Embrace resume keywords, eschew buzzwords

resume keywords are crucial

Which words in your resume are selling your skills?

Which words are drowning them out?

There’s a fine line between keywords, which help recruiters find you and understand your experience and background, and buzzwords, which sound good but often say very little.

The problem is that because the buzzwords sound so impressive, we tend to glom onto them to give our resumes a little extra oomph in the credibility department.

“Quantitative analysis of strategic paradigms,” we think. “Gee, that sounds important.” And it’s by this chipping away that we kill the clarity of our job search documents.

If a recruiter or hiring manager has to dig through the corporate speak to find you, they may not take the effort. So how do you know what’s a keyword — something that adds understanding and makes it more likely that you’ll be matched with a position — and what’s a buzzword? Let’s look at some examples.

Resume keywords: Six Sigma, Microsoft Office, CRM, database administration, management, project management, SAP, international, product launch, mergers and acquisitions, change management. Also, names/industries of clients, names of technologies that you use, support or sell.

Resume buzzwords: synergy, paradigm, leverage, dynamic, alignment, next generation, emerging technology.

Keywords are typically either nouns – people, places or things around your work – or core job functions and responsibilities. Buzzwords are the sort of things you see in poorly written corporate mission statements and memos.

For every word in your resume, ask yourself — does this help the reader understand what I do? If yes, it’s worth keeping. If no, it’s getting in the way.

Got any great must-kill buzzwords to share? Post them in the comments.

photo credit: ~Brenda-Starr~

Related posts:

1. Resume Writing: 7 phrases that kill your resume
2. 5 Keys to a Resume Summary Statement With Punch
3. Improve your resume today: Play up what you want
4. Your resume summary statement: Quantify, quantify, quantify
5. Improve your resume today: Using active voice