When you begin looking for a job using online postings, you may find that things begin to sound the same or that some job descriptions seem a bit vague. This is because you haven’t “translated” or “decoded” their meanings. Let’s take a brief look at some of the most common (and sadly general) terms that are used in job postings. Once you understand their deeper meanings, you might be able to save yourself a bit of time and find an opportunity that is a “perfect fit” for your skills.

So, the first thing to know is the “level” of expertise required for the work. Many firms make the mistake of slapping on a descriptor as basic as “entry”, “junior” or “senior” level. What does this mean? The true meaning of entry level is “just out of school”, and so someone recently graduated with a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy is as entry level as someone who graduated last week from high school! It means that you have little to no experience. The junior level descriptions imply that you have high levels of proficiency but no management (usually five years of work experience), and the senior levels imply that you have done administrative and management work.

Now, the definitions of experience are not just described by levels but also in terms of your proficiency or working knowledge. Thus, you can expect to see those words: proficient, experienced, knowledgeable, etc. Be sure that you closely read these terms because they can apply differently even in the same paragraph. For instance, you may see that you have to have a “working knowledge of” medical software but a mastery of specific treatments. Thus, you would need only the most basic skills with the computer program but require the highest levels of skill with the medical treatments described.

Finally, understand the personality types that a job description is seeking to explain. For instance, if you see “motivated”, you know the work is challenging, if you see “team player,” you need to understand you are not in a leadership position; “task oriented” usually indicates a lot of deadlines.

You can use the descriptions above to begin to get a far more accurate image of the sort of candidate most ideally suited for a job. A lot of employers do not realize how much time they are wasting by casting too wide of a net in terms of potential employees. When you narrow down their meanings you can easily see if you have the skills, experiences and desire to apply or not.