Resume Keywords: What you need to know for a job search, part 1
Photo Attributed to: Andrea Vascellari Flickr CC license
How can you make your keywords stand out in the crowd?
If it has been more than 5 years since you applied for a job - you need to educate yourself quickly on the new way to apply for a job and the first step is understanding keywords!
You will most likely have to match keywords for every job you apply for - gone are the days of one-size-fits-all resumes - they are only valid for posting on your website.
If you are applying for a job you must match the criteria of the job - which means matching keywords and phrases in the job description. If I were making a speech about this subject I would repeat that last sentence 3 times!
Keywords are not for the human eyes - at least not initially - they are for a computer to scan and the computer will decide if the candidate is then presented for a human being to read. Why? Just ask any recruiter or HR representative and they will tell you they receive hundreds of resumes for one job. A computer can scan the resumes and cover letters much quicker than a human can and makes decisions based solely on “does this resume/cover letter match the job description” - if yes - goes to human resources, if not - process stops. Subjectivity is removed - it is purely an analytical process. I am going to walk you step-by-step through the process of matching keywords in the description to your resume and cover letter.
Step 1 - So you have found a job you are interested in applying for - congratulations! Print off a copy of the job description. Read it, then go back and highlight each of the keywords for that job. If you are doing all of this on an ipad - great do the highlights there instead of printing. Review those keywords you have just selected - make a decision on which set of keywords are the most important, and those that are important but secondary. Just a suggestion - use a spreadsheet tool to put the keywords in order and then match your keywords to theirs. I have created a spreadsheet for you to download - click here. There are 3 examples in the spreadsheet.
Step 2 - Create your resume for that job - using your skill sets. Don’t embellish - be honest. Also if you find yourself using the same word over and over - try a Thesaurus
Here is an example:Now your resume matches the job requirements, with “your skill set” applied to the wants and needs of the employer.
Job Requirement: • Collaborate with website manager, internal marketing teams, and business units to maintain and develop websites and business-to-business collateral materials (print and electronic).What your resume might say: • Assisted website manager to develop and maintain department website. • Worked with internal cross-functional teams to co-create marketing collateral and electronic information for business-to-business and business-to-customer customers.
Step 3 - Prepare your cover letter with some of the same keywords and phrases from the job description. If you notice that the same keywords are in the description, required and preferred or repeated at any time - this is a critical aspect of the job make sure you address it in both your cover letter and resume.
Step 4 - Print out a copy of your resume and cover letter -double check that all of the keywords/phrases are in your documents. On the spreadsheet linked above - you might notice that there is a column for check off - use it - make sure you have covered all of the job keywords/phrases. Mark up - fix as needed and then send to your potential employer!
Kim Kachadoorian is also known as the "Geeky Marketer". She maintains a job hunting blog Ann Arbor Jobs as well as her Geeky Marketer Blog and Web Site (resume web site with fishing analogies). She is currently looking for her next job and found that helping others was a good way to use her talents. She'll be sharing them with readers of AnnArbor.com's Business Review on a regular basis.
Comments
AlphaAlpha
Sun, Oct 31, 2010 : 9:19 a.m.
Got it. Thanks.
Kim Kachadoorian
Sun, Oct 31, 2010 : 6:54 a.m.
@AlphaAlpha - my resume website is included in the bottom of the article - www.geekymarketer.com - there is a tab on the site about "product development" that provides a whole lot of detail plus my resume.
AlphaAlpha
Sat, Oct 30, 2010 : 9:53 p.m.
Excellent. What kind of products?
Kim Kachadoorian
Sat, Oct 30, 2010 : 9:27 p.m.
Sorry missed the "when" question - the goal is to post every two weeks for AnnArbor.com, however if you really miss me;>) you can always catch me on the blog - annarborjobs.wordpress.com - I don't always write articles on it - I do post jobs and job fairs and a few articles which is how all of this "writing for AnnArbor.com" got started. I am not in "the resume writing business" - nor do I want to be - but I don't mind sharing insights learned. Many might want to pay for this type of service but cannot. Reality is that money is tight for everyone. There are people that are really good at helping folks with their resumes, actually making a living by doing it. Me - I am a marketer, project manager and also have a background in product development. I just like the opportunity to share. I continue to find people that don't have a clue how to operate in this digital age to find a job. It can be as simple as someone that has held a job for more than 10 years, someone that has worked in a lab their entire adult life based on a grant that has now expired or someone that has had an administrative assistant take care of their computer needs for many years. These are some experiences I have witnessed among my friends so I speak from my own reality.
AlphaAlpha
Sat, Oct 30, 2010 : 7:04 p.m.
