In this week's episode, Dan and I talk about how to actually understand job descriptions as you do your job search. There are job descriptions that are really good at describing what the job is going to entail, the team you will work with and the company's expectations, however, since there are no real guidelines on how to write them, or they have been recycled over the years and never updated, they can be lacking key information. But that's no reason to discount the role or company! Dan and I have written many job descriptions in our years of HR and recruiting, some good, some bad, and we share with you how to decipher the what the hiring manager is looking for, key elements in the description, what questions to ask, as well as, some helpful actionable tips and tricks to help you in your search!

In this episode, you will specifically learn how to…

• How to find key elements in the “about the company” description - what are the company’s values or culture, how the company is growing or even a snapshot of what the role will be or the team that you will be working with in the company.
• How to look for key elements about the role - you can learn a lot in the overview as well as what is listed in the “responsibilities” and “qualifications” sections. Focusing on finding what is important to you and putting the two together.
• How not to over analyze job descriptions - you probably don’t have 100%, or close, to the requirements or qualifications. But still apply to the role! Let the recruiter and hiring manager make that decision.
• How to find your “green and red flags” - knowing what is important to you and where to find that information. Is it a company’s mission/culture/values, a remote or hybrid working environment, work/life balance, health of the company, etc.. Spoiler alert - are they listed anywhere on the career page or job descriptions?
• How to understand the titles/levels - titles and levels can all mean different things within any company so we talk about how to use the language posted for the role, minimal years of requirement to figure out if it would be a lateral move, or a promotion or other indicators

I’m Karen Weeks, the CEO & Chief Shine Officer (aka transformation coach) at KDW Coaching, the host of the Shine at Work podcast, award winning culture leader (currently leading the People team at Ordergroove), a speaker and published author. My purpose is to help career-oriented humans get unstuck so they can shine bright in business and in life. And I know how that feels, I navigated a career from theatre & the arts to HR (with lots of twists and turns there) to expanding my career into coaching as well. I am a recent Charlotte transplant where I live with my husband and furry babies.

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And I’m Dan Carr, Talent Partner at KDW Coaching and co-host of the Shine at Work podcast. Over the last decade+, I have partnered with early stage, high growth, startups as a recruiting leader, driving strategic direction and execution of all areas of the talent lifecycle. My role is to understand and advise on the skill sets needed to achieve company goals and then identify and engage with the best talent in the industry, building world class teams. I have found that success is achieved with authentic relationships that have a foundation in empathy, transparency