Are you submitting a resume after resuming but still not receiving an invitation to an interview? Research has shown that we are in a candidate-driven market. Applicants are more confident to turn down a job offer instead of a better one. If this is a trend, you are probably wondering why you don’t have a job offer yet. Perhaps there are not enough vacancies in your industry?
The study shows that 48% of small businesses reported that there were no candidates at all or there were several candidates for the positions they were trying to fill.
What does it give?
The find gave a hint: several qualified candidates. When a company or small business posts a job ad, they review the applications either manually or with Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software. The selection process finds attachments that contain keywords to use in a resume to assess a candidate’s suitability for the position.
Resumes that do not contain these keywords do not appear in search results, so they are not read. In recruiting jargon, these resumes get stuck in the “application black hole.”
This means that you should include these keywords on your resume to increase the chance of your application showing up in a recruiter’s search.
In this detailed guide, you’ll learn how important keywords are for a resume, as well as how to research and find the right keywords to use on your resume. Then consider the best way to include keywords and phrases on your resume to beat the ATS software and improve your chances of landing the next job you apply for.
Plus, get keyword hints to search for, a helpful list of keywords to use on your resume, and keyword resume examples that you can use quickly. Let’s start with a description:
What is considered a resume keyword?
Keywords are mostly nouns. You have been taught to use power words or action verbs such as “created”, “resolved” or “trained” to highlight your skills and accomplishments. The recruiter will not use these search terms during the next hire.
The “what” underlined by the power words are the keywords to use in the resume. In the examples below, words in italics are power words and bold words are keywords:
- Created a training program for new employees
- Coordinated launch campaigns and outreach activities
- Budgeting software development using JavaScript and HTML.
For example, if a startup is looking for a programmer with Ruby on Rails experience, it will include a Ruby on Rails or Ruby resume in its keyword list. They may also include HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in their keywords to narrow down their search, as these programming languages are associated with Rails.