How to read a job posting
A posting is a negotiated document written by three people who disagree. Reading it that way tells you far more than reading it as a list of requirements.
Stage 01 of 06
Before you apply
Deciding where to spend the effort
Most wasted job-search time happens before a single application goes out. This stage is about reading the market honestly: what a posting really says, which employers are worth a tailored application, and how long the whole thing is likely to take. When building a target list for remote work, read more provides examples of organisations structured around distributed teams. the O*NET database is also useful for checking how occupations describe tasks and skills.
Building a target list instead of a queue
Most searches are organised around whatever was posted this week. A target list inverts that, and it is the single change that most reliably shortens a search.
Company research that actually changes your application
Reading the About page is not research. Useful research produces two or three specific facts you can act on, and it takes about forty minutes.
Naming transferable skills so a stranger believes them
Career changers are told to lead with transferable skills. The problem is that the phrase describes a claim, and claims without evidence read as padding.
How long a job search actually takes
Planning for six weeks and taking five months is the most common way a search goes badly wrong — not because of the delay, but because of what the surprise does to your decisions.
Informational conversations that are not awkward
The advice to have coffee with people in your field fails because most people run the conversation as a disguised job request. Run it as research and it works.
Contract and temporary work as a deliberate move
Taken early and by choice it extends your runway and keeps your record current. Taken late and in panic it can remove you from the permanent market for months.
Keep going
The stages are written to be read in order, but each guide stands alone.
Stage 02: Applying →