Thank you for your timely response... Whilst (ahem) nicely sidestepping the 'when' question, it seems clear you have much better days ahead. So much has changed in this digital age, yes, many would be hard pressed, no, they would find it impossible, to get their resumes out there in the digital format which evidently is the norm today. Creative insight suggests the obvious: are you (yet) being paid by others to bring their resumes into the 21st century? Seems like a natural fit; apologies if you already are doing this, as due diligence time here is spent on other topics. There are likely many who would pay (with various options) for your services. The need for an analog to digital resume translator seems huge; perhaps others are doing this, if not, the field is yours; if so, then it's just a matter of marketing yourself, and it appears you know a lot about that, which is huge. You can certainly continue the columns even as a professional resume helper. Your comment about giving back is astute as well. It is good. And it generally pays more than it costs. It is quite enjoyable lending expertise to various appreciative groups and individuals, and gratifying when one can help them. It might also be helpful to the community if you had a question and answer column for readers...as well as making your columns predictable in terms of timing. If you are as competent as it seems from your initial exposure here, you likely could easily become nationally known...you likely know it's just a matter of doing the footwork (hmmm...keyboard work?) to make that happen. A few columns, a book, a website, some talk shows, you know how it goes... Again, best of luck. This area is ground zero for the still developing next horrible depression, and anything we can do to help each other will be repaid many times.
Kim Kachadoorian
Sat, Oct 30, 2010 : 1:11 p.m.
@AlphaAlpha Thank you for the kind comments. RE: how very little people know about job hunting - the truth is that in this digital environment there are no steadfast rules that hold true for every job and every company. I can speak from my own experience job hunting right now (hope that changes soon), but I have found that I like helping people through the process as well. Hence the need to give back. A lot of people that are job hunting right now have not had to look for another position for quite some time so they are probably in for a shock, everything they knew about job hunting isn't valid. What might you see in future posts - well Part II will also be about keywords but how to put them in your resume in another format for the computer to read. I also have a request by someone to write an article about how to find a job if you are shy...meanin in-person networking and how to start that process. If you are shy, which a lot of people are, it can be physically and mentally painful to network. Yet many of these shy people are very smart and would be an asset to most industries. Also planning to write about branding yourself (like I am the Geeky Marketer), how to make a.txt resume, social media for job hunting and making a simple website to promote yourself. Yes even if I find a job I plan to keep writing this blog posting for AnnArbor.com. It's good karma!
AlphaAlpha
Sat, Oct 30, 2010 : 11:35 a.m.
Ms. Kachadoorian - Hearty congratulations on being part of the solution and not the problem. You are in a position to impart tremendous benefit to the community, with your helpful suggestions on resume competitiveness. It is truly remarkable how so very many educated people know so very little about effective job searching. This area is one of many key areas essentially unaddressed in the modern educational system, but that's another story. It is easy to predict you will soon become part of a new organization; hopefully you will continue to submit helpful columns like this one, even after your next position imposes the usual time constraints. When may we expect future posts? Best of luck to you. The harder one works, the luckier one becomes...
Kim Kachadoorian
Thu, Oct 28, 2010 : 3:01 p.m.
@Sari - I try to think of excel as the ultimate organization tool. I am glad you found it helpful.
Sari Neudorf
Thu, Oct 28, 2010 : 1:05 p.m.
Kim, wonderful piece. I especially like the excel worksheet. Makes resume writing so much easier. I hadn't thought about organizing the data in a clean file like this. Thanks for the info.
Kim Kachadoorian
Thu, Oct 28, 2010 : 9:52 a.m.
Format will be another subject later on - at times it is hard to know what they want until you get into the system. So I usually make a word, PDF and a.txt so that I am prepared before I start the application process online. Did you know that some companies "time" your application time on their site...don't go get a cup of coffee - it is off the races when you log in to apply for a job. I also prefer.pdf for the same reasons you mentioned but have not had the experience you had. I lock my.pdf's I send out but have never thought about the files I have on my website being swiped. Guess I will be doing some updating over the weekend.
Larry Works
Thu, Oct 28, 2010 : 9:41 a.m.
Nicely done Kim. Looking forward to reading more tips and sending on your entries to my colleagues. QUESTION: Do you have a preferred sending format and/or method if it's not specified by he hiring company? I prefer to use.pdf format to reduce the odds of my resume being reworked then resent by unscrupulous headhunters. It happened to me once. I found out about it when the HR department of a company I DID NOT send my resume to did their homework and easily found my contact info on the internet. Turned out a headhunter had downloaded my resume (in.doc format at the time), then removed my contact info, changed my job goal to match the company job description and then submitted it to the hiring company trying to collect a "finder's fee".