Mark Andrew

Sometimes, reading job descriptions can be like trying to crack a secret code. If you misread a job description you could miss out on landing your dream job. Job descriptions are generally written with a keen eye on word count, and, as such, tend to leave out the most important details. Learn how to read between the lines and how to decode the familiar phrases recruiters like to use.

1) The job description

First things first, you need to work out what the employer for each specific role actually requires. Let’s look at a typical job description:

Location: London Salary: £40-45 pro rata

We are currently recruiting for a Business Development Executive role with one of the UK’s leading providers of digital marketing solutions. We provide a range of innovative, integrated solutions, from social media campaigns to email marketing. Part of the company is a leading global provider of email marketing software and support. This section explains the job and its functions:

The role of Business Development Executive is an exciting opportunity to sell our services to other digital and media companies and to build a career with a market leader.

The following expertise is required to succeed:

•Digital and social media background

•Proven Business Development experience of Digital products and services

•Ability to build a sales pipeline and convert opportunities

•Ability to communicate with all levels within business

We are seeking a Business Development Executive to ideally target the growth sectors within the online media/social networking industry but the ideal candidate will already possess a proven background in identifying, developing and converting opportunities within the relevant areas mentioned above.

You will ideally be targeting small – medium sized set ups and to develop your own portfolio of new business although there will be a degree of Account Management with established accounts too.

This is a Field based role however the Business Development Executive would be preferred to be located in London, UK but can work from home as a base. So if you are a self starter, hungry to succeed and can demonstrate a proven track record of sales and winning new business then this is a fantastic opportunity to join a multinational company that invests in its staff.Training will be provided, however, a superior knowledge of the digital industry and a keen business acumen is required. The superb salary and benefits package on offer means that only those that can demonstrate the required skills outlined above will be considered.

2) Analyse each section

Now we can highlight and organise the important information. You should get into the habit of doing this for every position you intend to apply for. Later, we will work on building a job description vs. personal spec sheet {link to below}. But first, let’s look at the important information. Ready? Here goes:

This section is concerned with the activity of the company:

We are currently recruiting for a Business Development Executive role with one of the UK’s leading providers of digital marketing solutions. We provide a range of innovative, integrated solutions, from social media campaigns to email marketing .Part of the company is a leading global provider of email marketing software and support.

This section explains the job and its functions:

The role of Business Development Executive is an exciting opportunity to sell our services to other digital and media companies and to build a career with a market leader.

This section explains the personal requirements of the job:

•Digital and social media background

•Proven Business Development experience of Digital products and services

•Ability to build a sales pipeline and convert opportunities

•Ability to communicate with all levels within business

This section describes the responsibilities of the role:

We are seeking a Business Development Executive to ideally target the growth sectors within the online media/social networking industry but the ideal candidate will already possess a proven background in identifying, developing and converting opportunities within the relevant areas mentioned above.

You will ideally be targeting small – medium sized set ups and to develop your own portfolio of new business although there will be a degree of Account Management with established accounts too.

This is a Field based role however the Business Development Executive would be preferred to be located in London, UK but can work from home as a base.

This section is selling the benefits of working for the company to you:

So if you are a self starter, hungry to succeed and can demonstrate a proven track record of sales and winning new business and can multitask to a high level, then this is a fantastic opportunity to join a multinational company that invests in its staff. Training will be provided, however, a superior knowledge of the digital industry and a keen business acumen is required. The superb salary and benefits package on offer means that only those that can demonstrate the required skills outlined above will be considered.

3) The 3 parts of the job description

Responsibilities

Information and activities critical to the role and the company – have you worked in a similar company or industry before in a similar position?

Skills

Skills and attributes that are essential for the job. These could be “soft skills” – eg for Sales it could be ‘good communicator’. Or for technology roles it could be “hard skills” eg must have expert Javascript skills.

Experience

All employers will be looking to match your work experience with the kind of work you will be doing in your new job. If you are applying for your dream job and your experience is not a close match can you tweak your CV to make it more suited?

4) Skills match

Your objective is to match your skills with those which they expect from the person right for the job – if they don’t, then the job is not right for you. Also important is that you know these from the offset. You will need to match these attributes, skills and other employer needs and wants and, as the employer has requested or suggested these skills, you will need to prove you have them right from the start of the application process. This will form the basis of your whole application from CV, Covering letter right through to the interview – they will make up your objective statements and career experience elements of your CV, your covering letter and answers to question asked by the recruiter in the interview.

