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Fixing The Keyword Problem

Guest articles > Fixing The Keyword Problem

by: Erik Larson

Are you looking for a career change but have received no response to your updated resume? The reason might be an absence of certain keywords that you might have failed to include in the resume.

Basically, keywords are specific words and expressions that are unique to a certain industry or a particular line of work. These may pertain to a set of skills, knowledge, a job profile or certain processes that varies from industry to industry. And inclusion or exclusion of these keywords can decide if you will get that vital interview call.

This can be especially tricky when you are changing your career. Thus, while writing your resume you should keep the following points in mind.

• Nowadays most of the companies resort to electronic searches and software on the basis of relevant keywords to shortlist a few resumes from the large numbers they receive. Using the correct or required keywords can make the vital difference between your resume being noticed or passed over because it lacked what the recruiter was looking for.
• Choosing the proper keywords is underscored when changing industries because your past experience may not relate to the job you are seeking and though you may include your knowledge and skill using the choicest of descriptions it will be fruitless if they do not contain the specific keywords relevant to the new job.
• While writing the resume you must incorporate the relevant keywords in different parts of your resume especially under experiences and skills or qualifications. Jog your memory and try to recollect anything that might be related to the career you are aiming for even though it might be a small part of you responsibilities carried out periodically. You can also get ideas by looking at resume samples online for your perspective job and picking things out that would fit into your resume.
• When looking for a new career you might find that your experience might not cover all the keywords required to get your resume noticed. In such cases adding an objective can solve your problem by fulfilling any shortfall of keywords. Your objective must be thoughtfully worded to convey what position you are looking for and how your skills can help you achieve your goals. All this should be described by using the keywords relevant to the chosen field.
• If you are unsure about which keywords to incorporate or even if you want to verify the ones already included in the resume, you can scan through the numerous job postings that are relevant to your career in both the print media or online and make a list of the pertinent keywords.

Keywords can literally be the key to entering a new industry. A cleverly written resume can get you noticed and succeed in securing an interview where you will have ample scope to further demonstrate what you can achieve.

Erik Larson is internationally certified as a Career Management Practitioner (CMP) by the Institute for Career Certification International and has been been recognized as a National Certified Counselor (NCC) through the National Board for Certified Counselors.

Contributor: Erik Larson

Published here on: 06-Nov-11

Classification: Job-finding

Website: http://www.resumeindex.com

MSWord: Fixing the keyword problem.doc