The Missing Component to Your Successful Resume
Posted by ayeshawrites4u on July 30, 2009
If you have ever written a resume before, you already know the basic elements needed for most resumes. A resume typically has the following:
- Your name and address
- Summary of Qualifications
- Professional Experience or Work History
- Educational Experience
- Additional Criteria, such as extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, or skill sets
While this is the typical criteria used in creating a resume, a successful resume takes it one step further. A successful resume always has keywords.
KEYWORDS
Keywords are listed as the last section on the resume or are integrated throughout the skill section of the resume. They are words that describe the most common attributes an employer would use to find an employee when using big career sites such as Monster or Careerbuilder. They are also useful when employers use technological software to scan resumes. Even more importantly, when an employer stops to scan your resume, these words jump out at the employer and saves him time to have to go on a scavenger hunt to determine if you are qualified.
If you are a serious candidate and you want an employer to know you are a serious candidate, you should not only have keywords in the Keyword and Skills sections, but they should also be used throughout your resume. For example, if you are a physical therapist and you know that typically a physical therapist must use whirlpool baths, infrared lights, and ultrasonic machines, these are all words that should be used throughout your resume – in the summary of qualifications, professional experience sections, and also in the educational section if you are a recent graduate and do not have much work experience.
Most employees assume an employer knows their job description. So instead of outlining their duties using keywords, they give general job descriptions and leave off the most important and specific attributes to an employer. You will not do this. You will find out what attributes are most important to your employer and distribute these attributes throughout all of your personal branding materials.
While people in your position should do the same things, often times they don’t. If you have ever made a lateral move in which you had the same job title but moved to a different company, you would experience this first hand. In some companies, there is more support, so you may perform the duties necessary to only fulfill your role. If , however, you work for a smaller company or a start-up, you will perform not only the duties typically performed for your title, but will also be responsible for several other jobs as well. Therefore, it is always important to be specific when giving your job description. It will let the employer know that you are perfectly capable of handling the tasks he expects for you to take on in your new role as compared to the less specific person in which he has to guess their capabilities.
So what keywords to use?
Most people when researching keywords will quickly become overwhelmed. It is hard to decipher which words are most important to use on your resume. Typically, the best keywords are those that you have not already used on your resume. For example, if you are a teacher and you already put that you “effectively planned and implemented cooperative lessons integrating the arts and technology”, then it is unnecessary to put “art and technology integration” in your keywords. If however, you did not put a description that uses the most basic elements of your job in your professional experience, then you can use keywords to fill in the blanks.
It is also good to use keywords to provide alternate labels to your job description. For example, many administrative assistants work under different job titles and also perform different duties according to these titles. However, most Hiring Managers fail to make these distinctions and may only put secretary in his search engine. If an employee fails to use the alternate title secretary, she may be overlooked for the job simply because she didn’t use the right keyword.
How do You know you used the right keywords?
As an employee, you have the advantage of knowing what duties were considered most important for your job description. You should lead with that knowledge and then research the rest. If you are unsure, then you should hire a professional. Professional resume writers should have access to job profiles, have a list of keywords according to profession, and also have alliances with employment agencies that can assist them in ensuring your resume will fit the needs of the average employer in your field.
As always, good luck with your job search.
Ayesha Long
Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services
*** Also be sure to go to Ayesha Writes 4 You’s website and schedule your Free Resume Consultation. From now until August 15th, you can take advantage of our Summer Discount and get 15% off any resume package. So go to www.AyeshaWrites4u.com to get started now!