	Target Position	You
Objective of the role and job functions	?	Here you add the matches from your own career experience.
Skills	?	Here list your own skills relevant to the role plus any which you posses which are not listed but which you feel are relevant – highlight theses a different colour.
Soft Skills	?	Add your own personal attributes here – list all the relevant ones.

Have you completed any research? Use the knowledge from your research and personal experience to fill in any missing skills and attributes. Add them to to your table.

5) Common phrases decoded

Often, employers load job descriptions with key words such as ‘self starter’ and ‘Works well under pressure.’ But what do they really mean? Could the recruiter be ‘tweaking’ the job description to hide what they truly mean?

‘Self starter’ or ‘willingness to work independently.’

And other similar phrases decoded simply mean that you are able to get on with your work without, having to be told what to do constantly. In order to do so, you’ll need great knowledge of the job and the industry processes so similar phrases such as, from the sample listing above, ‘a superior knowledge of the digital industry and a keen business acumen’ can imply the ability to work and manage yourself without support of others. Are you comfortable setting your own goals and with working independent? Other cynical commentators may say this points to a lack of cohesive management and training and that, once in the job, the candidate would have to fend for themselves. A good indicator, at the interview stage, would be whether the interviewer, usually the manager, knows the ins and outs of the roles responsibility – beyond the obvious stuff mentioned in the job description.

Ability to identify and resolve problems

This could mean a number of things such as you’re going to experience a lot of challenges, it could mean the company is in a mess and you are expected to sort it out, or it could mean the organisation is a bureaucratic nightmare. On the whole this characteristic requires you to think independently and on your feet.

Works well under pressure

This could mean that you are going to have a manager breathing down your neck at every opportunity. It could also mean tight deadlines and the high attention to detail of a manager.

Agent of change

This means, basically, the company is in a mess and they want you to sort it out. Of course, if you do ‘sort it out’ you could be rewarded.

Attention to detail

This may mean the company adheres to strict codes and will jump on you without hesitation if you fail to comply with them.

Customer focused

This could mean that you will have to face a load of crap from clients and customers but will still have to remain pleasant to them.

6) Danger signs

Lots of growth opportunities

I’ve fallen for this one in the past which basically means ‘we are a start-up with little money. We want you to work your arse off and if (a big if) it works out you can have some shares and a better job.

Flexibility with working hours

This may mean they will be flexible to fit around you but may also mean they are irregular casual work or they expect you to be flexible whilst they may remain not so flexible.

As with your CV, you need to create a fresh covering letter for each job application to help land that dream job. At least thats how it used to be. Now it will more likely be an email message. Either way, you’ve got to make your application stand out above the other candidates – you need to make the recruiter notice you and your CV will not do this alone. Your covering letter should PROVE to the employer that you are right for the job, compared with a CV, which is essentially a list of skills and experience, by the showing practical application of these skills and experience. And you’ve also got to PROVE you have the knowledge in order fit in and get on in the company and industry. So, you should do a little research into the company – look at their website, read in newspapers about key issues within that particular industry – Twitter and Linkedin are great for gaining ‘inside information’{link} within your desired industry. That done, here’s how to make a great covering letter:

1.Skills match

Go back to your objective builder form you needed for your CV -what skills does the job description require? You need to match these skills – if you don’t have the skills, then your covering letter is the perfect opportunity to explain why and how your existing skills make you a perfect candidate for the role, regardless of the lack of skills. As I alluded to earlier, essentially a covering letter is an expansion to your CV, so apply your skills and experience to the role, for example if I had retail experience and was applying for a customer service role, I would give an example, referring to my CV, as to how my the skills and my experience from my retail position applies to the. A great technique for this is in point 2.

2. The STAR system

Remember the STAR system from the new2london CV guide? Now, to make your CV completely fantastic, and to get you one step ahead of the rest, you need to take the objective sentences from the ‘Career’ section of your CV and expand them into paragraph stories. Here’s how to do it:

From the job description you should have identified the key skills and about four soft skills which are needed for the role. And of course, the skills actually listed by the recruiter. For more information click here to read about job descriptions. For your covering letter you need to link these skills with your own showing evidence from your experience. The best way to do this is using the STAR System:

Situation – the background.

