Those of us who have been part of the career world for years take some things for granted. We tell people to fill their resumes with key words or we do it for them. But we don’t often take the time to say why.
In Key Words to Nail Your Job Interview, Wendy Enelow of Resume Writing Academy writes: KeyWord: “The “hot” words associated with a specific industry, profession, or job function… generally a noun, short phrase, abbreviation, or acronym. When used effectively, a KeyWord or KeyWord phrase can communicate an entire message with just a simple word or two.
Today many positions rely on online applications at least to start out filling a position. Those applications scan for the keywords to determine if you should move forward in the selection process. If you have carefully selected keywords that first of all fit your particular field, your particular talents, and most importantly, the job description or job posting, you will be more likely to move to the group to be called for a telephone interview.
With the economy as it is, employees are spending more time eliminating candidates than actually interviewing them. Talking with a college Campus Director recently, she said that their human resources department is receiving over 1,000 applications or resumes weekly.
Here’s a smattering of keywords I used in a Sales Manager’s resume:
Sales Forecasting | Territory Management | Cross-Selling | New Product Launches | Pricing & Sales Analysis
Those keywords are woven into the resume accomplishment statements:
Example: Directed an aggressive reorganization and profit performance program for the region. Successfully re-engineered sales and operations, resulting in increased revenue of 55%.
Do you see how keywords play into a successful job search and make you the candidate of choice?
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Great point’s Julie!
I’ve used this approach on my own sales resume and found it to be effective. The using strong keywords works not only on recruiting sites but also with search engines like Google and Bing.
People searching for “Software Sales Executive” find my resume daily which is just one of many search terms that find my resume.
I’ve found Google Docs to be an excellent tool for creating an online resume. People interested can find several posts at http://smallpasture.com/category/how-to/ on how to create an online resume using Google Apps.
Jim
Your comment reminded me of little known LinkedIn tip to share.
Search engines use links between pages to help establish credibility, interest and subject mater. These “inbound links” are probably the most important factor in getting into search results.
LinkedIn provides up to three links in a LinkedIn profile, most people take the default like “My Company” or “My Blog” which are not very interesting or noteworthy.
So here’s the tip… Instead of putting a link to “My Resume” use your most important keyword. The text help to tell the search engines what your page is about. In your case you could add a link to your site using the keyword “Resume Writing Tips”. Using Google Searched Based Keyword Tool you’ll see lots of people are looking for YOUR SITE! http://bit.ly/d7d4aP
You can see how I’ve used this feature in my LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/JimLittlefield.
P.S. I see you’ve claimed your name on LinkedIn as I have above. Doing that is a great way to establish a “personal brand” online. I recommend your readers do too.
Jim Littlefield´s last blog ..Why I Use Bit.ly and Wish You Did Too
I agree about the importance of keywords. Some people think they are just fluffy boilerplate, but keywords really show a candidate’s understanding of concepts and terminology pertaining to the position.
I also like how you used the keywords in an accomplishment that quantified the contributions this person made. It really shows how they put their knowledge into action.
Melissa´s last blog ..JibberJobber Giveaway
Thanks for stopping by Melissa, keywords are absolutely crucial on a resume. Fluff to me is the non-substantiated drivel that used to fill up a professional: Excellent interpersonal communication skills… outstanding organizational capabilities. If those terms are used at all, you need to quantify and qualify how.
Thanks for the comment, Jim. You’re right, Google and Bing are other ways that could find your resume if you post it online. LinkedIn would create an additional avenue for your resume-like LinkedIn profile to be found.
Interesting… but your LinkedIn Profile while not containing the exact information as your resume should create enough interest to attract an interested party to contact you directly if seeking a job is your objective.
You’re right about the tweaking of LinkedIn which includes claiming your name. Many of the career professional can help design an effective LinkedIn Profile. Often my clients need extra help in creating a profile that works for them.