Friday, February 15, 2013

How to Select the Most Highly Searched Keywords for Your Resume & LinkedIn Profile


Aside from using Wordle.com and similar sites, what can you to best ensure that you have the right keywords to attract recruiters and employers to your LinkedIn page and resume?

There are two ways that I know of to do this on LinkedIn: 

The first way is to simply go to the Skills & Expertise area (the section where people endorse you) and add a skill and note what suggestions pop up that may have higher appeal. 

The other is to go to the last tab across the top navigation ("More") and click on "Skills & Expertise."  After the page loads, type in some words that you are considering and watch the bar graph to the right populate!  Analyze whether it will help you to add that word or term and compare it against other words/terms that are suggested on the left side.  Pick the word/term that is being used the most to find folks with your skills.

Remember that aside from these tools, you can use Word Cloud technology (www.ToCloud.com and www.TagCrowd.com) in two ways:

1. Copy and paste 3-5 job postings into one word cloud window and see what the most frequently used words that employers are seeking and they will visually appear larger relative to other words that appear in those documents.  Then, copy and paste your resume in a second window and compare what words you are missing.

2. You can also analyze the keywords used in a SINGLE job posting and compare it to your resume to see if there is a 
match between your resume and the job to which you are applying. (For employers who use automated resume soring software, this exercise may help you to score high enough to remain in the "call back" pile.
You know what they say “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” and this applies to doing your homework to ensure that you are using all of the most marketable keywords you can  Comparing this beforehand may make all the difference between you getting a call to be interviewed or not. 

Happy keyword researching!

M2    


P.S.  For more LinkedIn and other tips to help you land a job more quickly, go to www.TheECC.com (Speaking/Other Events Page) and download the 50 LinkedIn & Other 

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