Know Your Keywords
Posted by Kaleigh Somers | Filed under Business & Industry, Jobs & Unemployment
We’re terrified of doing it wrong—using the wrong ones, putting them in the wrong place, using them in the wrong context.
But is there a right answer? Executive recruiters, career coaches, and resume-writing services weigh in.
“Keywords fall into 4 basic categories.” – Wendy Enelow, resume writer and career coach, founder and President of Enelow Enterprises, Inc.
Enelow identifies these categories as hard skills, soft skills, names and locations. Hard skills are industry-specific and might include customer service and order processing. Soft skills are transferrable across industries, such as organization and oral and written communication. Names of companies or universities might help recruiters find a candidate. Locations can help or hurt candidates, depending on whether they apply for a position nearby or far away and the employer’s preferences for location.
“The correct way to use keywords is not to use keywords.” – Bruce Hurwitz, executive recruiter and career counselor at Hurwitz Strategic Staffing
Hurwitz argues that a bulleted list of keywords tailored to your industry is a major turn-off for employers. It insults him to see something like that on a resume because it’s so obvious. For him, keywords should surface in the descriptions of previous positions held—in context.
“The best place to find out what keywords are ‘in vogue’ is to scour employment advertisements in your field.” – Carolyn Thompson, author of Ten Easy Steps to a Perfect Resume
Thompson suggests reading job postings in your industry to find out the publicized job titles. Some jobs may be referred to differently within a company versus externally on job boards. For example, a Senior Financial Analyst position on a job board might be called Functional Analyst III within the company, according to Thompson.
“Recruiters search for nouns.” – Kathy Simmons, CEO of Netshare
Simmons says recruiters are more likely to search keywords like “sales” and “software engineer” than “dynamic” or “effective.” She suggests applicants think about what terms they’d use in recruiting for the same position. Then, incorporate those words into the resume.
“Do research on the company and the broader industry.” – Amos Tayts, co-founder and CEO of ResumeTarget Inc.
Tayts suggests reading up on the company before you submit an application. He said annual reports are particularly helpful for you to determine how they market themselves and what keywords they use. More than likely, a company will want to hire an employee whose experience and skills mirror its own needs.
“Bolding key words within the text of the document is rarely a good idea.” – Jessica Silverstein, Principal of Attorney’s Counsel
While Silverstein says the bolded or capitalized keywords will stand out, it ultimately detracts from the overall formatting already in place. Here’s her example: International CORPORATE TRANSACTIONAL attorney with many years of IN-HOUSE general counseling and private practice experience. Not a pretty site, is it? She says keyword placement is irrelevant if a computer is pre-screening resumes. As long as keywords are somewhere within the document, the computer will find them.
There are plenty of ways to go about including keywords in a resume, but often recruiters and employers follow similar patterns when scanning resumes and calling candidates. Keywords should be industry-specific, pertain to previous and current experience, and be included within a larger context.
Photo credit: basketman
Uvisor is a personalized job search engine developed by the job seeker, for the job seeker. Uvisor\'s automated search and qualification intelligence technology is designed to analyze key sections of your resume such as work experience, education, and skills to provide jobs that you qualify for. With our guidance based approach, Uvisor offers you the essential tools needed to manage, and be successful in your job search.