When we begin recruiting for a new position, there are several standard actions we take to find potential candidates: 1) post the job, 2) do keyword searches on some of the job boards, and 3) perform keyword searches on the Internet. Which leads me to the topic of this month’s newsletter–how well key-worded is your resume? If you’re in the market for a C/C++ developer role working on scientific software, how high are the odds that when that company starts searching for resumes, they’re going to find yours? Effective use of keywords can increase those odds. There is a lot of information out on the Internet about the nuts and bolts of effective key-wording a resume, but here are a just few pointers to get you started.

1. Put the word “Resume” on your resume. Perhaps obvious, but probably the most overlooked. Most recruiters I know begin their keyword search with “resume,” and then a string of keywords related to the job description. Yes, in the past this has been considered bad resume etiquette, but something like “Resume of (your name)” will be perfectly acceptable.
2. Make sure your most important keywords are embedded in a descriptive sentence. As an example, if you want to highlight your Visual C++ experience, make it part of a sentence such as, “Lead programmer on system interface solution using Visual C++.” The reason for this is that some companies will use keyword scanning software which will distinguish between keywords found in a keyword list (such as a skills matrix) and those found in a descriptive sentence. Keywords found within a descriptive sentence are weighted higher than those that aren’t.
3. Spell out your keywords in all of their common spellings. Visual C++ should be listed on your resume as “Visual C++” as well as “VC++” and “MSVC”.

Again, these are just a few tips to get you started, but an Internet search on “resume keywords” will bring up a wealth of information on effective use of keywords to maximize the chances of getting your resume noticed.