Translating Job Adverts

When hunting down your perfect job it can sometimes seem that job adverts are designed to make it as hard as possible. Sometimes they seem to be written in their own language – one in which you have yet to be initiated! Some of the jargon used in job adverts is designed to save time and space and has an agreed meaning – this doesn’t help however when the terms used seem quite abstract.

It is because advertising space is restricted that these terms arise – they are required to express something which could be quite complex without wasting tons of space. While most of us would prefer a “straight,” advert many are still full of Jargon – with our help we’ll have you translating from advert to English as soon as possible.

Team Player

For the keen job hunter this phrase will have been read thousands of times. A “team player,” is essentially anyone who isn’t a recluse or a hermit. This means you can work with others and take direction and criticism – no one wants to hire someone who is going to break the company dynamic.

Dynamic

A dynamic person, in terms of advertising jargon is someone with creative and innovative skills. If you can generate ideas and are the kind of person who constantly thinks to improve things you may consider yourself “dynamic.” This is a word which usually replaces “Young,” in job adverts now – although this should not put off anyone creative of any age!

Flexible

This should usually be a warning flag as to whether you are likely to be working on the weekend or at strange and unusual hours. This could sometimes mean that you will be travelling and meeting clients, for example. It could also mean you sometimes get a lie in and sometimes work for 30 hours straight.

Competitive Salary

This wording is most often used to hide various things. Firstly, if the job pays well the employer is unlikely to want to let those already employed know the difference in pay between their jobs and the one being advertised – this is generally a good thing as no one wants to enter a job being resented before they arrive! The other reason the term “Competitive Salary,” or “Attractive Salary,” is used is because those advertising want to negotiate a salary – without a defined bracket negotiations can be harder to broker from the side of the employee.

OTE

This stands for “On Target Earnings,” you take-home pay will be partly a salary and partly based on meeting targets, or performance related. This can seem like an excellent idea, but it is best to make sure you are clear in the interview what the goals may be – if they seem achievable you may be in a good position.

Remember it is not only you selling yourself, but the company selling their image and ethos to you. By cutting through some of the jargon you should be well on your way to hunting down your real dream job.