Do You Need Keywords?

How Relevant are Keywords When Applying for a Job?

 It’s very important to add key words to your resume in a summary and include them in a description of your job history while writing down the duties at each job, according to Patrick Larkin, a recruiter at Superior Technical Resources, Inc. An average recruiter has to deal with the problem of selecting the right candidates to bid on jobs everyday. Sometimes a job candidate will leave out keywords in their resume listing only that they have experience but not describing what kind.
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“ Just the other day I received resume information from an Administrator who failed to include any information about her 16 year career besides listing her job titles and dates. Employers want to know what you did at each job.” says Larkin.

Today’s recruiting businesses subscribe to database services that captures resumes from top search engines such as Career Builder, Dice, Monster and HotJobs and others. When you submit your resume on-line at these job sites it goes into a database where it’s reformatted according to job description, location, and contact information and sent electronically to different recruiting clients.

Recruiters have software which allow them to perform searches on these databases. The process involves entering criteria.

“Sometimes I enter up to five keywords to describe a job because no one thinks of the same exact keywords for every position.” added Larkin.

Other areas that should be included in the job history are technical skills and competencies.

The search results save thousands of hours for recruiters when they are trying to indentify the perfect candidate for a job. The recruiter reviews the results and calls or contacts the candidates whose background best matches the job description through email. At this point, the job seeker is encouraged to send a copy of their resume to the recruiter who will follows up with a telephone interview. If the candidate has the right experience, location and salary range their information is sent to an employer who decides which prospects they’d like to interview.