{"id":84,"date":"2006-06-05T09:17:56","date_gmt":"2006-06-05T14:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/?p=84"},"modified":"2006-06-05T09:17:56","modified_gmt":"2006-06-05T14:17:56","slug":"keywording-a-resume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/06\/keywording-a-resume\/","title":{"rendered":"Keywording a Resume"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CareerJournal posted an article titled <a href=\"http:\/\/www.careerjournal.com\/jobhunting\/resumes\/20060605-flesher.html?mod=RSS_Career_Journal&#038;cjrss=frontpage\" target=\"_blank\">Finding the Right Keywords to Get Your Resume Noticed<\/a>.  As <em>you<\/em> have probably noticed, we are on a crusade to stop companies from making initial candidate decisions based on resumes only.  We go to great lengths to parse a resume for key information.  We have our own keywords and, more importantly, key data that supports their claims.  Notice this section of the article:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Although many keywords are industry specific, Mr. Block says, certain phrases are important to almost all companies. They include &#8220;communication skills,&#8221; &#8220;problem-solving,&#8221; &#8220;team work,&#8221; &#8220;leadership,&#8221; &#8220;resource optimization,&#8221; and &#8220;image and reputation management.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Business development&#8221; might be one of the most important of all, he says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It is one thing to have popular keywords, it is another to provide tangible support of the claim.  It is still a further item to exhibit the sales skills that support the business development claim.<\/p>\n<p>Here is an excerpt I have to parse (my emphasis added):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;You need to communicate the things that you do in a positive, active way,&#8221; he says. Using strong phrases like &#8220;<strong>led<\/strong> a team&#8221; or &#8220;<strong>built<\/strong> a team&#8221; instead of &#8220;<strong>worked<\/strong> with a team&#8221; can make a subtle but important distinction to a recruiter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Positive, active words are important in a resume.  Inaccurate words are not.  Led, built and worked are all 3 very different verbs.  General questions that I would pursue in a phone screen or interview for each statement:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Led a team<\/em>&#8221; &#8211; How big was the team?  What were your day-to-day responsiblities?  Overall, how well did the team perform against its target\/quota\/objective?  What was one of the largest obstacles you had to lead your team through?  How would you describe you leadership style?<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Built a team<\/em>&#8221; &#8211; How many team members did you inherit and how many did you personally add?  Tell us about your process for adding to the team.  Besides building the team, what other responsiblities did you have?<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Worked with a team<\/em>&#8221; &#8211; What were your specific responsibilities on the team?  Walk us through how the team functioned.  What team objectives were you working towards and how did  you do in attaining them?  What contributions did you make to the success of the team?<\/p>\n<p>My rather lengthy point here is that words do matter on a resume.  Worked, built and led are 3 very different verbs that lead to completely different lines of questioning.  Wantonly interchanging these 3 verbs speaks more to embellishment than to accuracy.  As an interviewer, it is your responsiblity to drill down on the candidate&#8217;s responsiblities within the context of the team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CareerJournal posted an article titled Finding the Right Keywords to Get Your Resume Noticed. As you have probably noticed, we are on a crusade to stop companies from making initial candidate decisions based on resumes only. We go to great lengths to parse a resume for key information. We have our own keywords and, more importantly, key data that supports their claims. Notice this section of the article: Although many keywords are industry specific, Mr. Block says, certain phrases are important to almost all companies. They include &#8220;communication skills,&#8221; &#8220;problem-solving,&#8221; &#8220;team work,&#8221; &#8220;leadership,&#8221; &#8220;resource optimization,&#8221; and &#8220;image and reputation management.&#8221; &#8220;Business development&#8221; might be one of the most important of&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/06\/keywording-a-resume\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hiring","category-resumes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-1m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1157,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/08\/why-i-dislike-keywords-in-ads\/","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":0},"title":"Why I Dislike Keywords In Ads","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I posted on these automated response programs recently. Well, I just received a different promo email for a more \"automated\" program: For the first time, there's a service that finds 100's of perfectly matched, available jobs & instantly applies to them FOR YOU, every day. It's called __________ and it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Employment Ads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Employment Ads","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/employment-ads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":310,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/09\/the-aesthetics-of-resumes\/","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":1},"title":"The Aesthetics of Resumes","author":"Lee Fratzke","date":"September 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Resumes seem to be getting a lot of air time on the internet lately, including our blog. I just read an interesting article this morning and thought I would share a couple of points that the author brought to my attention. The article is written for the job seeker, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":125,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/06\/niche-employment-sites\/","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":2},"title":"Niche Employment Sites","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"June 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Sourcing will become the most difficult task in hiring within the next 5 years if it isn't already. CareerJournal has an informational article today - Niche Sites Catch On With More Job Seekers. The article basically tracks a handful of higher level employees and their use of niche boards to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":398,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/10\/cover-letter-help\/","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":3},"title":"Cover Letter Help","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"After all of my cover letter enjoyment, CareerJournal.com offers up a short article to assist candidates - Six Tips for Writing A Winning Cover Letter. Thank goodness for CareerJournal. Their last suggestion (my emphasis): Proofreading. Double-check the letter before you send it. When you're applying for multiple jobs, it's easy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Resumes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Resumes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/resumes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":234,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/08\/phone-screening-tip\/","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":4},"title":"Phone Screening Tip","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"We use phone screens extensively in our sourcing activities. The first advantage to this approach is that it removes some biases from the interviewer. Second, it neutralizes a candidates ability to pour on their rapport-building skills. Thirdly, it is a much shorter time commitment than an in-person interview. I could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/05\/now-this-is-a-commute\/","url_meta":{"origin":84,"position":5},"title":"Now THIS is a Commute","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"May 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Work in Omaha, Live in Connecticut from CareerJournal discusses the commuting schedule of the CEO of ConAgra. Two words = corporate jet. The article provides much detail regarding the interaction between CEO's and the investment community. But in the middle of the article resides this little dandy: But other experts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Trends&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Trends","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/trends\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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