In today's age, where we use computers for everything under the sun, it's crucial that your resume is tailored with keywords which are specific to your position. Many companies use resume scanning software to assess your resume, and if it doesn't contain the proper keywords, your resume may never even land in the recruiter's inbox. In this article I'll show you how to select appropriate keywords and where to insert them into your resume.
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Find your resume and open it in a word processing program (ie. Microsoft Word).
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Locate your job description. Now, read through the entire description. Using a highlighting marker, mark any word which is specific to your position, rather than being general skills any employee should have. It might be easiest for you to print out the job description and manually highlight words and phrases, but you can certainly use the highlight function in Word.
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Now, go back to your resume. Compare it with the job description. Does your resume include the words you highlighted in the description? If it's like most resumes, probably not. It's time to update your content, inserting those keywords and phrases in the appropriate areas.
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First of all, be sure that your resume includes all the relevant information about your past positions. This is important to have before you even start to consider where your keywords should be placed. Once this task is completed, look at your Objective or Summary section first. This is the best place to insert keywords because it's right at the top of your resume. IF you're lucky enough to have a recruiter who looks at your resume him/herself, you'll only get about 15 seconds to make an impression. Load that Objective/Summary full of your keywords. You can also add a Key Skills section below your Objective/Summary to separate out and highlight your keywords.
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Next, look to the body of your resume, where you list your work experience. Here you can add keywords and phrases to the bullet points you already have to make them stand out and read more effectively. I have found making certain certain words or phrases in each bullet bold is effective. Even if the recruiter doesn't read the entire bullet he or she still has a good idea of what you did.
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When you've finished adding keywords to the Objective/Summary section, making a Key Skills section (if you choose) and spicing up your experience bullet points, read through the entire resume again and compare it to the job description. Have you covered all the bases? Does your resume still read correctly or does it sound like a rattled-off list of mumbo-jumbo? If it does, just add filler words like pronouns, nouns, verbs, and adjectives to make the copy more readable. Then, you're done! Your resume is ready for those resume scanning software programs, or for the recruiter to read.
Tips:
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Besides your job description, look up other job descriptions for your position on the internet. Add the keywords in those descriptions to your list, too.
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Have someone else read your resume. They will pick up on things you missed since they have a pair of fresh eyes.
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Keep your resume to two pages or less, no matter how much experience you have. For any positions over 10 years old, simply list the company, position, and dates of employment.
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Beware your resume doesn't read like a game card in Buzzword Bingo. While having keywords in your resume is absolutely crucial, the resume should still be readable. Avoid nonsense phrases like "outside the box", right-sized, etc.
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