So you’ve found a job that sounds like it might be the one for you, but there’s a little more to do before you can start planning your leaving party at college.
Job Description vs. Person Specification
Each company will have their own way that they want you to apply for a vacancy, these range from email applications and job adverts, to pro-forma online applications. So with this in mind each and every job application should be approached individually.
With a tough labour market in some areas of the country a generic (one size fits all) CV and covering letter simply won’t cut it anymore. It is essential to tailor your application, CV, covering letter and personal statement to the specific vacancy you are applying for. Don’t worry we’ll be covering these items in the next pages.
The first stage in an application is being able to dissect and understand the job description and / or person specification so that you can tailor-make your CV and application to the specific job.
The job description identifies the essentials of the role, the broad purpose, the major duties and the terms and conditions.
A person specification describes the attributes (your qualities and characteristics) required of an employee to do the job to the required standard.
So the job description refers to the role and the person specification refers to the individual they would prefer for the role.
Top Tip
Go through the job description and personal specification with a highlighter pen and mark all the essential criteria and make sure you talk about each point in your application.