How To Keyword Optimize Your Resume

When it comes to job applications, differentiation is key, but you still need to be relevant and suitable to stand out. This is where you should look to keyword optimize your resume.

March 2, 2024 by Kazu Fujimoto

Creating an ATS and Recruiter Friendly Resume

As an applicant, it’s no real surprise that you need to try and stand out to recruiters, but you also need to be able to please the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) if you hope to get your resume in front of the right people.

What Does An ATS Keyword Scanner Do?

An ATS is crucial in the modern hiring process. These systems are designed to save hiring companies time by breaking down resumes and highlighting important information. ATS scanners are able to search text for specific keywords and phrases to present the most qualified applicants for the next stage of the application process.

An ATS will typically look for the quantity of specific keywords and assign a score to each resume scanned. These scores are paired with the job description to look for the most suitable candidate and this then allows recruiters to meet with the most suitable candidates and continue the hiring process.

It’s no real surprise then, that your resume not only needs to appeal to recruiters, it also needs to suit the algorithm used by the ATS. This is where it becomes vital to know how to keyword optimize your resume.

What Are Resume Keywords?

Resume keywords can appear in a number of different areas of a resume or CV.

The most commonly targeted by ATS keyword scanners are:

• Company values – This shows an applicant will buy into the company vision. It can include keywords like responsibility and sustainability.

• Job titles – Specific job titles are very commonly used to filter resumes. If you have had roles that used uncommon titles, you may be able to rename them to better suit the criteria of the job description.  

• Soft skills – Soft skills mostly refer to personal skills and will focus on things like teamwork, creativity and leadership qualities.

• Hard skills – Hard skills more typically refer to practical skills. An engineer, for example, might mention use of a micrometer or other role-specific machinery. 

• Qualifications – Recruitment systems frequently filter degrees, licenses or industry standard qualifications.

• Software – If a business already uses specific software, this might be considered an essential that the ATS will look for. Make sure you’re using its proper name to ensure it can be easily picked up. This can include things like Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Excel, and MySQL

• Industry specific skills or language – Common language in the industry might also appear in keyword searches. You’ll be able to identify from the job description whether a company is using a particular term that you should be mirroring in your resume.

Why Is Optimizing A Resume Important?

As well as appeasing the ATS, it’s important to ensure that your resume is as good as it can be for the hiring team operating it. Optimizing and revising your resume, whether with the help of an advisor or not, is key to getting an interview and securing a job.

Emphasizing Suitability

Using keywords highlights to those reading a resume that you unquestionably understand what is needed in terms of skills and experience for someone in the role. Your resume offers the perfect first impression to the hiring company.

Improved Visibility

Careers in established and reputable businesses can be difficult to land, which is why you need to be as visible as possible. If you take the extra time to keyword optimize your resume, it will achieve a higher score with the hiring company’s ATS and flag you as being a highly compatible candidate. 

Showcasing Industry Experience

Using niche keywords or industry specific terms highlighted in the job description shows your experience and knowledge of the industry. This can set you apart from other applicants.

How To Find The Best Resume Keywords

Finding the right keywords can be time consuming and also complicated. It’s a common reason people generally like to work with advisors.

Saving a variety of relevant job descriptions can give you a good idea of common keywords and similar skill requirements. This can help you to better optimize your resume. 

Look for repeated words, skills, tools and software. Highlight all of the relevant information to use when writing your own resume.

Try to focus on high-reputation businesses. These companies will likely have larger teams and often more advanced software to help them optimize their job descriptions.

If you were looking at, for example, engineering roles, there are a few essential keywords and phrases you might want to include in an engineering resume. 

Here are a few engineering keywords for optimizing your resume:

• Mechanical design 
• Software development
• Efficiency
• Quality Assurance / Quality Control
• Computed Aided Design (CAD)
• Machine Learning (ML)
• Agile methodologies
• Equipment Diagnostics
• Troubleshooting
• Micrometers, CMM, Gauges

Here are some examples of Engineering resumes that have been improved with keywords.

How To Keyword Optimize Your Resume

There are a number of ways to keyword optimize your resume and help you to stand out in the application process.

1. Look carefully at the job description for the language used and if it says ‘strategic’ and your resume says ‘strategy’, consider adjusting the copy to match.
2. Don’t overstuff your resume with keywords. Whilst it’s important to include essential skills and experience, you still want it to appear natural. If you find writing and keyword research to be difficult or time consuming, consider getting the help of a resume rewriting specialist.
3. Highlight the success you’ve seen without over-exaggerating your achievements and if you do need to rename a role or responsibility, make sure it accurately reflects your position and experience.

Tools To Improve Keywords in Your Resume

There are a number of paid tools online that will help you to keyword optimize your resume, but if you’re short on time, it might be worth seeking out the help of a resume coach or advisor to do it for you.

You can easily seek help with resume writing, cover letter writing and even mock interviews. This will help you get the most from the application process and land that dream job.