ready for this challenge.
As you study the job description, divide the skills into two categories: technical skills, and employability skills.
In this job’s technical skills, you can see the need for graphic design and specifically InDesign skills, PR processes and AEC (architecture and engineering) industry experience.
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Relative to the “employability” or soft skills, you can see they are looking for: work ethic, strong verbal and written communication skills, and the ability to manage and prioritize work with grace (love the way they say that!).
Look for the areas in which you have a strong match and start there.
As well, look at your own personal strengths, and determine how they make you a good match for this job.
If your strengths were all in analytical, structured thinking, and managing consistent processes that don’t fluctuate, this probably would not be a good fit for you. Therefore, don’t waste your time applying.
However, if your strengths are based in creativity and writing, this could be a good match. You can address how you are matched in your resume, your cover letter, and as you prepare for a potential interview.
#4: Check out the Keywords.
Since you’re going to customize your cover letter and your resume specifically to speak to the employer, now you need to look at the keywords that they are using. You are going to reflect these in your documents, so that you can attract the attention when you submit your application.
In this example we see keywords on the technical side graphic design, InDesign, public relations, social media and business development for example.
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As well they’re looking for experience in a specific industry, the architecture and engineering industry.
On the soft skills side you’re looking for things like work ethic, collaboration, and verbal and writing skills.
Those are the keywords you want to populate in the core competencies section of your resume, as well as the experience section of your resume and your LinkedIn profile. They are also the stories and anecdotes you are going to create your interview stories around.
If you want to learn to write a resume that speaks directly to the employers you want to attract, get The Resume Coloring Book today.
► This post was previously published, and updated in September 2019.
Image by Memed_Nurrohmad from Pixabay