Professional Resume Writing - Keywords

When writing your resume have you considered the importance of keywords? Do you know which keywords you should include in your resume? Prior to the perusal of your resume by a hiring professional or recruiter, it is very likely that scanning software will be used to scan it in search of specific keywords.

The importance of the use of resume keywords is easily put into perspective by searching ‘resume keywords’ on google. The results today; 51,100,000! You can be assured that most companies are using recruiting management software to scan resumes. In today’s competitive job market, the hiring professional or recruiter is looking for any way to eliminate candidates to reduce the number to a manageable level. With many employers receiving hundreds, if not thousands of resumes a missing keyword or typo is all that is needed to put you out of the running.

Incorporate as many keywords in your resume as possible to reflect the jargon of particular industries and employers. Review the actual job posting and compare your skills and qualifications, choosing common words or phrases. Keywords will include desired skills, interpersonal traits, duties, responsibilities, education attained and equipment used. Consider technical keywords and generic keywords such as, market research, business re-engineering, change management, project management, mergers and acquisitions and risk management.

Whether technical or generic, keywords are critical! If you are missing the keywords the employer is seeking your resume will not get past the scanning software.