ONE
TINY WORD
had been left out of Eileen Hanson's resume. Unfortunately,
this 3-letter omission
(fab – short for fabrication) was on her potential employer's
“must have” list. Without it, Eileen failed
to qualify for the job she wanted with a leading high-tech
manufacturer.
Eileen
put a great deal of effort into writing and editing her
resume, but she made a classic error. She assumed that
employers would read between the lines, interpret the
facts, and comprehend the sum total of her experience
– a costly assumption in this case.
What
many job seekers fail to understand is
that most companies use electronic processing
systems to scan resumes and store the
data in keyword-searchable databases.
To
get an edge in this competitive employment
market, job seekers must build their resumes
around job target keywords
– hard skills, soft skills, and transferable
skills.
If
Eileen had taken the time to research her
job
target (i.e., find out which keywords are most
critical for her field and potential employers),
she might have landed her dream job several months
earlier!
Research?
Yes, research! While some folks visualize
a dark and dusty library when they think of research,
the Net has revolutionized this tedious task,
making it accessible, easy – even fun.
enefits
of
Job Target Research
Researching
your job target not only plays an important
role in ensuring that your resume is "keyword
optimized" but the process itself teaches
you how to use an online job search agent.
Search agents and job hunters can be a great
way to expedite your job search.
Job
Target Research
To
build a keyword-based resume, start
with real examples of your ideal job
target, and then develop a “real
market” strategy
for keyword loading and resume
writing based on these representative
examples. In short:
Find
two or three current job postings
that meet your criteria for the
ideal job.
Use
these keywords to determine resume
strategy and build a keyword-based
foundation.
In
short, resume writing strategy should
be based on the keywords employers use
in their help wanted ads and job postings.
Using
Internet job postings for keyword research
is preferable to using newspaper classifieds
because online postings include more
detail, plus checking out a potential
employer's website is just a mouse click
away!
The
Right Keywords = Success
The
easiest way to find postings that match your job target
is to use a job search site like Indeed.com. Indeed.com
indexes jobs from all over the Net (i.e., at mega sites,
small “mom and pop”
sites, newspaper ads, large corporate sites), so a wide
range of jobs are represented.
From
the list of results, select the best 2-3 jobs
that are most compatible with your goals,
qualifications, and/or interests. Location
is not a factor at this point.
Select
jobs you qualify for – or come very close
to qualifying for.
Take
the time to find the right examples,
since the information gleaned during this
exercise will be used to define your job target.
The keywords
from these postings should be used to determine
resume-writing strategy.
Help
Wanted Ads: Use Help Wanted
ads from local and regional newspapers,
industry publications, etc.
Keywords
Buzz
words
Specific
“hard” skills
Transferable
skills
Industry
terminology
Locations
Acronyms
Personality
traits
Technology
terms
Certifications
Product
names
Software
Area
codes
Industry
jargon
Technical
expertise
Types
of degrees
Colleges
Company
names
Terms
like Fortune 500
Occupational
Outlook Handbook: The Occupational
Outlook Handbook provides detailed (but
generic) job descriptions, working conditions,
and long-term outlooks for thousands of jobs.
While OOH jobs are not "live" they
provide helpful information on specific job
titles and careers.Click
here for access to the online version of
the OOH.
Other
Publications: Check out trade
publications, trade magazines, and
Web sites for industry-specific
job postings, industry news, and
market trends.
Your
Alma Mater: Almost
all colleges and universities have
free career centers to support alumni
job searching.
enefits
of 
