What is this about keywords and getting a job? I have been able to find out that there IS a list of keywords, and if your resume has them, then it goes to a human. If not, the computer kicks it back. Can you help me with this?
Keywords and resumes, both off and online, go hand in hand. Keywords are words or phrases people search databases with to find the information they want.
Yahoo, Google and the other search engines don't really go out looking for your phrase on the multitude of sites on the Web. What they do is look in their databases where their spiders have stored the information they've collected. When you type in the keywords to search on, they compare it to their databases and send the best matches back to you.
Other information is stored in databases. If you have an address book on your computer, it is likely to be a database file. Financial programs like Quicken also use databases. If you've ever used Excel to create a spreadsheet to organize information, you've created a simple (or even, complex) database.
Companies and job placement services also have their own databases.
When you fill out one of their forms with your resume information, it goes into a database. Emailed resumes often also receive the same treatment. Even if you hand deliver or mail a resume, it is going into some kind of filing system earmarked by certain information like position or skills.
To get at that information, potential employers search the resume databases with, you guessed it, keywords. These keywords (or keyword phrases) winnow out the resumes that have them in them for the human employer to consider.
Now, it only makes sense to have those keywords in your resume so that your prospective employer can find yours. (An employer might not even want an employee who could not communicate at such a basic level.)
But, where do you find these lucrative words that will help you find a job?
The employer tells you! They tell you in their ads, in the specifications they list for the job, in professional sites related to the field, in job-specific jargon or vocabulary.
Speak their language and tell them that you have the job qualifications in words that they use. This is not about gaming the system: it's about communication. This is equally important, or maybe more so, where your resume is in a paper file. You want it to be in the right file, right up at the front where the most likely prospects are kept.
So, where do you put your resume keywords? Follow standard keyword practice: use your keywords early and often where it makes sense.
Use them in your qualifications, in your skill summary, in the position you are seeking. Use them sensibly, not as a stand-alone list, but as part of your standard resume.
And always, always, always proof and get at least one other person to proof for you.
Good Job Hunting!
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