How to Read a Job Description: Must-Haves, Nice-to-Haves, Signals
A tech job description is part requirements list, part sales pitch and part internal compromise between a hiring manager and a recruiter. Knowing how to read a job description saves you from two opposite mistakes: skipping roles you could get because of a long wish list, and spending an evening on roles that were never open to you. Here's a reading order that takes about five minutes, how to tell must-haves from nice-to-haves, and what the wording says about the team, the level and remote work.
A five-minute reading order
Don't read top to bottom. Read in the order that lets you stop early:
- Location and work model (30 seconds). If it says "Remote - US" and you live in Europe, you're done. We cover this in remote IT jobs open to Europe.
- Title and level (30 seconds). "Senior", "Staff", "II", "Lead" all mean different things at different companies. More on that in seniority levels in job titles.
- Requirements (2 minutes). Sort them into must-haves and nice-to-haves, as below.
- What you'll do (1 minute). This tells you what the job actually is, which is often more useful than the requirements.
- About the team and the process (1 minute). Team size, who you report to, interview stages.
The company intro and the benefits list can wait until you've decided the role is worth your time.
Must-haves vs nice-to-haves
Most postings separate them, but not always clearly. Some ways to tell:
- Headings. "Requirements", "What you'll need" and "You have" are usually must-haves. "Bonus points", "Nice to have" and "Even better if" are not.
- Repetition. A skill mentioned in the intro, the responsibilities and the requirements is central. One that appears once at the end of a long list is often a wish.
- Specificity. "Production experience with PostgreSQL" is a real requirement. "Familiarity with cloud platforms" is broad and usually flexible.
- Years of experience. Treat these as a rough indication of level, not a strict filter. Five years of relevant, varied work can count for more than eight years of the same thing.
- Very long lists. Fifteen technologies in the requirements usually means the list was copied from the team's whole stack. Look for the three or four that show up in "What you'll do".
A practical rule: if you meet most of the must-haves and can show real evidence for the central ones, apply. If you miss two or three of the central ones, it's usually better to spend your time elsewhere. There's no exact threshold, and no honest source can give you one.
Signals about the team
The wording often tells you more than the "About us" section:
| Phrase | What it often suggests | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| "You'll be our first [role]" | No existing process; broad scope | Who you'd report to, and whether they understand your field |
| "Join a team of 6 engineers" | An established team | What the team owns, and whether it's growing or replacing someone |
| "On-call rotation" | You'll support production | How often, and whether it's paid or compensated |
| "Fast-paced environment" | Could mean anything | Ask about release frequency and team size in the first call |
| "Wear many hats" | Broad, possibly undefined role | Which hats, specifically |
| "Reporting to the VP of Engineering" | Small org, or a senior role | Whether there's a manager layer in between |
None of these is good or bad on its own. They help you decide what to ask about in a first call.
Signals about level
Titles vary so much between companies that the verbs in "What you'll do" are often a better guide:
- "Implement", "contribute to", "with guidance from" point to a mid-level or earlier role.
- "Own", "design", "drive", "lead technical decisions" point to senior.
- "Set direction across teams", "influence the roadmap" point to staff or principal.
- "Hire", "grow the team", "run 1:1s" mean management, whatever the title says.
If the verbs and the title disagree, trust the verbs, and adjust how you pitch yourself. For tailoring that pitch, see how to tailor your CV to a job description.
Signals about remote and location
The location field is short; the conditions are often in the text. Look for:
- Time-zone overlap, such as "must overlap four hours with US Eastern".
- Countries they can hire in, sometimes listed near the end.
- Work authorisation wording, which settles the question quickly.
- Office expectations like "in the office two days a week" hidden in a paragraph about culture.
"Remote-first" and "remote-friendly" often mean different things in practice; we compare them in hybrid, remote-first and remote-friendly.
Signals worth a pause
- The same posting has been up for months. It may be an evergreen role, or it may no longer be actively hiring. More in ghost jobs and stale postings.
- No description of the actual work, only requirements.
- Requirements that contradict the level, like a junior title with a senior list.
- Salary or location details that differ between the job page and a re-post. The company's own page is usually the one to trust.
These aren't reasons to skip automatically. They're reasons to read carefully and ask in the first call.
Turn your notes into an application
By the end of five minutes you should have three short lists: the must-haves you meet (with evidence), the ones you don't, and two or three questions for the recruiter. The first list goes into your CV summary and top bullets. The second decides whether to apply at all. The third is your preparation for the screening call.
Hot Jobs can't read descriptions for you, but it does the first step of this list: it matches postings by job title and only sends roles in the regions and cities you chose, from 390+ company career pages and two remote boards. €3, paid once. Connect the bot