What Is Job Description Analysis?
Job description analysis is the practice of carefully reading a job posting to decode exactly what an employer wants. Rather than skimming and firing off a generic resume, you break the listing apart into its components -- required skills, preferred qualifications, key responsibilities, and cultural signals -- to build a targeted application that speaks the employer's language.
This step is critical because job descriptions are essentially scoring rubrics. The closer your resume mirrors the language and priorities in the posting, the higher you rank in both ATS filters and human review.
How to Analyze a Job Description
Step 1: Identify Must-Have vs. Nice-to-Have
Separate requirements listed with words like "required," "must have," or "minimum" from those marked "preferred," "bonus," or "a plus." Prioritize the must-haves in your resume.
Step 2: Extract Keywords and Phrases
Highlight technical skills, tools, certifications, and recurring terms. If "stakeholder management" appears three times, it is a high-priority keyword.
Step 3: Note the Action Verbs
The verbs in a job description reveal what the employer values. "Drive," "lead," and "own" suggest they want initiative. "Support," "assist," and "coordinate" indicate a more collaborative role.
Step 4: Read Between the Lines
Phrases like "fast-paced environment" or "wearing many hats" often signal a lean team. "Process improvement" may indicate existing inefficiencies they need solved.
Practical Tips
- Copy the job description into a separate document and color-code different categories: skills in one color, tools in another, soft skills in a third.
- Compare the posting against your resume side by side and fill in gaps where your experience matches but your language does not.
- Check the company's careers page for similar roles to spot patterns in what they consistently value.
Common Mistakes
- Treating every bullet point as equally important rather than prioritizing the requirements listed first and repeated most.
- Ignoring the "About Us" section, which often contains clues about values and culture you can reference in a cover letter.
- Failing to analyze the job description before writing your resume, resulting in a generic application that does not convert.
