Why Are Keywords Important in a Resume?

According to a research study by Careerbuilder, 76 percent of employed individuals are looking out for a new job. Where does that leave you with in the huge competition? You need to find a way to stand out in the huge crowd of applicants and get selected too. For that, your resume should first skip the robotic tracking system installed in companies for it to get through. Second, it should make the person viewing your resume sit up and take notice of what you have written without him/her tossing it into the rejected pile. Which is WHY we come to using different, compelling keywords here.

Keywords are those descriptive words used to showcase your accomplishments and skills which grab any reader’s attention. A lot of hiring managers nowadays use the ATS to save time and efforts of theirs in scanning multiple resumes. This is where the keywords you’ve used play a crucial role. ATS is a recruitment software which stores resumes in a database for recruiters to access later. The recruiters then search and sort through the resumes which the ATS has ranked as a good match to the job description. This helps streamline the process for big companies.

Who decides the keywords for the job, from the company’s end? The HR team gets together to frame a detailed and succinct description for the open position. Once that’s written, they determine the important keywords for that position and phrases that are unique to the job which are based on the qualifications, experience and the skills they are looking out for. Then they feed it in the ATS. You, as a candidate need to ensure the frequency and usage of keywords within your resume are enough so it matches the job description, resulting in the ATS ranking your resume higher from the lot of other applicants.

Reasons Why Keywords are Important

1. It helps you get shortlisted among the herd of other applications and outshine the ATS as well.
2. It helps in focusing on the more important skill set you have. It helps in reducing clutter on your resume and helps weed out matter that is not relevant anymore.
3. It shows you’re talking the same lingo like the hiring managers out there, which makes it easier for them to understand you.
4. Stresses on your accomplishments and brings them to the forefront.
5. Use keywords in your resume and avoid the resume black hole!

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