While this suggestion seems to be basic for me, it might be new for some of the more recent readers of my blog. I particularly liked the area about explaining what your company does. Having a list of keywords at the bottom or hidden by white type may not be necessary if you have them elsewhere but better at the bottom than hidden in the margin. Neldon
Dear Resume Survis Lady,
It’s been a long time since I’ve needed to update my resume and I’m sure there have been a lot of changes with how to format a resume and what you need to put on it. I want to maximize the number of times my resume is reviewed and I’ve heard adding keywords are the way to do it. What are keywords and how do I incorporate them into my resume?
Ahhh….keywords! I love keywords! First of all let me start by explaining what keywords are for those who may not know. Most resumes are now submitted and stored electronically. This would include resumes that you upload to a job board such as CareerBuilder or Monster or a profile that you have online on a site such as LinkedIn. For most positions you apply to, you will also be applying online through what is known as a company’s “Applicant Tracking System” or ATS for short. This would be when you visit a company’s career website and apply to a position that is listed on their site. All electronic databases have the ability to search the resumes stored through entering keywords or search strings. Think of it like a search engine such as Google. If you go to the Google home page to search for a specific product or specific information, you would enter your search string of keywords and hit enter to see your results. It’s the same with electronic resume banks. A potential employer can use a search feature to enter specific keywords of things they are looking for. This could be something like CPM (Certified Purchasing Manager) to PE (Plant Engineer) to Automation experience, etc.
So, should you use keywords in your resume? ABSOLUTELY! One of the biggest mistakes I see with resumes that are not professionally written is the absence of keywords. A great example of this is when you list your employment history. Do you have the industry listed or what each company does? This is an area that is often overlooked when writing a resume. If a recruiter is looking for someone that has experience in the “specialty chemical” arena, they will often use keywords like: Chem, specialty chemical, specialty chem, chemical. If you do not have it listed in your resume, your resume will not be pulled back.
There are different ways that you can include keywords into your resume. The first would be to include them in the body of your resume as you are writing it. Enter a short “blurb” about the company after you list it on your resume such as:
XYZ Company, Milwaukee, WI 4/2006-11/2010
XYZ Company is a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) company known as a global pioneer of innovative and uniquely effective talent sourcing and strategy for its clients.
You can also create a keyword section at the bottom of your resume where you can list in succession all the keywords that are not already listed in your resume:
What has been your experience with keywords?
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