Read a role through its decisions.

A job description becomes more revealing when you examine the decisions the person will own.

A vacancy can contain a long list of capabilities: strategic thinking, collaboration, communication and commercial judgement. To understand the opportunity, translate that language into decisions.

What will this person be expected to decide? Which clients, markets or workstreams will they influence? What will they own directly? Where will they need agreement from another team?

That distinction is particularly useful in commercial roles. Growing an established account, opening a new market and building a sales function can share similar vocabulary while demanding different experience.

Start with the exact vacancy. Identify its recurring responsibilities, then group them into a few practical themes: client relationships, growth, internal influence, delivery, leadership or measurement.

For each theme, find a relevant example from your own experience. Record what you personally did, the outcome you can substantiate and any limitation in your evidence. A gap can become a focused preparation question or development priority.

Use the same analysis to prepare questions for the interviewer. Ask what success requires, where decisions become difficult and which capabilities the team most needs.