| I get a lot of emails from angry people, frustrated because they're "perfect for the job" and didn't get considered. They claim that they have all the requirements, and then some. Yet, they don't get back so much as an email confirmation. One writer told me that she'd sent out 2,000 resumes and only received 8 responses. Seems to me that statistics like this would indicate that perhaps you're not as "perfect" as you'd like to believe.
Rather than being quick to jump to the conclusion that it's all a big conspiracy against you, consider a couple of other explanations:
- Timing - Most employers cap the number of applications they review and maybe yours came too late to be included in that group. It's not unusual for an Internet job posting to elicit hundreds, even thousands of responses in the first couple of days. If you don't respond immediately, you're likely to be out of luck, even if you are a perfect match.
- Competition - As perfect as you consider yourself, there may be others who are a cut above by having more years of experience. Or because they did the same work but in the same industry as the prospective employer. Or because they worked for a well-known and respected company. Remember that a minimum qualification sets the bar ... more is better.
- Poor Presentation - Yours, that is. Your resume didn't make a convincing argument for your skills and abilities. You didn't explicitly draw a one-to-one correlation between your qualifications and those required for the position.
There's a simple way to fix #3. Keywords.
Electronic Resume Review Systems
What makes it easier for us to apply on line makes it harder for employers to identify the best candidates. All large companies, and quite a few of the smaller ones, are utilizing some type of screening software to plow through their avalanche of submissions.
Paper resumes get scanned and converted into electronic files for convenient review. All resumes may be compressed into short summaries for storage. These software products differ in functionality and sophistication, but virtually all use some kind of keyword matching or natural language query technique as a first level screen.
Someone - with any luck, someone who actually understands what skills are really needed in a candidate - identifies a set of keywords. Some that will be mandatory and others that are "nice-to-haves." The Boolean search string is constructed, the pool gets assessed and the top X number of resumes are pulled for review by real people.
Some applications rank by number of designated keywords found in the resume. Others rank by total number of times keywords appear (multiple mentions of keywords improve positioning.) Natural language query systems are more expansive but also more expensive, so they aren't as widespread.
Hey, don't worry about which method is being used. Concentrate on including more keywords.
What's a Keyword?
Keywords are important nouns and descriptive phrases. Job titles like Systems Engineer or Database Marketer. Examples of skills, like application development, project management, rapid prototyping. Names of technologies, platforms and products like Linux, Oracle, Plumtree, Cognos. Also, industry acronyms, such as TCP/IP or XHTML.
Education and certifications are important too. Obviously, CCNA or CIW will pop for you. But so may your educational institution, especially when it's something like MIT or Carnegie-Mellon. Keep in mind that if a posting states that a college degree is required, mandatory keywords will probably include "Bachelor" or BA/BS. If you don't have one, no one will get to consider your extensive relevant experience as an alternative - because your resume won't be in the pile to be reviewed.
Some companies may include names of well-known companies in the industry as keywords. If you previously worked for one of the Big 5, or a major power like IBM or Cisco, you may be in luck. Similarly, specific industry experience may be desired, and keywords will include, for example, "pharmaceutical" or "pharma."
Don't forget to include soft skills keywords, like communication, team player, coaching and independent. Also, general business and management terms like budget, oversight, P&L, etc.
It's good to include both abbreviations and spelled-out versions of terms. And check to include common synonyms for your keywords too. This is especially important if any of your former employers didn't use standard job titles. These days, "marketer" beats "evangelist."
Keyword Ranking Rules
These are not cast in stone, but generally apply across the board:
- If the posting specifies mandatory requirements, your resume must show all of them for you to make the first cut.
- The more selected keywords your resume contains, the higher your position in candidate rankings.
- The closer to the top of your resume keywords appear, the better.
The #1 Keyword Trick
It's not magic. It's just reading comprehension. Take the posting and scrutinize it, looking for nouns and descriptive phrases in the areas describing the job and requirements. You might even highlight all of them. In all likelihood, these will be the keywords used to screen applicants. Here's an example:
Managing the internal database usage you will consult with engineering on database layout and performance issues that impact code/application. Three (3) years of working with SQL, NT and/or UNIX is required. The DBA will support and maintain development and production databases; Implement backup and recovery processes; Identify, test and resolve database performance issues (monitoring and tuning) to ensure database optimization; Modify database structures as necessary for enhancements or performance; Identify, test and deploy all database technologies and support tools. Experience with relational database design, application performance with relational databases and creation of databases is necessary.
Simple, right? Now, the trick is to make sure that all of the keywords you identify are actually somewhere in your resume. If they aren't, put them in. All of them, if you can legitimately do so. (Note to zealous job seekers: this is not an invitation to pad your credentials just to look good. Your true capabilities will emerge sooner or later and nobody respects a fraud.)
Wait a minute, you say. Does this mean I have to tweak my resume each time I go after another opportunity? Yes ... unless you're too lazy to optimize your own chances. In which case, you're probably not bothering to read advice like this. And no, you can't get around this by putting the keywords in the cover letter instead. Put them both places where you can.
Keyword Trick #2
Group all of your keywords at the top of your resume under the heading "Summary of Qualifications" or something like that. Use this to replace your Objective section.
More
Keywords are critical, but a resume is more than a collection of buzzwords. You still have to connect the dots to create the right picture. Next month, Electronic Resume Power will cover effective presentation techniques.
The job market is still very tight. Hang in there and keep your spirits up. Write to me at jamie@jobcircle.com. I'm available for a shoulder to cry on or an encouraging word. Have a great Thanksgiving. We all have more to be thankful for than we realize.
Enjoy this article? Read more of JobCircle.com's Career Coach articles.
Jamie Fabian spent more than 15 years as a human resources executive before changing careers to become a senior project manager for a growing IT consulting company. Now in management consulting for a large Pharma company, Jamie would like to be seen as a hybrid of Tom Peters, Tom Jackson, and Tom Wolfe, but spends too much time working, driving carpool and watching mindless TV to write more than this column. You can contact Jamie with questions and comments at jamie@jobcircle.com.
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