How many times have you seen/heard this response after applying for a job, “Thanks for your interest in XYZ, we will review your resume and get back to you if this position, or others in the future match your qualifications?” My guess is you’ve received this response more than once, and I bet each time you bring yourself closer and closer to shoving your bright yellow, #2 pencil, deep into your ear. What really drives you super nutty banana party is not the canned response, but knowing in your heart that you’ll never, absolutely never hear from that company again. OK, well you can relax and put the pencil down Corn Heads. Kristi Daeda has a suggestion which may just have company XYZ calling you faster than you can say…KEY WORD!
On Monday night I found myself reading an interesting post on Career Adventure, a blog by Kristi Daeda. In this particular post, Daeda writes on the importance of planting key words into a resume, which will help bring attention to you from a “phantom” source. What’s this “phantom” you ask? You win, I’ll tell you! It’s the resume database, in most cases an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). An ATS can be a recruiter’s best friend, or worst enemy. This depends heavily on features provided by the ATS, as well as how easy the program is to use. So, what does an ATS, or resume database mean to you as a candidate? Basically the same thing, but as Daeda writes in her article, if you build a resume with strategically placed keywords, then an ATS has a much higher possibility of becoming your best friend! Click here for more information on Applicant Tracking Systems.
Daeda believes that each resume is written for three audiences:
- Recruiter
- Hiring Manager
- Resume Database or ATS
It’s likely that you haven’t thought about, or put much emphasis on writing your resume to be an ATS gold mine, and that’s OK. Like Daeda, I believe that resumes should absolutely always target the recruiter and hiring manager first and foremost, but put in some time to update your resume with keywords specific to your industry or position. Doing this will make your resume easy for the recruiter to find when they later look through their applicant tracking system, or resume database.
Daeda explains the following about resume keywords in her article:
What are keywords? – Specific nouns and phrases that you’ve undoubtedly seen on job postings when conducting your search. Daeda explains, “These words refer to your background and experience.”
What are some categories of keywords? – Some listed categories are Certifications, Education, Industries, Techniques and Training, and Technologies. Click here to view Daeda’s full list of categories. Make yourself a healthy list of resume keywords by going through job postings of your desired position. Try to include words for as many categories as you can.
How to effectively insert keywords throughout the resume - In my opinion, the greatest tip Daeda offers is to make sure your resume still reads naturally, like normal human writing. Take her advice, I don’t want my Corn Heads sounding/looking like Johnny 5 from “Short Circuit”. Yes, that’s a video clip from the movie. I couldn’t resist. See her article for more tips on how to insert keywords into your resume.
Click the link below to read all of Daeda’s tips on resume keywords:
http://www.kristidaeda.com/2009/08/10/great-effective-resume-keywords-bring-resume-success/
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the generous links! People don’t have to spend a heck of a lot of time on keywords to be successful. A little goes a long way. Glad to have you helping spread the message.
And please call me Kristi.
The keywords are incredibly important. My old resume literally didn’t do anything when I put it into a database. Now, as it has been keyword enhanced professionally, I am having a great deal more luck.
Sam
http://www.jobsearchforums.com
It’s a wonderful tip, that I hope my readers find useful. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve searched for resume keywords in my staffing experience. Once I read your post, I thought of the countless hours I’ve spent on an ATS, and I realized I wanted to relay your message.
Thanks for your comment Kristi!
-Rich
Hey Rich, Nice article. I sometimes format important words bold in my resume. I am still not sure if that really helps as I have got mixed reviews about it. Logically, if it is true that hiring person will spend very little time to review each resume than highlighting the keywords will definitely help.
Just wanted to share my experience.
Heman P.
P.S. I interned at Primavera, I met you there.
This is an interesting article.
The thing it demonstrates most convincingly is the fundamental flaw in the entire interview and hiring process. It demonstrates that hiring managers want someone who is good at writing a resume and further along, good at interviewing.
While the suspicions that are outlined here may be valid for a given resume, they may not be. The author may simply have no clue what a hiring manager is interested in reading.
When you consider that we spend the vast majority of our working lives working, and a bare minimum writing resumes, it is not surprising that most people are not good at writing them. This is true regardless of the expertise of the individual in the job they are trying to apply for.
The reverse can also be true. Someone who is unqualified for a job may write an excellent resume and interview very well. I have had the misfortune of meeting such a person.
In the end though this is just a fact of life and it is important for us to realize that the skill we bring to any company must initially be expressed skillfully.
A resume must first catch the attention of the recruiters.That is hurdle number one.
Next it must induce the recruiters to read it long enough to ” crystallize ” its story.
That is hurdle number two.
I have tried to enable a jobseeker to overcome these hurdles thru recent launch of my website http://www.CustomizeResume.com,
which converts a plain text resume into 8 analytical graphs online / instantly.
What is more, all the relevant keywords get automatically highlighted in red.
hemen parekh
hcp@recruitguru.com
Mumbai – India
Thanks for your comment – your service seems to be helpful!
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