APU Careers Careers & Learning

Keywords and Your Competitive Edge

Resume writing can be considered a science. There are so many ways to fill out the content, and if you don’t do it in the right way your resume may never get seen by a hiring manager.

For a competitive edge focus more on the keywords in your resume as it relates to the job description and employer. For more insight on this topic we turn to a resident career expert, Kristen Carter’s, on how to use these keywords to your advantage.

How to Get an Edge on Your Competition With Keywords

By Kristen Carter
Repost from APUS Career Services Blog

A very important part of resume writing involves personalizing your resume to match its content with the desired skills listed in the vacancy announcement. A common question I receive from students and alumni is, “How do I accomplish this?” My response is very simple, “Insert key words from the job description into your resume.” So, you may be wondering, “What exactly are key words and where do I find them?” Key words are terms that are emphasized multiple times throughout a job announcement, indicating the skills that are most important for the position. These key words are typically found under job duties and responsibilities, qualifications, and employer’s mission and values.

Why should you use key words? Using key words is important when applying to positions as it demonstrates that you possess the skills that the employer is seeking. Paying close attention to key words can also move your resume up in rank in the candidate pile (which is always a great thing!) because it strongly communicates to the employer that you read the announcement thoroughly and are genuinely interested in the position.

A great way to determine which terms are mentioned most frequently in a job announcement is by using a word cloud generator, which, put in simple terms, creates an image that shows the most commonly used words in a given block of text. Two websites that will help create such word clouds include Tagcrowd.com and Wordle.net. Simply copy the sentences or paragraphs from the most important sections in a job description, and enter it into the text box on either of the websites. Once you submit the words, the word cloud will appear, and the larger words are the best terms to use as key words throughout your resume.

Remember. It is essential to use key words tactfully and to not haphazardly insert them into your resume just to use them. You will want to check the job announcement to see what the larger words are referencing for additional emphasis on how to insert them in your document. When it comes time for an interview, you want to be certain you can speak to your experience regarding those specific skills you listed.

Comments are closed.