Meeting the Employer's Criteria
When an employer decides to fill a position, she must write up an accurate job description if she hopes to attract qualified candidates. That means listing job functions along with requirements such as years of experience, education, training, and any specialized skills or knowledge. As you now know, employers establish and use lists of essential, optional, and desired qualifications to identify, recruit, interview, and select candidates. Your potential employer will use your resume and supporting correspondence to determine how well you meet the defined criteria.
Career counselors say that lack of research is the reason most job seekers can't articulate their professional goals. Even those professionals who rely on standardized tests to identify their clients' values, interests, personality traits, and skills agree that research is a key component to knowing your goals and what it takes to reach them.
It's important to know as much as you can about your chosen field and function. The more you know, the better you can focus your objectives. If you name a particular job title, or if a certain job function is your goal, be sure you know the responsibilities that come along with it. Some job hunters use the big job board sites to read employer job descriptions to help them better define their own positions or to update their language and improve the way they relay their duties.
