How to Read a Job Description Like a Recruiter

Job descriptions provide an overview of a talent gap a manager needs bridged. If you know what to look for, they will also tell you exactly what to do to impress the hiring manager.

Every good job description (if it looks fishy, it's probably a fake job posting) provides insight into the company culture and priorities, shares keywords to use in your application, and prepares you for the interview process.

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In this guide, you will learn about the common elements in job descriptions, how to identify key skills and qualifications, and how to use this information to tailor your resume effectively.

Struggling to land interviews with your resume? Get started with Teal’s AI Resume Builder for free.

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What is a job description?

A job description is a formal document created by hiring managers that outlines the requirements, responsibilities, and expectations for a specific role.

Job descriptions serve as a benchmark for employers to run an equitable hiring process and attract the right candidates. At the same time, it acts as a guide for job seekers to determine if they are right for the role. Be cautious of fake job postings by looking out for red flags such as unrealistic requirements, requests for fees or personal information, immediate job offers, lack of company information, and unprofessional communication.

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Common elements of a job description include:

• Company description
• The job overview
• Job duties (required qualifications, professional experience and preferred competencies)
• Physical environment (job location, physical requirements)
• EEOC/GDPR/Privacy and general statements related to legal notifications

However, many job descriptions include several other elements.

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Parts of a job description

Understanding the various parts of a job description is essential for effectively evaluating whether a role aligns with your skills and career goals. Here are the notable essential and optional elements of a job description:

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Essential parts of a job description

1. Job Title: Indicates the role and level within the company
2. Overview: A summary of the job and its purpose
3. Responsibilities: Daily tasks and duties
4. Qualifications: Education, experience, and skills required
5. Experience: Relevant past work
6. Salary and Benefits: Compensation details
7. Company Culture: Values and work environment

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Optional parts of a job description

1. Location: Remote, hybrid, or onsite.
2. Additional Skills: Preferred but not required skills.

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Most important parts for job seekers to use in a resume

1. Language used: Understanding the specific terminology
2. Industry jargon: Familiarity with industry-specific terms
3. Keywords: Critical skills, technologies, and requirements

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How to read a job description

Recruiters and managers are looking for the closest match to the listed requirements. They write job descriptions to attract the right candidates by clearly outlining the role and requirements. Job postings contain specific keywords that make them easier to find for people interested in a certain position or company.

First, scan the job posting to determine your fit and, thus, how you should prioritize the application compared to others.

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Are you qualified for the role?

Realistically, you should meet at least 70 percent of all job qualifications. Don’t sweat the fractions. If you’re within a year of meeting the minimum experience, round up.

For example, if you have a little over six years of experience and they require at least seven years. Especially if you have a leg up in other areas, like working for a competitor or in a related niche. When on the fence, think: How hard would it be for them to find a more qualified candidate than you?

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After you have determined you meet the requirements, look at the Role and Responsibilities sections.

For example, if the role is for a marketing manager for a software company and your entire career has been in non-profit but you have been responsible for the same deliverables, you may be qualified. But if you have been selling medical devices for the last 12 years, you may want to seriously consider whether applying for a job selling media commercials is a good idea.

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Analyze the requirements in the context of how the skills will be used in the role. Just because you have used Salesforce to track sales leads, that does not mean you are qualified for a Quality Assurance role using Salesforce to track incident tickets. Context is key.

It's also important not to solely rely on job titles and to read further into job descriptions to gain clarity on expectations and company culture.

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How to read job descriptions as a job seeker

1. Step 1: Read the entire job description thoroughly.
2. Step 2: Be cautious of job listings that seem too good to be true, require a fee to apply, or ask for personal information upfront, as these may be scams.
3. Step 3: Identify the key responsibilities and qualifications.
4. Step 4: Highlight essential keywords and skills.
5. Step 5: Assess if your experience aligns with the requirements.

Here’s what to look for in each section of the job description:

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About us

The About Us section (usually at the top), tells you about the company as a whole. Often you can find their industry and vertical (i.e., healthcare, manufacturing, retail, technology, law) along with their niche.

For example, in the law industry there are attorneys for businesses and individuals. Business law includes specialties like contract law, intellectual property, commercial real estate, etc.

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This will help you identify whether the job posting is in an adjacent industry where you can use transferable skills.

A hiring manager often prefers someone that has industry experience, especially when there are a lot of job seekers on the market. Using keywords from the job description can show you’re familiar with the common terminology and challenges. Review the job posting before writing your cover letter and tailor it to the specific skills, experiences, and themes mentioned to improve your chances of landing the job.

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Pro tip: This section may also mention company values, which can be indicative of the framework they use for developing interview questions (for example Amazon’s Leadership Principles). Many companies are replacing “company culture” with “values alignment.”

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Location

The definitions of “remote work,” “hybrid,” and “in office” have shifted in the last four years since the pandemic. 

It can be confusing when a role says “remote work” and then lists a specific geographic area. It is important to understand that some companies do not view “remote work” and “work from anywhere” as synonymous, and both have their own legalities. 

