John Johnson ⋅ Converse, TX U.S. Army, Sergeant First Class ⋅ 23 years served

Hello Ernest,

I just learned a great way to find what 'keywords' you need to put in your resume. I used a website called "TagCrowd" to do mine but I was told that there is one on "SeoBook" as well. I couldn't get that one to work for me though.

1. Research the positions you want to apply for on job sites. (5-7)
2. Copy and paste the job descriptions and qualifications onto a word document.
3. Copy and paste all of that information into the block on TagCrowd and submit it.
4. The keywords, or words that are used the most in those job positions will pop in the program.
5. Use these to sprinkle in your resume.

Hope this helps a little and good luck in your search!

Regards,

John J

amy chersey ⋅ Los Angeles, CA U.S. Air Force, Airman Basic ⋅ 6 years served

on the site https://devmyresume.com/resume-editing/ you can get professional help in writing and editing the resume and get a response from professional authors

Jim Jones ⋅ Getzville, NY Fidelis Care ⋅ 35 years experience

Hi Ernest, key words are those that match the job description and qualifications for the career/job you seek. So research and review each job, and tailor your resume to the job. You will find the key words within the job posting. One additional source is via an informational interview. An informational interview is an opportunity for you to meet a hiring manager and develop a deeper understanding of the company and position. You will also pick up key themes areas that are most important to the hiring manager. Good luck.

Bryan Richardson ⋅ O Fallon, IL U.S. Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel ⋅ 22 years served

Here's a trick I recently learned:

Copy all the text from a job listing you are interested in. Then, go to www.wordle.net and "create" a word cloud. Paste all the text from the job listing into the box and Wordle will analyze it and create a word cloud. You'll see a visual depiction of the words and can use it to help pick out keywords. The larger and more visible a word, the more important it is to the text.

Hope that helps!

Bob Schaefer ⋅ Garland, TX Raytheon ⋅ 9 years experience

Key word are those words that a computer program tracks and pulls up. These are considered "metadata" and when someone searches a document for "SAP" or "Expert" or a specific product, they will pull all the documents that have those words. When you search in Google, they are pulling up the words that you have entered, in effect, your "keywords".
In the old days.... you could sneak in all sorts of keywords into your resume by pasting a bunch of keywords into the bottom of your resume in white! The viewer could see the white words but the computer would pull you up to the top because you were an "expert"....

DF Jackson ⋅ Washington, DC U.S. Air Force, Senior Airman ⋅ 4 years served

Use keywords that are commonly used to describe the skills and abilities you posses. Also, they are the words in the Job description of the job you are seeking. So, look at a few of the job descriptions for the job you are qualified for and then use similar words in your cover letter and resume and your USAJOBS profile.

Thank you for your service and best wishes.

Samantha ONeil ⋅ Alexandria, VA SOS International, LLC ⋅ 15 years experience

Ernest -- The keywords should be taken directly from each, separate government job posting on the site. Essentially, you should create a new resume/KSA responses using words taken directly from the job posting, in response to each one you apply for -- small resume edits in this way make a big difference. Using one resume for all won't cut it. The keywords are what the computer uses to rank your application -- before a person ever sees it.

For example, in communication (my field) people could use different terms: online communication, social media, digital communication, Facebook to mean the same thing. Whichever term the job listing uses to describe the job/skills needed is what you want to use. Essentially cut and paste the terms from the job listing directly in your resume, and over use them -- the computer will keep on counting towards your score.

I was taught this by a government HR trainer and used this method successfully multiple times in securing government positions. Good luck.

Deb Yeagle ⋅ Tampa, FL Plan To Win, Inc. ⋅ 39 years experience

Ernest-
Thanks for your service!
If you can provide me with a specific USAJOBS example then I would be happy to point out the keywords. Job announcements vary in structure and that effects where you will find thr keywords. Feel free to message me with examples and I will identify the keywords.
Thanks!
Deb

Richard Filippi ⋅ Rye, NY Financial Industry Technical Services (plus various Global Banks) ⋅ 40 years experience

When you look at the description see what they are looking for and include them in the resume. You would need to modify "take charge" on your resume to leadership when submitting it for that particular job.
More importantly use the ACP and LinkedIn web sites to find people who have or currently work for the company. Reach out to them for advice. Once you have a relationship you may want to ask if they know or provide the contact in HR so you can reach out directly.
All website's have software that eliminates resumes if they do not fit the criteria so personal contacts are the most important. If you are looking for a job you should be spending 5 hours a day on it searching groups and alumni When you have a job you should be on there 3 hours per week.
Regards

Ronald Carvalho ⋅ Avon By The Sea, NJ Marketing Resource International ⋅ 40 years experience

Ernest,
Read as many job posting ads in the area that interests you. Find the common words used by employers in these ads. Incorporate these words in your resume. On the flip side, there are sites that lists words that should not appear on your resume - highly recommend.

Paul Trejo ⋅ Austin, TX University of Texas at Austin ⋅ 40 years experience

Ernest, thanks for your years of service. I can only offer my own example in the computer field. There are many specialties -- SQL, Oracle SQL, Microsoft SQL, ASP, C++, Java, C#.NET, Perl and countless others.

When an employer publishes an open job-position for the computer field, they will always indicate which specialty they require. They put a lot of thought into this. It is a waste of time for a SQL specialist, for example, to apply for a position in Java.

Most organizations operate by specialization. The job-positions today tend to be for specialists with experience in a specific field ONLY. The keywords in my case are SQL, C++, Java, ASP and so on.

USA Jobs uses a computer to match individual words in your resume with individual words in the open job-position. It's just a computer -- and that's why they ask you to use "keywords," which means, the technical terms used in a specific industry. They obviously vary from industry to industry.

The keywords in your field would be the technical distinctions within your field. You describe your title as "specialist," and that's probably clear in the Military, yet for outsiders, that could mean anything. Being more specific about your experience would let the USA Jobs computer match your resume with job-openings.

I don't know what your job has been in the Military, but you know the distinctions, the divisions, the differences in the technical realm, and you know the 'buzzwords' that your co-workers used over the years. These, in my view, would be the keywords that you would enter in your online resume, so that the USA Jobs computer can find as many matches as possible for job-openings.

Once the USA Jobs computer finds matches, it will send you matching job positions (based only on the keywords you entered). At that point, I would tailor my resume to match each individual job-position as much as possible. I'd omit experience irrelevant to that job-position. I'd omit hobbies and outside interests. I'd just focus on the requirements of that specific job-opening when I apply.

Best wishes for a bright future,
--Paul

Susana Moraga ⋅ Hayward, CA California State University East Bay ⋅ 20 years experience

Ernest,

You may look at the Help Center on usajobs.gov; How to Write a Resume; 3. what to include:
https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include/

USAjobs is very user friendly and has lots of support for veterans. It is important you know what recruiters are looking for; if you ever have any questions about a particular posting you my always contact the recruiter directly.

Good luck,

Melissa McCauley ⋅ New York, NY American Corporate Partners ⋅ 1 years experience

Hi Ernest,

Thank you for your great question. I encourage you to check out this resource https://www.jobscan.co/, which shows you how to target your resumes to match job descriptions using keywords.

Best,
Melissa