KEYWORD PLACEMENT

In the previous post, we discussed the importance of keywords and some common mistakes that caused candidates to inadvertently eliminate themselves during the hiring process. I also advised that you print out three job descriptions and highlight:

(1) the GENERAL KEYWORDS that are shared across all three, and

(2) the SPECIALIZED KEYWORDS that are unique to each respective position.

Today, we will quickly discuss inserting those keywords on your LINKEDIN and RESUME.

LINKEDIN OVERVIEW

When we look at our LinkedIn, we should insert keywords in 4 Sections:

1. Headline Section
2. About Section
3. Experience Section
4. Skill Section

A keyword only needs to show up at least once in any of these four sections to register in a hiring team’s search result, and you should aim to include and expand on spelling variations & acronyms, as we discussed in the previous post.

(1) Headline Section: This section is arguably your most important section and should highlight the most vital keywords in your title & role.

• For example, suppose an automotive hiring manager searched for Torque Control, Motor Control, or Control Software. In all three search cases, the following candidate’s headline will show up because the keywords are present at least once:

Software Engineer specializing in Torque Security, Motor, and Controls System Development

• Here is an additional example of a strong headline that quickly highlights the industry they focus on and key areas of expertise by utilizing specialized keywords that are most relevant to their role:?

Marketing Director for Media Brands | Leading Programmatic, Digital & Influencer Programs

Yes, you can go more general with your headline by just listing “Sales Director @ Company.” However, if the role you want to get hired for requires SMB & SAAS experience, you want to encourage the hiring team to click on your profile and reach out immediately. Often, your headline is the only area visible during a search, so adjusting it to say the following may set you apart immediately.

Sales Director @ Company | SMB, Enterprise, & SaaS Growth Manager

(2) About Section: This gives you the most wiggle room to speak about yourself, your accomplishments, responsibilities, goals, etc. Most importantly, it allows you to expand on generic keywords and add more specialized terms that hiring teams may be searching for.?

• For example, an accountant may speak about their TAX FILINGS experience and couple it with more specialized keywords, e.g., “10yrs of extensive experience with various TAX FILINGS (including income tax, 1099, 941, 990, sales tax, & more).” This is especially helpful if a non-profit is trying to hire an accountant with expertise in 990 Filings and prioritizes 990 as a keyword search term. So, even if the hiring team does not search for “TAX FILING” specifically, this candidate will still appear in their hiring search.
• Another quick example is a candidate who specializes in DIRECT PURCHASING & COMMODITIES. It will help that person to list some of the products they purchased, such as raw materials, metals, aluminum, powdered products, steel, coatings, etc. A hiring manager may only want to focus on finding people who have expertise purchasing aluminum, which increases the chances of this candidate being found.

(3) Experience Section: If you’ve done an excellent job of building out the previous sections, then you can certainly list your job titles only. However, if you’re not employed and don’t want to leave anything to chance, please consider one of the following three approaches to help increase your discoverability:?

• (1) Full Build Out — build out this section similar to your resume by detailing a few of your primary responsibilities & accomplishments for each role while seamlessly integrating keywords.
• (2) Bullet Point List — create a list that details only specific skills and tools used during each respective role. e.g., “Software Used: Laravel, Django, Spring, ExpressJS, Ruby on Rails, etc.”
• (3) Expanded Title? — take your current title and include additional context that speaks to that role, e.g., “Strategy Director: Subject Matter Expert on Consumer & Behavioural Insights.”

(4) Skills Section: You can list 50 skills or keywords in this section. I suggest you maximize this and list the most important keywords that are relevant to your career and expertise.

RESUME OVERVIEW

You want to take all the learnings we discussed for your LinkedIn page and apply them to your resume. While many hiring teams debate whether or not their hiring software “eliminates” candidates, the software may help create a “shortlist” of candidates for them to consider based on the keywords in their resumes.

Use Specialized Keywords To Guide Your Resume Customization: Our goal is to increase your chances of making that shortlist, and the best way to do that is to identify the specialized keywords that the hiring team is looking for via the job description and adjust your resume accordingly. Let’s revisit the accountant example from earlier.

• Suppose you are applying to a Non-Profit role and you recognize that they are emphasizing 990 Filing experience on the job description. In that case, you will want to include the specialized keyword '990' on your resume and make that experience more notable instead of just saying a general term such as TAX FILING experience only.
• Another company may state on the job description that experience with “JD Edwards is a plus,” so you want to prioritize that specialized keyword, 'JD Edwards,' instead of stating more general terms such as ERP or ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE experience. This one change may make all the difference.

Again, I want to emphasize that you need both on your LinkedIn and Resume: General and Specialized Keywords. The problem is that so many candidates only focus on general keywords and lose out on opportunities to get discovered and shortlisted.

CLOSING

Every specialized keyword in this article was pulled from actual job descriptions. As you become more aware of the keywords that separate one role from another, you can begin to understand how the hiring team thinks.

• Them: “How can we quickly filter through these 200 candidates that are interested in our Digital Marketing Director position?”?
• You: “After reviewing the job description, they may start by prioritizing those with Programmatic and Influencer Management experience, so I’ll need to highlight these two areas on my resume.”
• Results: The hiring team prioritized resumes that mentioned Programmatic and Influencer Management experience. Their search created a shortlist of 20 candidates, which includes your application.

When you think of customizing your resume for a role, take a moment and think about the ‘specialized’ keywords that can set you apart. These small changes can make a significant impact in your job search.

Next Week, we will discuss the importance of expanding your connections on LinkedIn.