Keywords: What Every Job Seeker Needs to Know

By Pat Kendall

 ONE TINY WORD had been left out of Eileen Hanson's resume. Unfortunately, this 3-letter omission (fab – short for fabrication) was on her potential employer's “must have” list. Without it, Eileen failed to qualify for the job she wanted with a leading high-tech manufacturer.

Eileen put a great deal of effort into writing and editing her resume, but she made a classic error. She assumed that employers would read between the lines, interpret the facts, and comprehend the sum total of her experience – a costly assumption in this case.

What many job seekers fail to understand is that most companies use electronic processing systems to scan resumes and store the data in keyword-searchable databases. To get an edge in this competitive employment market, job seekers must build their resumes around job target keywords – hard skills, soft skills, and transferable skills.

If Eileen had taken the time to research her job target (i.e., find out which keywords are most critical for her field and potential employers), she might have landed her dream job several months earlier!

Research? Yes, research! While some folks visualize a dark and dusty library when they think of research, the Net has revolutionized this tedious task, making it accessible, easy – even fun.

Benefits of Job Target Research

Researching your job target not only plays an important role in ensuring that your resume is "keyword optimized" but the process itself teaches you how to use an online job search agent. Search agents and job hunters can be a great way to expedite your job search.

Job Target Research

To build a keyword-based resume, start with real examples of your ideal job target, and then develop a “real market” strategy for keyword loading and resume writing based on these representative examples. In short:

• Find two or three current job postings that meet your criteria for the ideal job.
• Extract the keywords.
• Use these keywords to determine resume strategy and build a keyword-based foundation.

In short, resume writing strategy should be based on the keywords employers use in their help wanted ads and job postings.

Using Internet job postings for keyword research is preferable to using newspaper classifieds because online postings include more detail, plus checking out a potential employer's website is just a mouse click away!

The Right Keywords = Success

The easiest way to find postings that match your job target is to use a job search site like Indeed.com. Indeed.com indexes jobs from all over the Net (i.e., at mega sites, small “mom and pop” sites, newspaper ads, large corporate sites), so a wide range of jobs are represented.

How to Find Job Target Examples:

1. Go to www.Indeed.com
2. Type in your Keywords
3. Type in the desired Location
4. Click on Find Jobs to get the results

Select Your Job Target Examples:

• From the list of results, select the best 2-3 jobs that are most compatible with your goals, qualifications, and/or interests. Location is not a factor at this point.
• Select jobs you qualify for – or come very close to qualifying for.
• Take the time to find the right examples, since the information gleaned during this exercise will be used to define your job target. The keywords from these postings should be used to determine resume-writing strategy.

What are Keywords?

Keyword Job Titles:

• Job titles, job title variations, your ideal job
• The next logical job in your career path

Other Keywords:

• Skills or knowledge required to do a job
• Technologies / industries you're interested in
• Degrees, certifications, special credentials