How to read a job ad: what 'competitive salary', 'fast-paced' and 'wear many hats' really mean

Ten phrases and their usual translation

None of these phrases is a warning on its own. Each one is a prompt for a question, which you can ask the contact person before you apply or at the first interview.

• "Competitive salary" or "salary depending on experience": the employer has not published a range. Ask for the band before you spend an evening on the application.
• "Fast-paced": a lot of work and short deadlines. Ask what a typical week looks like and how many people share the load.
• "Wear many hats": a broad role, often in a small team. Ask which part of the job takes most of the time.
• "Self-starter" or "works autonomously": little day-to-day supervision. Ask how new starters are trained and who you would go to with questions.
• "Dynamic environment": priorities change. Ask what has changed in the team in the past year.
• "Work hard, play hard": long hours with a strong social side. Ask what the usual finishing time is.
• "Immediate start": the vacancy is urgent. It is fair to ask why the role is open.
• "Other duties as required": a common clause in position descriptions. Ask where the role's boundaries sit if the rest of the ad is vague.
• "Like a family": a close team, and sometimes blurred lines between work and personal time. Ask how leave and after-hours contact work in practice.
• "Flexible working": anything from occasional home days to a set hybrid pattern. Ask how many office days are expected.

Spotting a ghost job or a re-advertised role

Some ads are not what they seem. An ad that is always open, reposted every few weeks with the same wording, or so vague that you cannot tell what the job is may be a ghost job: an ad for a role that is not being actively filled. Our article on spotting ghost jobs sets out the signals in more detail.

A role advertised again is different, and often genuine. It may mean the first round did not find the right person, or that the last hire left early. Neither is a reason to skip it, but both are worth a polite question.

A small number of ads are scams. Being asked to pay for training or equipment, being moved quickly to a messaging app, or an offer made without an interview are the usual signs. Our guide to job scams in New Zealand covers what to look for and where to report one.

Reading the must-haves versus the wish list

Most ads mix two kinds of requirement. Some are essential: a registration, a licence, the right to work in New Zealand, or a skill the job cannot be done without. Others are what the employer would like in an ideal candidate. Public sector ads and position descriptions often label these directly as "essential" and "desirable"; private sector ads usually leave you to work it out.

A useful test is to ask what would happen on the first day without it. A nurse without a practising certificate cannot start. A coordinator without experience in one particular software package will learn it in a week. If you meet the essentials and a fair share of the rest, apply, and say plainly in your cover letter how you would close any gap.

What a hidden salary tells you

Showing the pay is optional on Seek. Seek said in November 2023 that only about one employer in four showed a salary on its New Zealand job ads, although its listings showing a salary had risen by a third in a year. An ad without a salary can mean the employer wants room to negotiate, has not settled the budget, or does not want current staff to compare.

It says nothing either way about whether the role pays well, and it leaves you guessing. On Seek, employers must set a pay range even when they hide it, and the salary filter uses it, so filtering at a few levels shows roughly where the hidden range sits. Look at ads for similar roles that do show pay, ask the contact person for the band, and compare every figure after tax. Our article on why job ads hide the salary sets out four ways to get the number before you apply.

Turning the ad into your application checklist

Once you decide to apply, the ad becomes your brief. Go through it line by line:

• Copy each essential requirement into a list, and beside each one write the example from your own work that shows it.
• Note the words the employer uses for the key skills, and use the same words in your CV where they are true of you.
• Write down the closing date, the contact person and anything you want to ask them.
• Mark anything you do not meet, and decide how you will address it.

Our guide to writing a CV in New Zealand explains how to match a CV to an ad without rewriting it from scratch each time.

Keep a copy of the ad itself. Ads usually come down after the closing date, often before the interview, and the wording is what you will prepare from. On a computer, saving the job in one press brings the whole ad across from Seek, LinkedIn, Indeed, Student Job Search or a company careers page; on a phone, paste the link and the ad text into a new job.

Keep every ad you decide to chase