Tapping the Power of Keywords
to Enhance Your Resume's Effectiveness
by Katharine Hansen
Imagine there was a way to encode your resume
with magical words that would virtually ensure
that employers would be interested in interviewing
you. But the catch is that there's a different set
of magic words for every job, and you have no way
of knowing what the words are.
Such is more or less the situation in job-hunting
today, which increasingly revolves around the
mysterious world of keywords. Employers' use and
eventual dependence on keywords to find the job
candidates they want to interview has come about
in recent years because of technology. Inundated
by resumes from job-seekers, employers have
increasingly relied on digitizing job-seeker resumes,
placing those resumes in keyword-searchable databases,
and using software to search those databases for specific
keywords that relate to job vacancies. Most Fortune
1000 companies, in fact, and many smaller companies
now use these technologies. In addition, many employers
search the databases of third-party job-posting and
resume-posting boards on the Internet. Pat Kendall,
president of the National Resume Writers' Association,
notes that more than 80 percent of resumes are searched
for job-specific keywords.
The bottom line is that if you apply for a job with a
company that searches databases for keywords, and your
resume doesn't have the keywords the company seeks for
the person who fills that job, you are pretty much dead
in the water.
Now, we suggested that job-seekers have no way of
knowing what the words are that employers are
looking for when they search resume databases.
That's true to some extent. But job-seekers have
information and a number of tools at their disposal
that can help them make educated guesses as to which
keywords the employer is looking for. This article
and its sidebars describe some of those tools and
tell you how and where to use the keywords you come
up with on your resume and beyond.
Our feature article, above, is a preview of a chapter
from the book, Words to Get Hired By: The Jobseeker's
Quintessential Lexicon of Powerful Words and Phrases
for Resumes and Cover Letters, the first e-book
published by Quintessential Careers Press.
Tracy Laswell Williams is a certified job
and career transition coach as well as an
accredited resume writer.
We wanted to know about a concept
Williams calls "the headless resume."
She explains: "It has been my experience
that many people (especially busy, overworked
recruiters and hiring managers) have a hard time
summarizing information on their own. Without a
focused and persuasive summary at the beginning of
your resume,
you're missing a great opportunity
to sell yourself by leaving it to the reader to
form an overall impression of your qualifications."
In the Q&A she did with us, Williams also discusses
functional resumes, how to succeed in a job search during a
recession, common job-hunting mistakes, and how job-hunting
can actually be an uplifting, life-changing experience.
Join the students who have already enrolled in our
Quintessential Career Kickstart Course!
Check out this quick and comprehensive course that will teach you
everything you need to know launch a career and find a job.
The Quintessential Career Kickstart Course is
an inexpensive online course that teaches
beginners and career-changers the basics of
job-hunting. You can complete the course at
your own pace, and you will receive plenty of
one-on-one guidance and encouragement from your
instructor, as well as the opportunity to dialog
and network with fellow course-takers.
On the surface, JobCircle seems to be of limited interest
because it is targeted to IT professionals in Pennsylvania,
New York, Delaware, and New Jersey. But what really
sets this site apart is a comprehensive content section,
with loads of information in the following categories:
The Career Coach, Online Training, Tech News Today, Educational
Facilities, Training Centers, Societies and User Groups, Certification
Information, Job Fairs and Trade Shows, Technology Stocks, Hi-Tech
Snapshots, Career Change, College and Internships, Diversity,
Entrepreneurship, Job Search, Workplace, and JobCircle Tech-Files.
And if you DO happen to be seeking an IT job in Pennsylvania,
New York, Delaware, or New Jersey, JobCircle offers:
a comprehensive resume posting process.
a hit counter that shows jobseekers how many
times their resume has been looked at.
unlimited Search Agents that alert job-seekers
daily via e-mail when a job of interest has been posted.
a Personal Control Center that allows job-seekers
to apply for jobs, modify resume information, and change
job-search status.
an Auto-Apply feature for any classified ad through JobCircle.
an events calendar with computer shows, job fairs, and
trade shows.
Employer Profiles on local IT organizations.
JobCircle has been rated one of the Best of the
Best job-related Web sites by Gerry Crispen and Mark
Mehler of CareerXRoads.
groovejob.com
-- a great job and career site for older teens -- high school and college age students -- to find both part-time
and full-time jobs. But more than that, the site is also a career resource, offering job-search tips and advice,
money and budgeting advice, as well as academic resources. Free to job-seekers.
Human Services Career Network
-- a national employment site devoted solely to social service/human service professionals.