Task – the task and goal which you where required to fulfil.

Action – the action taken by you to achieve the goal.

Result – exactly what it says on the tin.

Give a brief background of the situation, explain the task which you had to undertake, the action you took so as to complete it and finally, give details of the result.

For example, a typical statement from a CV could be: ‘Started as a research internship – promoted twice.’ So, to make this a paragraph for your covering letter you need to give it more detail – link it with the most necessary skills and soft skills needed. Here are the skills listed in the job description for the project management role we previously looked at (link decode)

• Digital and social media background

• Proven Business Development experience of Digital products and services

• Ability to build a sales pipeline and convert opportunities

• Ability to communicate with all levels within business

• proven track record of sales and winning new business

• self starter

• hungry to succeed

• multitask to an extremely high level

For example, if I wanted to write a covering letter for this position I may write:

My previous position at {name} began as a research internship. However, showing proven aptitude in social media marketing and sales, when a colleague was off sick, I oversaw their business development and sales responsibilities. The company devoid of a Twitter account, so I created one and commenced business to business (B2B) marketing and communication using the platform, achieving {XX} amount of extra sales revenue. Furthermore, in this capacity, I secured six new clients in three days, resulting in {XX} amount of sales and my promotion to the position of {XXXXX}.

This is a rough guide to show you how to do it – I’m sure you can do much better. Remember, only use active verbs{link below}.

3. Short and succinct

The ideal covering letter is short and to the point. Keep your cover letter quick and simple – recruiters will only have seconds to decide whether you fit the job description. Use your covering letter as an extension of your CV expanding on your skills – but do not just repeat CV and make sure it fits the specific role for which you are applying.

4. Structure for a covering letter:

First Paragraph

Name the job you intend to apply for. Next, state where you saw it advertised/where you found out about it. Then, tell them when youre available to start work.

Second Paragraph

Why youre interested in that type of work – use your research. Why the company attracts you – again, use your research.

Third/ Fourth Paragraphs

Use a the STAR system to match your own skills and experience to those required of the job.

Final Paragraph

Let them know your availability for an interview by listing any date which you are unavialbe. Finally, thank the employer, tell them to contact you if they need any more information and tell them you are looking forward to hearing from them.

Remember, if you started with the recruiters name you should end with ‘yours sincerely’. If, however, you started with ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ you need to end your covering letter with ‘yours faithfully’.

Remember – keep the formalities to a minimum – you need to catch the recruiter’s attention and you won’t be able to do that with too much waffle.

5. Do:

• Use simple effective language –use short, sharp sentences.

• Try to answer the employer’s question ‘why should I employ this person?’

• Ask the employer for an interview. Tell them you will call/email in say, a week. Then make sure you follow it up.

• Use action verbs – avoid passive verbs such as ‘to be’ and ‘to do’. For example:

Active/action: I helped the managed.

Passive: The manager was helped by me.

6. Do not:

• Repeat your CV in a narrative form – you have not linked your skills and experience to the specific role. This will be hard to read and end up in the bin.

• Create a generic CV and send to all employers – your CV and covering letter will end up in the bin.

• Leave it up to the employer to offer you an interview – ask for one.

• Don’t tell the employers you have attached/enclosed a CV – they’ll be able to see it and you’ll have wasted time.

7. Show your knowledge

This is where your research comes in; show them that you know what you are talking about. One great technique here is to talk about specific issues within the industry and link the prospective role to them i.e. talk about how you in your role could overcome or work with these issues. Another approach is bringing up any specific data which you have found out about the company i.e. sales figures. This can be linked into your STAR statement. For example:

According to my research your sales figures were {XX}. During a project, remember the STAR system – apply it here: Situation, Task, Action, Result. I feel, from the results in my previous position, I would be able to increase your sales figures.

Show that you understand them by linking the issues to skills or knowledge you possess for example ‘I realise that {your company} is the market leader for [product] which is…’

Your covering letter is a great forum to demonstrate you have thought about the role and the company. You need to show the recruiter why you are interested – you can do this by demonstrating your knowledge about the company, the industry and the competitors.