How to tell if a job is worth your application, before you apply

Read the posting for the three things that matter

Most postings list far more than any one person has. Skip the long list at the bottom and find the three to five things the job actually turns on: the work you would do every week, the result you would be responsible for, and anything they call required in plain words (a licence, a certification, a number of years).

If you have trouble finding them, read the first paragraph and the first few bullets under responsibilities. That is usually where the person who wrote it put what they care about.

Ask two separate questions

Most people ask one question: am I qualified? It helps to split it in two, because the answers can be different.

Can I do this work? Think of a specific time you did each of the core things, with a place, a rough date and what happened. If you can, your experience fits. If you can only say you are familiar with it, be honest with yourself about that.

Does my resume show it? Look at your resume as a stranger would. Is that experience on the page, near the top, in words the posting would recognise? Strong experience described in the wrong words, or buried on page two, reads the same as no experience to someone skimming.

What the answers tell you

Yes and yes: apply. Your time is better spent preparing for the interview this job will lead to.

Yes, but the resume does not show it: this is the most common case, and the most fixable. Move the relevant work up, say what you did and what changed because of it, and use the words a person reading for this job would look for. Do not add anything you did not do.

Not yet: you can still apply, but go in knowing which part you will be asked about, and have a real answer ready. Or put the application toward a job that fits better and come back to this kind of role later.

Keep a short note for each job

Write down the three things you picked out and your answer to each. It takes a minute, and it is the start of your interview preparation if you get the call: those three things are what the questions will be about.