Job-seekers can post your resume, search for available jobs, and conduct field-specific
research. Also includes links to educational and professional resources, news and trends,
and conference and training calendar. Free to job-seekers.
The Work Circuit --
a job and career resource for the electronic engineering community worldwide, with more than
10,000 job listings and tons of industry-specific news and career advice. Job-seekers can search for jobs
by type, location, or company. Free to job-seekers.
World Wide Learn -- an amazingly
large categorized directory of online courses, online learning opportunities, and online education
resources. It sees itself as a gateway to courses, tutorials, classes, degrees and workshops from
around the world that are offered entirely online and available to adult learners worldwide. Free.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest
Additions section.
Julie Staples writes: "I have been unemployed for a
little over a year, but I have been doing all the
paperwork for my husband's business he has on the side.
I also live on a farm. So I really haven't been employed.
How would I add this experience to my resume? If I leave
it off, employers will think I haven't been working."
Julie Downey writes: "Please review my attached resume
and sample cover letter. I am currently working on going
to a local business school next year. Preferably Rice
University, but I am also applying at University of Houston.
I will be working toward an MBA in marketing. Do you have
any career suggestions, or can you offer any fresh career
ideas for me? I am interested in a marketing/public
relations position."
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
One of our favorite quotes about resumes comes from Mark Nelson,
former partner of Dale Dauten of syndicated career-column fame.
Describing a two-page resume with long paragraphs and tiny type,
Nelson says: "This resume is like a lonely guy who can't get a date,
so he sits at home and eats and gets bigger and bigger. I meet people
all the time who think employers are going to get excited by lots of
detail in their resumes. No. Instead, [employers] think, 'Here's
a guy who can't prioritize and who doesn't respect his reader.'"
Overstuffed and text-heavy resumes are a problem for many job-seekers.
A good way to avoid them is to prioritize your resume content based
on how well it answers some basic questions. For example, does your
resume tell:
What you can bring to the employer to improve the company's
service and increase its profits?
What you have done recently toward that end?
How you can make money for the employer?
How you can save money for the employer?
How you can introduce and improve processes?
How you can lead and develop people?
How you can solve the company's problems?
(These questions came from career columnist
Sandra Pesmen and consultant Nancy Bergman of
Stanley Barber & Associates)
What are employers really looking for in
resumes? Career Masters Institute uncovered
some interesting answers to that question in
its recent survey, "Professionally Written &
Designed Resumes: From Getting Noticed to
Getting Interviewed." In terms of first impressions,
surveyed employers rated easy readability and use
of bullets as the most important points. Highly ranked
content factors included a work history that's easy to
read and documented achievements. Content elements that propel
employers to immediately discard resumes include too much
or too little information, irrelevant information, a focus
on duties instead of accomplishments, and long, unexplained
breaks in one's job history.
Layout factors that send resumes
to the circular file included lack of readability, density
of type (paragraphs rather than bullet points), and unnecessary
length. Careless spelling and the presence of typos are also
resume killers for hiring managers. Finally, employers
wanted resumes to show a clear match between the applicant and
a particular job's requirements. A "general" resume that is not
focused on a specific job's requirements was seen as not
competitive.
As we all know, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
have affected every aspect of our lives. Even resumes, apparently.
In a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, writer
Torri Minton notes, "Chances that a resume lie will be
discovered have increased dramatically since the attacks
of Sept. 11, with some security-obsessed companies even
starting to screen current employees." Minton reports
that a new company, MyJobHistory.com, will substantiate
what's on jobseekers' resumes (for a fee) so that when
employers receive the documents, they can see that the
information has been independently verified.
We have a big favor to ask our readers. We'd like to ask you to
take a few minutes to complete a totally anonymous survey.
As we vow in our privacy statement, we absolutely will not
use the information gained in any other way than to make
our Quintessential Careers site even BETTER for our readers.
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* How to choose a headhunter/recruiter
* Cover letters to recruiters
* How to write a counteroffer letter
* Home-based careers
* How to start a job club
* Interviewing strategies for teens
* Powerful resumes and cover letters for new grads
* Using informational interviews to research companies
* How to create and publish a Web-ready resume
* Letters of recommendation and references
* How to create and use a networking card
* How to resign from your job gracefully
* Step-by-step guide to career planning
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
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We also can provide critiques and makeovers of
your resume or cover letter. Credit cards accepted.
Quintessential Careers also offers writing services
for those who have been asked to give a speech and
need assistance in researching and writing their
remarks.
Need a speaker for your career-oriented conference or
event at your college or organization? The Quintessential
Careers Speakers Bureau can help! Our quintessential experts
can provide presentations/workshops on a variety of
career-related topics.
