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Your resume is finally complete and you’ve reviewed it for accuracy and spelling. If you’re ready to post it for employers to see, one final step will help ensure that your credentials stand out from other applicants.
Just as you use keywords to search for job opportunities, employers use them to search for specific skills and experience that match their needs. Keyword scanning software is being used with increasing frequency to provide a more efficient and less time-consuming way of sifting through resumes.
When using specific keywords in your resume, look at each job description and see where you can include exact words that match your background. For example, if you have had experience managing outside legal counsel in a claim or corporate environment and the position requires someone with litigation management experience, be sure that your resume includes the keywords “litigation management”. Or, if the opening asks for someone with Lotus Notes’ experience, make sure that your resume details that specific program. Detailing each specific software program by name is a great place to incorporate keywords in your resume.
And, it always helps to include specifics with your keywords. If the position requires first chair insurance defense trial experience, include the exact number of first chair trials that you have handled during your career. As an example, you may want to say – responsible for 14 first chair insurance defense jury trials (5 settled / 9 to verdict).
Should keywords be included in a professional summary at the top of your resume or in the body of the resume itself? Given that not all employers use resume scanning software, it may be that a real person could be still sifting through the piles of applications. In those situations, you have less than 30 seconds, or less, to grab the reader’s attention so that your resume ends up in the active pile rather than the black hole of rejected resumes.
To achieve this, we recommend that you look at the essential requirements of the position and include keywords matching those elements in the professional summary. Other skills and experience that do not appear to be critical should be incorporated, wherever possible, in the body of the resume.
If you have relevant skills in more than one previous job, don’t hesitate to include the keywords more than once under the experience for each employer. However, always make sure to represent your qualifications accurately and honestly. Exaggeration and embellishment have a way to catching up with you.
There is no denying that this approach requires more time in reviewing and modifying your resume based on the specific job(s) that you are considering. One standard resume with relevant keywords may be acceptable for many openings but you’ll find that by reviewing your resume based on each job opening will produce more effective results by increasing your odds of getting an interview.
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