Category Archives: CV & Resume

Did you know that adding certain words to your resume could improve your chances of being hired by a huge percentage? Unbelievably, this is a fact, but the catch is that every job has its own set of ‘keywords’ that recruiters look for and applicants have no clue what they are.

The use of keywords in getting the attention of recruiters and prospective employers is the result of modern technology. It has grown in prominence in recent years as the number of job seekers increase and recruiters find it more difficult to sort out the relevant applications from the irrelevant ones. To make their job easier and faster, recruiters choose digitized resumes from applicants and add them to their database. They then use their search engine software to enter specific keywords and find the resumes that have these keywords. The resumes that do not have these keywords are filtered out, even though the applicants may have been perfect for the position.

This may sound a little harsh, but the truth is that it has become an incredibly popular means of filtering out resumes and shortlisting applicants for an interview.  Small companies use it, and so do multinational Fortune 1000 companies.

According to some sources, around 80 percent of the resumes are searched for specific keywords. To put it simply, you need to have certain keywords in your resume if you are looking to get a job. Without those keywords, it is extremely unlikely that you would get to the interview rounds. As mentioned before, there is no way to know these keywords, at least up front. Recruiters never give out the list of keywords they look for; otherwise, every resume they get would be crammed with them. Fortunately, you do have certain tools at your disposal for guessing what these keywords may be. Here, we will be discussing how you can use these tools to your advantage.

Figuring out the keywords

Most keywords used by recruiters are nouns. While action verbs are still an important part of a resume (a traditional resume writing tip that is still valid), you should also remember to add nouns that specify the relation to which you performed that action. Given below are some sentences in which the keywords are underlined. If you look at them closely, you would find that these keywords are nouns that relate to the action indicated by the action verb:

Worked in a project management role

Oversaw stock levels, distribution control, and cost analysis/compilation

Managed product upgrades and updates and customer database

Coordinated special events and marketing campaigns

As a general rule, the keywords used by a recruiter are nouns that relate to the experience and skill sets required for the position. If you look harder, you will find that the keywords are skills that are very specific to the position and industry. Keywords may also include descriptions and terms of technical expertise, certifications, job titles, industry buzzwords, company names (especially those of highly reputed companies), degree names, produce and service names, and even zip codes.

The best way to find the keywords recruiters use is to scan the employment advertisement itself or to look at resume examples online. Recruiters often mention some keywords in their advertisement, especially in the description of the roles and requirements of the available position.