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Read job advertisements correctly: all the tricks
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Whether you are looking at the weekend edition of a national daily newspaper or browsing the lists of various online job exchanges - every job advertisement always contains a sub-text that you should be aware of if you are interested in the job advertised there. You will often find out additional information about the position to be filled and the future employer . In the following dossier you can find out how you can decrypt this information and use it for yourself
Job advertisement structure: The information belongs in every job offer
Job advertisements are an employer's calling card . Ideally, you will reflect what speaks for the job and the company and provide insights into everyday working life. It is up to each employer how he or she formulates his job advertisement (see also this article ).
A few essential pieces of information are always part of it - its lack could be a first indication of a dubious employer (or an overburdened HR department).
You can therefore read the following catalog of requirements for job advertisements as a kind of checklist for job advertisements and check possible job offers to see whether this information is included.
As a rule, the structure of a job advertisement is based on the rule of thumb Who we are ... Who we are looking for ... What we offer ... How to apply ...
Job title and description of the activity , responsibility (powers of attorney)
Position: Classification in the organization
Duration of employment: annual contract, temporary help, internship, unlimited
Working conditions: own car required, home office, many business trips
Hiring date
Requirements: Required must-have qualifications (training, professional experience, knowledge)
Additional qualifications: soft skills , optional qualifications
Value proposition: Further training, career prospects, salary, additional benefits such as company cars or bonuses
Profile: Presentation of the company, the industry, the products, the self-claims
Application process: Description of the required documents (portfolio, CV, cover letter, certificates). But also: How should the application be made: exclusively online? By post?
Contact: address, e-mail, telephone, name of the recruiter
Just how much effort the company has put into making all of this information understandable reveals a lot about the corporate culture . All of these clues then result in an overall impression that you should allow yourself to have an effect.
You should therefore read the job advertisement several times, slowly and attentively, putting yourself in the position of the author:
What could they be looking for?
Why did he or she put it that way?
Listen to your gut feeling as to whether you find the advertisement appealing or whether there is anything about it that bothers you.
In the second case, if you don't write off the job right away, do a few more inquiries about the company. For example, by addressing (former) employees via Xing or other social networks.
But you can also continue reading, analyzing and deciphering the job advertisement .
What are MUST, what are CAN requirements
Often the order of the requirements for applicants mentioned already represents a hierarchy: What is above you should definitely bring with you, what is below is desirable, but not a must.
You can recognize so -called mandatory requirements , for example, from formulations such as:
Requirements are ...
We're expecting…
You bring with you ...
... we assume
... you should meet
…are required
The so-called optional requirements are formulated much more gently :
Ideally…
Also desirable are ...
We want ...
Expandable knowledge in ...
Sufficient experience in ...
If you also bring ...
We would also be happy ...
It would also be helpful ...
Applicants tend to lose track of long lists and then ask themselves the question: Should I apply at all if I don't meet all the requirements?
When in doubt, the answer is always yes , because in the worst case scenario, it will be rejected, so it's always worth trying . Even if you do not fulfill every point on the list in detail, you are not automatically eliminated completely.
Of course, it is advisable to be well positioned, especially with the must qualifications, as these represent the basic qualification for the job, but as long as you meet most of the points mentioned , nothing stands in the way of an application.
It is well known that companies like to look for the egg-laying woolly milk sow , i.e. the candidate who really combines everything in one person. At the latest when you realize that such a candidate is hard to find, you have a good chance
Deciphering job advertisements: what is behind it?
In fact, there is a lot between the lines in job advertisements . You just have to know how to interpret what is (or is not) there. Especially with printed job advertisements in the newspaper , telltale clues contain, for example ...
The ad text
A serious job offer (see checklist above) describes what an applicant must be able to do and, in the best case scenario, what an applicant should also be able to do. These points should therefore always be highlighted in your cover letter and résumé ; after all, every tick on this list increases your chances.
In addition, you should also pay attention to hidden hints : A company that expects "resilience", although this is actually a matter of course, probably offers a relatively harsh climate. A text that is too stiff speaks for a tightly managed, bureaucratic business and a “high degree of personal responsibility” for a latently chaotic bunch.
The size of the job advertisement
Job offers are like running shows - the bigger the ad, the higher the employer rates the job and, of course, the more important the company takes itself. It ultimately wants to attract attention. But it is also clear that you expect just as much reputation and charisma from a suitable candidate .
