In metropolitan cities such as Baltimore, Maryland, the use of keywords in resumes and cover letters is crucial to a successful job search. So, what exactly are keywords? Keywords are words and phrases that users (i.e.; Human Resources personnel) tag in search engines to find successful candidates.
Thanks to advancements in technology, some resumes fail to ever reach the desk of a hiring manager simply due to a lack of keywords. Even the most visually appealing, well-formatted and informative resume many never reach its destination due to this potentially fatal pitfall.
The days of job seekers asking ‘Are you hiring?’ are, for most companies, replaced with online career websites that will answer this question automatically. Using the following tips can give your resume the edge it needs to make it to the desk of the right person.
Five tips to using keywords in resumes:
- Research the keywords and phrases for your target job industry.
- Revise your resume and cover letter to include those keywords.
- Skim through the job description in hiring announcements and highlight any buzz words and phrases that are used more than once.
- Be sure to include keywords founds in the job description in the resume and cover letter.
- Check resume and cover letter for spelling and grammatical errors, as these may reverse the positive attention received by a good use of keywords.