Breaking Down a Job Description
As you apply for opportunities throughout your job search, it's important you save the descriptions for roles you applied for. Lambda School's job board tracker holds a space for "job description" information. This content is important because it's your "cheat sheet" if you're invited for an interview. Use the content of a job description to identify what's important to a company, using your findings to tailor your materials towards that description or for interview preparation.
Here's a step-by-step guide to breaking down a job description.
1) Save the job description.
Companies sometimes remove job postings from job boards or their HR website as they start interviewing. To avoid losing a job description, save it into your job board or a document you can access. Then, when you're ready, copy the content into a word document that you can mark-up and comment on or use the notes section of job board for Step 2...
2) Highlight or notate skills, phrases, and keywords within the description.
Again, the job description is a cheat sheet of sorts to help you see what the company is prioritizing or wants in a candidate. Not all job descriptions are robust, so you may have to dig deeper and find more information on LinkedIn, browsing the profiles of candidates with similar titles to the role you're applying for or through the company's website. As you review a description, make notes about:
- Skills or experiences you have and can speak to through a particular story or example
- Values, vision or mission type statements, so you can connect to the company through these
- Words or phrases that are repeated multiple times, as it’s an indication it's very important to the company
- "Required" skills, as these are a top priority for the company. Don't let this section deter you from applying! Just recognize you're likely to be asked about many of the skills in that section through an interview.
Now that you're dived into the description you can use it for materials prep OR interview prep.
Using the description for tailoring materials? Follow these next steps...
3) Reword your resume or cover letter to match the word choice or styling of the description.
You’ve already highlighted the keywords. Now, determine what words in your materials are just variations of the description. Reflect back to the employer what they’re looking for. For example, if the employer says “client” and you have the word “stakeholder”, change your wording to “client.”
4) Proofread any edited materials.
Anytime you edit the content of one of your artifacts, it’s important you scan it for errors.
Pro tip: want to see how your edited resume is matching the description? Run it through Job Scan.
5) Apply!
With your materials edited, you can now apply. Save those tailored materials so you can refer back to them when you get invited for an interview. Don't forget to follow-up on any applications you send out within a week or less by reaching out to the company, an employee, or recruiter. This is as simple as sending a message to say: "I'm incredibly excited about the open [role title], so I wanted to bring to your attention I've submitted an application for consideration."
Using the description for interview preparation? Follow these next steps...
3) Research the company and your interviewer(s).
Congrats on landing an interview! If the company did not provide a description of itself within the job post or you have yet to dive in deeper into what they do, research them! Use Google search, news reports, their website, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and more as resources to get to know the company. At this point, you may the name of your interviewer, research this individual too! Get to know as much as you can prior to your interview. This information should supplement what you found when you broke down the job description.
4) Prepare based on the interview type.
As you research information, ensure you're preparing yourself for the interview based on the type of interview you've been invited to. Have a technical challenge or interview? Focus on the technical skills, stack, or platforms you've discovered the company uses. Have a phone screen? Focus on how you are a fit for the role for the company's culture. Have a behavioral interview? Prepare stories that relate to both the interpersonal and technical skills, or values phrases you've found on the company's site and description of the role.
5) Practice answering interview questions!
Glassdoor features an area within company profiles called "Interviews". If a company you're interviewing with has content in this section, review it! You can often find common questions the company uses within their interview process. If the company you're interviewing with does not a Glassdoor profile, refer to the interview type for practice. For technical interviews, practice challenges related to the skills in the description. For phone screens or behavioral interviews, practice talking about your qualifying experiences that relate to the role.