Even at the risk of that sounds harsh : if you are only a small light in the industry, you usually do not need to apply for a half-page advertisement. Such an advertisement also means: If the company was ready to invest so much money in the tender, the salary is not stingy either.
The phrase factor
You should be suspicious of conspicuously small (cheap) advertisements that promise big things and contain numerous generalities: a neat title and big money in a few weeks. Such advertisements are mostly decoy offers, a sham package . It is not uncommon for such offers to remain vague, merely promising “interesting tasks”, “attractive content” with “above-average pay” and “immediate job start”.
You should become completely suspicious if you are asked to have extraordinary qualifications , such as "an attractive appearance" or "unbound". Save yourself the hassle of applying there. Anyone who offers a serious job can publicly describe exactly its requirements and content.
The included photos
Graphics and pictures in job advertisements are rare. The main intention, of course, is to also stand out and stand out from the crowd of other job advertisements. The sub-message is similar to that of the ad size: images make ads larger and therefore more expensive (especially 4-color ones).
In addition, the subject is interesting : A replaceable Stock Photo dauerlächelnden with people? Simple showmanship that should give the bony ad text a little more emotion? Not particularly resourceful. It only becomes interesting with real (hardly posed) pictures from the company and real employees. That could mean great self-confidence and suggest an open corporate culture, a workforce that identifies with the employer.
The sender field
A reputable ad always includes a verifiable, transparent (email) address or phone number, as well as information on how to apply. The name of the contact person does not always have to be mentioned; companies usually refrain from doing this if they expect a large number of applicants and a correspondingly large number of personnel decision-makers are entrusted with it.
However, if questions remain about the requirements, the company must be visibly contacted. However, you should avoid anonymous cell phone numbers or e-mail addresses that end in @ gmail.com, @ gmx.de & Co. Behind it are either data collectors or obscure companies.
3 indications that speak against the job offer
For the quick readers among you, here are the three most important clues and warnings that speak against a job offer:
Quick money
A lot of salary for a few hours of sideline work with free time management? Anyone who promises something like this is either dubious or puts you in prostitution. And behind “independent” work there is usually a nasty structured sales force in which you have to invest your own money. Hands off!
No job description
If no qualifications are required, you should pay attention. If the job description is completely missing, the highest alarm applies. Forget about the job for good if you are asked to make some kind of upfront investment or fee. You want to make money - not the other way around.
Anonymous contact
Who is offering the job? If the company posting the advertisement is neither recognizable nor researchable, this is a strong indicator of a rip-off. You know for sure if you can only reach the supposed employer via expensive area codes or e-mail accounts abroad.
Read job advertisements correctly: The statements about the company
We start with the empty phrases that are typically found in the company's self-description :
Pleasant working atmosphere
Can be true, but it goes without saying (the message would be the opposite - but then nobody would apply). The emphasis on the obvious is therefore always suspect and could also mean: Compared to a hailstorm, sleet is also "pleasant" ...
Dynamic company
Because the company is growing too quickly, the expansion of the structures cannot keep up. Here you should be prepared for a corresponding organizational chaos.
Well-rehearsed team
Your colleagues have been working together for many years and are most likely expecting an image of your predecessor. Because you cannot fulfill this wish, you will have to fight for recognition.
Development opportunities
Because there is a high fluctuation in the company, you can advance quickly - if you hold out long enough. However, the risk of failure is just as great.
Flat hierarchies
You are quickly involved in decisions and have to face the consequences. If that is an exciting challenge for you: go ahead!
Innovative company
Because your employer is constantly throwing innovations onto the market, you only have to gush with ideas to be successful here. You also need excellent skills as a troubleshooter, because naturally something goes wrong all the time.
Young team
Nobody who is older than 30 years works in this company. This can either be due to the fact that the young owner likes to work with their peers - or that this employer only acts as a stepping stone because nobody can stand it there for long and the salaries are below average.
Market leader
If there were actually as many market leaders as numerous job offers claim, the top would be an area - figuratively speaking. So take a close look: If the company turns out to be the only participant in the market it claims to lead, stay away from it. Anyone who brags like that needs it.
Traditional company
Attention: Here everything is done as it has always been done - and you have to want to and be able to fit into these structures. If you want to make changes quickly, you're guaranteed to show up. Because such a dinosaur can only tolerate new things in homeopathic doses.
