Deciphering Common Job Board Codes

As if the process of wading through hundreds of online job postings  weren’t tedious enough, eventually those postings begin to appear indistinguishable thanks to several common terms used by recruiters to attract certain candidates. The problem is that while job duties and qualifications vary from posting to posting, every recruiter is looking for candidates with the same basic set of personality traits. The immediate task of the job seeker is to decipher the meaning of these buzzwords for each instance and determine just how much needs to be addressed in an application.

According to Anita Attridge, career coach at the Five O’clock Club, “What you want to do is look at the job itself – the job description – and based upon that think about what would be most important in that particular job.” Most of the generic phrases peppered through a job posting will end up being addressed indirectly within the job application and throughout the course of the interview, but some should be tackled in a more explicit manner.

One way to approach the task of finding real meaning and purpose behind the common verbiage is to break each term down and figure out how to address each preferred trait throughout the application process. Data collected from LinkedIn suggest that the most common terms appearing in job postings include: results oriented team player, good communication skills, well organized, self starter, multitasker, Minimum five years experience, and competitive salary. Consider the following breakdown of the underlying meaning of these terms and how to best demonstrate the core trait sought after by those using them.

• To be “results oriented,” in recruiter speak, is to possess a record of professional accomplishments. Even simple improvements and innovations, such as developing a way to perform a specific task more efficiently, are sufficient. Don’t simply declare that you are a results-oriented employee, but instead list examples of past accomplishments throughout your resume. Instead of filling your resume with old job duties, focus on how you performed those duties and how that helped the company.
• A “team player” is someone can work cooperatively with others and not seek to be the dominant personality in every task. For positions with a heavy focus on teamwork, use your resume to reference teams you’ve been a part of and the accomplishments of those teams as a whole, in addition to what you contributed to the team. While it’s generally good to have leadership experience within a team, you must also demonstrate that you work well with others.
• “Good communication skills” is a phrase referring to the very basic ability to read and write well while also being able to communicate well with coworkers when completing tasks. These skills can be demonstrated within your cover letter and in the way that you present yourself during an interview.
• Being “well organized” is fairly self-explanatory. Employers want organized workers and will look for clues of an organized individual in the way a resume is constructed, behavior during an interview, and any other communication made throughout the application process.
• “Self starter” is typically a euphemism for “being motivated and needing minimal supervision.” Simply stating that you are a self start is a hollow move. Instead, discuss projects you’ve initiated in the past and the amount of supervision required for their completion.
• “Multitasker” is another self-explanatory term. Most employers need people who can prioritize and juggle multiple tasks at the same time. This term can be addressed by making a simple list on your resume mentioning multiple duties you have accomplished on a deadline
• Minimum experience may seem like an impossible barrier to some applicants but it’s not really number of years you’ve work as much as your current career stage. In addressing this ubiquitous requirement Attridge says, “If they are looking for someone with five years’ experience, they are looking for someone who was at the entry-level and has now moved along a little bit, so they have a strong grounding in that particular area at this point. Typically, if you have five years’ experience, you are at a more sophisticated, more complex level than if you had two or three.” The bottom line is that emphasis should be on rank and level of responsibilities, not simply a strict number of years.
• “Competitive Salary” is a way for a company to express that it will pay a salary based more on the general expectations of candidates and the industry as a whole more so than a fixed budget. In these instances, it is especially important to do comparative salary research before negotiating a salary so that you don’t unintentionally price yourself out of a job.