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• To work internationally, an employer needs to be legally set up to work in all countries, states, or provinces where their employees will be physically located. This includes payroll, taxes, visas, paying into retirement and medical systems.
• To work remotely within the same country has its own nuances. If the employer is set up as a local business entity that pays state or provincial taxes, unemployment funds, and funds covering workers hurt on the job, an employee can only legally work within that state.

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On top of these legalities, employers also need to have HR and legal resources to interpret and administer to each of these factors in all separate geographic areas. In addition, not all job boards are created equally; they may force the company to choose a specific geographic area, even if “remote” is an option.

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Pro tip: Look into how the business entity when evaluating companies, where their employees are located, and whether employees are full-time or contract.

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Job responsibilities 

This is one of two sections with keywords and context a recruiter uses to evaluate resumes and plan interview questions around. 

This section tells you exactly what you will be doing and evaluated against for promotions and raises. These are the details of the individual job: what you will be doing, how you will be doing the job, who you will be working with expectations and deliverables.

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Job title

The job title tells you what job family the role fits into. 

Although there are general recognized industry standards, many employers develop unique internal titles. For example, “retail associate” is an industry title, but Starbucks calls their front line retail employees “partners." 

Reading job descriptions in detail helps you learn to recognize alternate titles for the same role. Employers will develop new titles to reflect an expanded discipline, changes in existing roles (i.e., new technology like AI), or to try and rebrand them, increasing their appeal.

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Requirements and qualifications

The Requirements section is the basic starting point for recruiters and managers to determine who will be shortlisted.

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Required qualifications

• Education
• Years and types of past experience
• Industry tools and processes used
• Certifications

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At this stage, requirements are based on functional skills built on concrete and measurable experience and education, not soft skills (those are explored at the interview stage).

To identify requirements, look for qualifiers like “must have” or “will possess" in the job description. In specific cases, these may be legally mandated (i.e., citizenship as requirements for a role dealing with the federal government or a bachelor's degree for H1-B visa-eligible positions). 

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Preferred qualifications

• The terms “ideally,” “preferred,” and “a plus” indicate preferred qualifications, and are often used to further identify the stronger profiles from a large number of applicants.
• Parentheses with a list of related skills can include the shorthand “e.g.", "ie”, “for example,” and “or.” Those are indicators that one or more of several similar qualifiers are all acceptable. For example, “Excel, Google Sheets, or other spreadsheet tools.”
• There are specific legal reasons when an employer can only consider candidates that meet 100 percent of the stated requirements (not preferred qualifications). In Canada, this is all federal jobs. In the US, there is a list of employers that are government contractors that can only consider applicants that meet all of the published minimum requirements/qualifications. 

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Pro tip: Look at the qualifications section for the must have education, skills, and experience, often bullet points. Cross reference the government contractor list in the US to see if the employer can only consider a 100 percent match. 

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Compensation and benefits

There may be an area (or a link) discussing factors that are considered part of the position’s  total compensation.

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Compensation can include:

• Pay rate and other types of monetary remuneration, such as bonuses, commissions, spending accounts, dividends, and equity
• Types and amount of paid time off
• Health benefits
• Retirement compensation (company 401K match or contribution)
• Perks such as paid cell phone plans, gym memberships, childcare resources, employer-provided vehicle
• Education reimbursement, employer-provided training materials, professional development budgets. 

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Thanks to the increase in pay transparency laws in North America, many job descriptions now include a pay range (either an hourly or salary range). Published pay numbers are based on the approved budget and ranges.

Job seekers get understandably frustrated when they see a broad range (i.e., $50,000 to $200,000 for a single job). The most common perception is that employers are trying to satisfy the letter of the law but not the spirit—avoiding publishing the expected amount. However, there could be a couple of other reasons for a broad range. The two most common are: 

1. They are open to hiring at different levels. For context, most Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) only allow the publication of a single role tied to a specific budget amount; so, they may publish the entire range for all levels. 
2. They include the total cash compensation (base + bonus + OTE/commission) potential for the specific role, which can fluctuate wildly in performance-heavy roles, like sales.

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Environment

Physical demands of the role: this will usually include verbiage like “sitting or standing for long periods of time” or “must be able to lift 25 pounds.” If it is hybrid or onsite, it may describe the working location (office, warehouse, or medical facility).

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Privacy and data 

This section includes legally mandated privacy or data policies such as EEOC, GDPR, data usage and retention information. 

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Demographics

In the US, employers are required to post optional questions including race, veteran status, disability status, and gender identity. There should be a choice to opt out of each question if you don’t want to answer. These answers are not visible to recruiters or hiring managers. The data is aggregated and sent to the government for reporting.

Example job description analysis

Operations Manager Position

Cranbury, NJ

Key takeaway: Onsite. About one hour from New York City and 30 minutes from Trenton, New Jersey. This employer is not on the government contractor list. Can you make the commute? 

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$85K/yr - $95K/yr

Key takeaway: Either the state requires salary transparency or the company is more progressive in their hiring than most. 

