JD vs Profile Comparison
Dimension: Pursuit · Type: Stage
A two-column working document that maps the job’s requirements and duties to your own profile, so the application you write reflects what the JD actually asks for and where your transferable experience answers it. The point is to force articulation, not to produce a final document.
Introduced first by Milan Jelenkovic (OPCW) at the Breaking Down Job Descriptions session of the UN Inter-Agency Career Week 2026, on 6 May 2026, as the two-sub-table version (Person Specification + Duties and Working Relationships). The lighter T Exercise version was introduced by Sandra Le Gray (UNV HQ, Volunteer Solutions Section) at the Becoming a UN Volunteer session, as the pre-application fit check she recommends to UNV candidates. The two are the same framework at different depth levels.
The framework
When to use it
- During phase two of the Two-Phase Job Search, after you have run the JD Colour-Coded Breakdown.
- When you suspect your CV is strong on credentials but weak on duty-level fit (a common pattern flagged by recruiters).
- When you need to articulate how your experience transfers from one sector to another and need to see the mapping clearly before drafting.
What you need
The JD, broken down with the colour-coded method. Your CV plus your BASIC Achievement Bank. Forty-five to sixty minutes for the first pass.
Sub-table 1, person specification
The credential-level requirements: education, experience, mandatory certifications, languages, plus skills and competencies.
| JD requirement | Your profile | Honest gap |
|---|---|---|
| e.g. Master’s degree in international relations or related field | MA in development studies | None, related field |
| e.g. Minimum 7 years progressively responsible experience in capacity building | 6 years, plus 2 years in adjacent programme management role | Marginal; flag transferability of programme management experience |
| e.g. Project and portfolio management skills | PRINCE2 certified; managed three multi-country portfolios | None |
| e.g. Negotiation skills | Two named partnership negotiations with national authorities (BASIC entries 4 and 7) | None |
| e.g. Fluency in English and one other UN language | English C2; French B2 working proficiency | Address explicitly: working French, with 18-month upskilling plan |
Mark each row as Met, Partially met (with transferable evidence), or Gap to address.
Sub-table 2, duties and working relationships
The duty-level fit, often under-weighted by applicants. Pull the colour-coded JD breakdown into this table.
| JD duty / accountability | Working relationships involved | Your evidence (BASIC entry, project, role) | Tailoring move |
|---|---|---|---|
| e.g. Develop and oversee training programmes for capacity building | State Party institutions, regional bodies | BASIC entry 2: designed three regional training rounds for ECOWAS health ministries | CV bullet via R-CAR; cite ECOWAS in cover letter |
| e.g. Liaise with national authorities | Ministry-level counterparts | BASIC entry 5: led six-country MoU negotiation with health ministries | Cover letter paragraph: ministerial liaison |
| e.g. Ensure successful project implementation | Implementing partners, programme managers | BASIC entry 1: delivered baseline ahead of plan | CV bullet via R-CAR |
Mark each row as Direct match, Transferable, or Genuine gap.
Worked example
A health-sector programme officer applies for an OPCW Senior Programme Officer role. Sub-table 1 shows the credentials match. Sub-table 2 reveals:
- Most duties have direct matches (programme management, training design, partner liaison).
- One duty (representing the branch in inter-divisional task forces) has only transferable evidence (interagency coordination from the health context).
- One duty (technical guidance on chemical emergency response) is a genuine gap.
The cover letter is then structured around the direct matches in sub-table 2, with one paragraph explicitly framing the transferable interagency experience for the OPCW context, and an honest sentence acknowledging the chemical-domain technical gap with a specific upskilling plan. The application reads as well aligned and self-aware rather than overconfident.
The light version, the T Exercise
Sandra Le Gray’s lighter version: draw a single horizontal line under the application requirements, then a single vertical line down the middle. Left column: list every requirement from the Description of Assignment. Right column: list, requirement by requirement, your matching experience.
Use the T Exercise when:
- The role’s published requirements are short (a UNV Description of Assignment is typically tighter than a P-3 JD).
- You need a fast pre-application fit check rather than a full preparation document.
- You are applying to several similar assignments in the same week and want a lightweight discipline that you will actually run on each one.
When the role’s requirements are longer or split between credentials and duties, use the full two-sub-table version.
Pitfalls
- Building only sub-table 1. This is the most common mistake. Applicants over-focus on the person specification and under-focus on duties. Recruiters notice.
- Filling “Your evidence” with adjectives instead of specific achievements. “Strong project management skills” is not evidence. A named project with a measurable outcome is.
- Hiding genuine gaps. If a row is a genuine gap, mark it as such and decide how to handle it. Pretending the gap is not there produces an application that gets exposed in the interview.
- Treating the table as a final document. It is a working sheet. The reader sees the CV and the cover letter, not the table. The table’s purpose is to force articulation.
- Building it once and reusing it across applications. The whole point is that the table is JD-specific. A new role gets a new table.
When not to use it
When you are applying to a generic talent pool with no role-specific JD attached. In that case the comparison is against the pool’s broad criteria, which is closer to a career-fit reflection than to an application-specific tool.
How I use it
Personal note pending. Davide to fill.
Related frameworks
- JD Colour-Coded Breakdown, the upstream tool whose output feeds sub-table 2.
- BASIC Achievement Bank, the source of the evidence column.
- R-CAR, the structure that turns a row in this table into a CV bullet or cover-letter sentence.
- Third Eye Principle, the review pass that should validate the alignment claims this table sets up.
- Seventy Percent Fit Threshold, the upstream filter that tells you whether to invest in building this table at all.
Notes compiled by Davide Piga. Last updated 2026-05-09.