It is said that you should always ‘look before you leap’. Overlooking important parts of job descriptions before applying for jobs is one of the reasons job applicants are not shortlisted for interviews. Their CVs are literally screened out and most times they do not even qualify for the job. Below are 5 important parts of job descriptions that you should not overlook.

Minimum Qualification
The minimum qualification in job descriptions may be academic or professional and most times both. If its academic it means that if you don’t have at least the qualification stated, do not apply. If its professional, it could be that you must have a certification or you be registered with a professional association. If you do not meet it, you will not get it, simple.

Minimum Experience
This is one of the most important things to look for as well before you apply for a job. Its necessary that you understand the experience needed for a job. For example, ‘work experience’ is different from ‘relevant work experience’ or ‘cognate work experience’. Just ‘work experience’ means you should have worked in any firm or industry or at least have an experience working while ‘relevant or cognate work experience’ means you must have been in that position in another organization before you can apply. Some recruiters/employers and applicants alike do not get this right and just ‘work experience’ means ‘relevant work experience’ to them.

Keywords
This is one of the reasons the CVs of potential candidates get delisted and shelved aside from the pool of CVs that comes in for a job position. Job adverts have keywords which most recruiters use in sorting out the right CVs. These keywords are identifiable in job adverts and descriptions. For example a job may require that the candidate be able to speak the French language, or should have a MBBS qualification or a NYSC certification. Now ‘MBBS’, ‘French’, ‘NYSC’ will be the major keywords employers will use to filter out CVs if they are en masse. So make sure you edit your CV to suit that purpose and the JD

Limitations
Always watch for limitations in job descriptions. It is very important because it serves as a road block to many applicants and saves them the worry of expectations. Always look out for limitations like minimum years of age and gender. This is quite important because your CV is going nowhere if these limitations are not in your favour. If they are, make sure you include it in your CV.

Deadlines
It is of no use sending your CV to an email address specified in an expired job advert. In fact the employer or HR person may consider such person unserious and may never take a look at the CV at all. So look out for the deadlines of job advertisements before you apply for that job.

So there you have it; the 5 Things to Look Out for in Job Descriptions before you apply.

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Source: http://www.acegoals.com/5-things-look-job-descriptions-apply/