Decode the job jargon

By VAL LEVESON

You're looking through job ads in the newspaper when you come across one that looks interesting - the advertiser wants a forward-thinking person.

"I'm forward thinking," you decide, "after all - I realised I wasn't doing anything on Saturday night, so I made plans. That's definitely forward thinking."

You then go on to the next word: energetic. "Yes," you think. "I go to the gym regularly, I must be energetic."

But once you've moved through more words, such as "team player", "comfortable multi-tasking", "enthusiastic", "achievement-oriented individual" ... your mind begins to boggle.

And you have to sit back and wonder: what on earth do these people want?

Just about anything, says David Doyle, principal of Chamberlin, Doyle and Associates.

"Forward thinking could mean that an older, established company is on the brink of bankruptcy and wants some new blood to come in and save the day.

"Or else, it could mean an IT start-up is trying to establish itself in someone's garage, and you will be expected to be 'forward thinking' enough to imagine furniture and a proper office."

Doyle's advice to job candidates is to go for the tangible adverts and avoid those that are full of "fluff".

"Job advertisers should go the honest way. They should mention the salary for the role advertised. That way, if the salary is unrealistic for a particular candidate that person won't apply and waste his and the advertiser's time.

"This is particularly true if there is no flexibility in salary.

"There needs to be a proper description of the job. What is actually required? Call it what it is."

Advertising "fluff" only confuses, or puts candidates off, he says.

"'Challenge and diversity' means not paying very much. What is needed are real graphic, honest words."

Doyle tells candidates to be wary of adverts without a company name or salary.

It's even possible that a recruitment company is advertising to fill their books and there's no job attached.

If an ad states the obvious, think twice: after all, would you go for something that was not an "exciting opportunity"?

Doyle says that the more vague an advert is, the more likely it is that the company doesn't know what it wants.

"There is no harm in applying, but be aware you may be one in a million candidates because no one really knows what the job is so more people apply than is necessary.

"Think of job ads in terms of a dating column in a newspaper," he says. "For example, what good-looking man with lots of money needs to advertise?

"Be sceptical if a recruiter or company doesn't provide proper details."

Jamie Thompson, managing director of Enterprise Staff Consultants, Manukau Office, believes that cheesy industry cliches are on the way out, although some newspapers in Australia encourage them.

Candidates must be careful of ads that come across as too demanding, he says. The company should be advertising itself and attracting good candidates, not listing a whole lot of attributes to which the candidate must comply.

"That's a very old-fashioned way of doing things."

With low unemployment in New Zealand, candidates are in a strong position, particularly good candidates, says Thompson.

Ads must convince candidates to apply and consider moving jobs - to do that the company has to advertise itself.

Thompson says the internet has changed things, not only by being a new medium in which to advertise jobs. It's even possible to post your own CV and wait for companies to apply to you. Thompson understands why companies sometimes don't name themselves in their ads.

"Often companies don't want to name themselves simply because they don't want the competition to know what they're up to.

"However, advertising should tell you specific things about the company and what it has to offer for the candidate. It must appeal to a certain set of skills."

The internet has indeed become a good tool for job seekers, however, as Catharine Morgan, the New Zealand Herald's employment advertising sales manager, says: "Eighty-four per cent of this market is in the classified sections of newspapers. People use newspapers as their first port of call and recruiters know this."

And as for all those cliches? "We recommend to our advertisers to keep in mind the person they're trying to get to respond. Avoid the cringe factor."

Morgan also has a few words of advice for the candidates reading those ads. "Use good judgment. Know what role you're looking for and how to decipher what's worth investigating further."

For that, you might need to be strongly analytical and able to think outside the square.