Manageable team
In such small units, your all-rounder skills are in demand because you will be able to take on many different tasks. However, the demands on the few employees are extremely high. You have to go for it - you don't have to hope for a work-life balance here.
Training opportunities
Because your job is constantly changing, you will have to constantly learn to stay on the ball. The question that you should definitely ask in the interview is: Who pays for these training opportunities ?
Read job advertisements correctly: The demands on candidates
The formulations that describe the expectations of future employees are also full of hidden messages. In order to read and understand the job advertisements correctly, you should therefore also pay attention to the following key terms:
Closing orientation
A typical keyword for looking for sales staff and sales . But those who emphasize the sales success in the job advertisement make it clear: which methods you will use later are of secondary importance - only the turnover counts.
Resilience
Because there is constant overtime and overtime , you often have to push the limits of your capabilities (and beyond). Or this sought-after property is one of those empty formulas that are reproduced from advertisement to advertisement without the authors thinking about their necessity: Who looks for employees who collapse at the slightest challenge?
dynamics
When something is dynamic, it sounds positive at first - like rolled up sleeves, variety and fun. It should sound like that too. What the cliché does not say: Your tasks may include captivating others with your enthusiasm and giving everything to achieve the company's goals - but nobody feels responsible for your own motivation.
individual responsibility
Unfortunately, you have to find out for yourself what your tasks are and how you can solve them. What if it goes wrong? Then it is your sole fault - after all, it was your business and responsibility!
High level of commitment
You have to be there whenever and wherever your company needs you. Your private life will be canceled for you in the next few years.
Will to succeed
Are you able to motivate yourself and are you ready to fight your colleagues in case of doubt because the competition is tough in the company? Great, then you've come to the right place.
flexibility
Another typical phrase from the job advertisement punching machine. Involuntarily one wonders: Which employer would be looking for employees with the (mental) mobility of a concrete sleeper? Just. But if it is already emphasized in this way, it usually means: Unfortunately, you have to familiarize yourself with the frequently changing requirements of your job - there is no one else who would do it.
Readiness for further training
The word “readiness” should make one suspicious. So your employer expects you to keep learning to do your job. However, this does not mean that you will receive his (financial) support in doing so. Be sure to follow up on the job interview!
friendliness
This requirement is usually found among wanted employees with customer contact, in support or call centers . Again a matter of course, the mention of which suggests that the customers are exactly the opposite of what is expected of them. Or to put it another way: You are expected to smile all day long while a veritable shit storm blows towards you. The key term: "customer orientation" is similarly suspicious.
Communication skills
Your working day will consist of phone calls, customer visits and numerous meetings . Or else (in the case of executives) you often have to mediate between colleagues in order to keep the business together. In any case, diplomatic skills are required here.
creativity
A phrase that is cloned far too often. Either it is hollow, or it means: You are constantly facing new challenges and have to find solutions to them. You do not need to expect any support because the others have no idea either.
mobility
That means nothing other than: You have both a driver's license and a car (more generous employers even provide a company car ) and will be on the road a lot - even beyond normal working hours, because your location changes.
Orderliness
Anyone who emphasizes such a matter of course hardly shows in a subtle way what they value: In this company, the only thing that counts is that your desk is always tidy - special services or even innovations are not expected.
Organizational talent
In order to get your chores done, you need to constantly be balancing all sorts of things - including things you've never seen before.
punctuality
The second part of the “German rule of three” - orderliness, punctuality , diligence - also indicates that discipline is primarily expected from you - nothing else.
Traveling
Most young professionals find business trips exciting at first - until you discover over time that hotel lounges and hotel rooms can be lonely. If you don't have a Facebook account yet, you should get one here as soon as possible. Otherwise you will only see your family and friends on weekends.
Teamwork
Is basically synonymous with "adaptability" and "flexibility". The first interpretation is: you are ready to take your ideas back and integrate yourself into the department, individual services are less in demand here. Variant 2: This phrase is there because it is in every advertisement and has nothing to say at all. Often the latter is the case, which is good again in view of the alternative.
Entrepreneurial thinking
Sounds like great freedom and responsibility, but rarely means it. It is more likely that you always take the interests of your employer into account in your decisions and decide accordingly - but also to your own disadvantage. You are only accountable to your manager if you do not do your job properly.
