June 7, 2011

Demystifying the concept of resume keywords

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Q: Can you clue me in to the magic world of keywords? Where does one find the secret list of these powerful, masterful and (potentially) door-opening slayers of those who would otherwise say “no”? My assumption is that they are somewhat field-related; however, there must be some advice on what words to focus on beyond the obvious.
--S.E., Snohomish

Kristen says: Keywords are very much field-related. You should be able to find the primary keywords for any given position in the job description under requirements and skills. But beyond that, there are related concepts that are part of every industry, and those also should be in your résumé.

If you were applying for a job in retail, for example, the keywords would be “retail,” “cashier,” “merchandise,” “customer service,” “fashion,” “associate” and “sales.” Some conceptual keywords might be “stock,” “POS,” “markdown,” “personal shopper” or “inventory.”

There are three main things to know about keywords. The first is that when a recruiter runs a keyword search, the applicant tracking system (ATS) returns results stack-ranked based on the number of times each keyword appears in the document. The more times these words are repeated, the closer to the top of the results list that résumé is.

Second, for keywords to be effective, they must be contextual. Many people erroneously list a bunch of words at the top of their résumé under a title like “competencies,” assuming that this is a proper use of them. But keywords should be used within the context of your experience in each employment section.

Another mistake job seekers often make is listing soft skills such as “well organized” or “good communicator,” or buzzwords such as “cross-group collaboration” or “critical thinker.” These are not keywords that recruiters use; these are skills that are identified in interviews.

Keywords are technically functional concepts from your industry. Keyword-search technology has radically changed recruiting in the past several years. That, along with federal-compliance guidelines for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and affirmative action, is what has driven the focus on keyword searching. It’s also why a reverse-chronological résumé format is highly preferred by recruiters and hiring managers. More detail is vital; the one-page résumé rule doesn’t really apply anymore.

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