If you're looking for a new job, whether because you recently lost your job, you're unhappy with your current job or you're simply looking for a new opportunity in your field, you'll have to scout out job boards. Most people today look for jobs online. When you search for a specific job online, the first thing you will see is a job profile. It's important to understand the job profile before applying for the position – using it to guide your application will help you land an interview.

What Is a Job Profile?

A job profile is written by employers – usually, the HR department – to give as much concise information about an open job position as possible. They do this in order to attract the most desirable candidates. Companies who want to be sure they get only qualified candidates have to be very clear when describing the job's duties and responsibilities and the qualifications their looking for.

As an applicant, you can use a job profile to ultimately understand whether or not it's worth your time to apply for that job or if you should move on to something else. It's also important to note that the job profile meaning is different than the work profile meaning. A work profile is a profile of who you are as an employee; you add it as a summary to your resume when applying for a job. The job profile, instead, belongs to the hiring party.

What You'll Find in a Job Profile

Most job profiles include more or less the same six sections. You can look at a job description PDF or a job profile PDF for some examples:

• Job title: The title of the job, such as Project Manager, Special Education Teacher or Warehouse Supervisor.
• Company information: This section gives the applicant some general background about the company, including information about the industry, the company's mission and goals and who they work with. 
  
• Job description: This is a summary of the main points of the job, including examples of the duties and responsibilities. It tends to be quite detailed. 
• Job requirements: This is where the company lists the requirements of the job. It states what types of skills and characteristics they are looking for in a candidate, as well as more official requirements, such as degrees earned, certifications and years of experience.
• Benefits: If the company provides benefits, such as paid time off, a 401(k) and health insurance, it will be listed in this section. 
• Call to action: This is usually the last section in the job profile. It provides the prospective applicant with information on how to apply for the job. There may be an email address or a link to an application, as well as instructions for what to include in your application, such as a cover letter and resume.

How to Use a Job Profile to Apply

Now that you know the meaning of a job profile, you might be wondering why it's important and how you can use it to your advantage. First and foremost, applying for jobs can be a rather exhausting process. For each job you apply for, you will have to change your cover letter to meet the job profile, all while the clock is ticking, and as hundreds, if not thousands, of other applicants are applying for the same position.

The job profile can help you determine right away if applying to this job is worth your time. If you're not interested in the duties and responsibilities or you don't meet the basic requirements, then you should probably not apply. If you think you'd like the job and you meet the basic requirements, then go forward with the application.

Using the job profile to apply for the job is much like the idea of using the test to take the test. All the answers you need when writing your cover letter are in the job profile. Refer to it often, reiterating some of the points about what the company is looking for. When you mention your skills and experience, they should align with the requirements as stated in the job profile. When discussing how well-equipped you are to handle the job duties and responsibilities, be specific by taking that information directly from the job profile.