Determination
No matter what your task is, be sure to complete it in the shortest possible time. There is little tolerance here for long discussions and annoying questions.
reliability
That too is a rush that isn't really worth mentioning. Nevertheless, it says at least one thing about the company: Anyone who emphasizes a lot of such things as a matter of course in their job advertisements has not thought about the real requirements - or worse: does not know them.
Read Job Ads Correctly: The Salary Facts
At this point, at the latest, it comes down to the nitty-gritty - and ultimately your valued value in this position . Therefore, we dedicate ourselves separately to the wording of the salary and take a look at the formulas that are supposed to hide your future income:
Attractive salary
Anyone who hides behind an adjective in this way makes oneself suspicious. In plain language, this can only mean: The amount of the payment is primarily attractive for the employer, as it is far below the tariff or the industry average.
Dynamic wage components
Success-related bonuses or rewards make up an important part of your earnings here. Before you sign the contract, you should therefore check carefully whether the fixed salary alone can earn enough money to make a living.
Investment in your future
Caution trap: With this employer you usually have to make financial advance payments before you can earn money. Often a structural distribution is hidden behind it.
Performance-related remuneration
This formulation also smells suspiciously of bonuses or commissions. However, also after a remuneration that has nothing to do with tariff or industry average, but solely with the discretion of your boss, how he assesses your performance.
Above-average payment
What average? That of your industry, the region, that of the company - or that of all employees worldwide? In addition, there is no indication of how far the salary is above average. Here, of course, the prospect of a lot of money is advertised - but only through associations and mental cinema. Here you should ask carefully in the interview.
Usual social benefits
That means in plain language: We don't pay more than we have to - a stingy shop cannot come out any better.
To avoid misunderstandings: As with the code in job references , you should read and understand job advertisements as a whole. A single phrase does not say anything about the quality of the position - especially since the author of the job advertisement does not necessarily have to know the meaning of each formulation.
In addition, you should always remember that if you have a question about the job advertisement or do not fully understand something, you always have the opportunity to ask the company . Finally, a contact option is also given for such cases.
However, it becomes suspicious when you come across many of the formulations listed above and your intuition sounds the alarm. Then it might be worthwhile to look for other, alternative job advertisements - for example in our own job exchange :
Of course, all applicants should read and decipher a job advertisement carefully. But as with everything, there is too much of a good thing. It seems that women are particularly affected by this.
An eye-tracking study found that women deal much more intensively than men with the requirement profile (on average around 2.34 seconds) in job advertisements than men (1.17 seconds) - and they are promptly more intimidated by it.
It starts with the job profile: women compare them much more meticulously, while men make quick and self-confident choices.
The applicants clicked on an average of 19 jobs and compared them with one another. Your male competitors, on the other hand, had already made a choice after 13 alternatives - according to the principle:
Sounds good,
offers opportunities
has high challenges.
The men simply ignored whether they also had deficits or did not fit the job profile optimally at all.
The applicants were completely different: they were in some cases intimidated by the job titles or requirement descriptions in the job advertisements.
A total of 151 men and 79 women took part in the study by the job exchange Jobware in cooperation with the Düsseldorf eye-tracking institute USEYE and had to read around 150 job advertisements. Your eye movements and statements were recorded and later analyzed.
Also noteworthy: the test subjects were influenced by a more masculine choice of words in the job advertisements. The job title “Senior Manager (m / f)” put off numerous applicants - the relativization “m / f” did not change that.
But even if key terms such as “communication skills” or “flexible working hours” were omitted in the job offer, fewer candidates were promptly interested in the position.
A trifle? Not at all.
The study shows that when women read job advertisements, they deal much more critically with the demands on their own skills. And they tend to avoid job titles that seem too masculine, formidable or antiquated in their eyes.
Conversely, men tend to overestimate their own abilities. It is easier for them to ignore requirements that they do not meet, they make a decision more quickly - and apply at random. Not infrequently then with success.
Companies like SAP now sense a lucrative business here. The software manufacturer is currently developing a program that analyzes job offers for potentially intimidating terms or phrases and then suggests alternatives. A first prototype has already been presented at a specialist conference in Las Vegas - in English. A German version should follow soon.
And the scientists at the Technical University of Munich who carried out the above study are also working on comparable software, supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It should be available free of charge on the Internet by 2018 at the latest. The English free version is already online: Gender Decoder.
[Photo Credit: Diego Cervo, ArTono by Shutterstock.com]
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