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We are looking to add a leadership-focused and experienced Warehouse Operations Manager to our growing team to oversee and manage our warehouse operations. The ideal candidate will have strong supervisory and leadership skills, an ability to manage a small team of warehouse associates, proactively work to improve and maintain the warehouse’s efficiency, and exhibit a high degree of detail orientation.

Hold daily meetings at the start and end of each shift; meet individually with warehouse associates to review expectations and daily tasks.

Key takeaway: The company won’t consider anyone that does not have experience managing people and operations in a warehouse setting.

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Key responsibilities

Manage quality control, shipping and receiving accuracy, and implement checks and balances to minimize errors

Implement new initiatives and ideas; drive change to enable team to meet assigned goals

Work with senior leadership to drive business strategy and goals.

Lead warehouse staffing, recruiting, training, professional development and scheduling.

• Lead safety training procedures and protocols, provide regular guidance and oversight to staff 
• Ensure warehouse is OSHA compliant; maintain documentation of workplace incidents and OSHA-related documentation 
• Use technology to perform inventory checks
• Oversee customer orders and ensure information is properly disseminated to staff
• Assure team accurately fulfills order in a timely manner
• Hold daily meetings at the start and end of each shift; meet individually with warehouse associates to review expectations and daily tasks
• Motivate and engage team on a daily basis
• Serve as point of escalation for questions and support for staff
• Ensure proper working conditions of the warehouse, including safety and cleanliness
• Other duties as assigned

Key takeaways: You will be responsible for recruiting or working with a recruiter or HR team to look at resumes, interview, hire, onboard, schedule and train staff. You also know OSHA, what compliance entails in a warehouse setting, and have the training experience to communicate safety rules to warehouse employees.

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Qualifications

• 5-7 years of warehouse or operations management in a warehouse setting
• Lean or six sigma strongly preferred
• Proven ability to create and implement new operational processes and improvements
• Demonstrated ability to manage and lead a team of associates
• Excellent communication skills and attention to detail
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
• OSHA Forklift Certification a plus
• Ability to meet physical demands of a general warehouse setting

Key takeaways: They’re looking for a very hands-on manager. You will likely be expected to pitch in as needed. Think player-coach mold. They don’t require specific industry experience, but prefer someone coming from a relatively small team. Process improvement and experience adopting and training on technology is mentioned several times, indicating they may have recently made investments in new systems and they are looking for someone that has similar experience. They don’t say what areas of technology, so that means anything that updated a warehouse is probably relevant. For example, software for fulfillment, asset management, or invoicing; possibly robotics or a new packing or sorting system; fleet management.

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To help you identify the most common keywords in job descriptions, check out this post on how to find keywords in job descriptions.

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How to tailor your resume to a job description

Tailoring your resume ensures you highlight the skills and experiences most relevant to the job, increasing your chances of getting noticed by recruiters. Teal's Match Score tool simplifies this process, allowing you to quickly compare your existing resume to any job description.

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Compare your resume to the job description

The Resume Job Description Match tool helps you get an instant match score by analyzing how well your resume aligns with the language, keywords, and skills from the job description. This feature provides a detailed breakdown of your match score, revealing which words and skills are prioritized in the job description, so you can better tailor your resume to the position.

Teal's Match Score shows you how closely your resume aligns with a job description

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Identify important keywords

A key part of tailoring your resume is mirroring the language from the job description. The Resume Job Description Match tool identifies the important words and skills that matter most to the position, guiding you to optimize your resume with purpose.

Teal's Match Score feature surfaces the most relevant keywords to add to your resume

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Customize your resume

Maximize your chances of landing an interview by customizing your resume for each job application. The Resume Job Description Match tool removes the guesswork by comparing your skills, experiences, and overall language to the job description, providing clear insights and patterns to enhance your resume.

Teal's AI Bullet feature helps you rewrite your resume bullet points to match the job description

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Steps to Match Your Resume to a Job

1. Import Your Existing Resume: Start by importing your resume into the Resume Builder. If you don’t have one, you can import your LinkedIn profile or create a new resume from scratch.
2. Select a Job: Choose a job description you want to match your resume to. You can select a job directly from your Job Tracker or create a new job for comparison.
3. Analyze and Compare: Click “Analyze & Compare” to get your match score results.
4. Review Your Match Score: Your match score will show how closely your resume aligns with the job description. Aim for a match score of 70 percent or higher.

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Using Teal's Match Score, you can efficiently tailor your resume to match job descriptions, enhancing your job application process and increasing your chances of getting hired.

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Don’t just read the job description, analyze it with Teal

Reading and analyzing job descriptions is crucial for job seekers to ensure their skills match what employers are looking for. By understanding the key parts of a job description and focusing on the important skills and qualifications, you can tailor your resume to stand out.

Teal’s AI Resume Builder makes this easier by helping you identify the right keywords and skills to include. Use it to create a customized resume that grabs the attention of recruiters and boosts your chances of getting hired.