An employer sees dozens to hundreds (or more) resumes submitted for each of their job postings. When you’re competing with this many people to gain the attention of a potential employer, you need strategies for your resume to jump to the top. One such strategy is to concentrate on buzzwords. This language includes words that demonstrate you are skilled and are a good team player. It’s also important to concentrate on buzzwords because Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) now look for these kinds of qualities to find the best candidates for an employer to interview. There are four different categories to concentrate on for coming up with the best buzzwords for your resume.
Action Verbs. Action verbs demonstrate just that: an active motion. These words show accomplishment and drive. Use them to illustrate what you have achieved and to describe how you performed in your different jobs. Common words you’ll find are: accomplished, spearheaded and created. They are excellent words to use at the start of the bullet points explaining what you accomplished in a given position.
Organizational Values. The internet makes finding words for this section easy to find. To know about a company’s value system, you need look no further than the organization’s “About Us” section on their website. Most companies have them, and it’s a great resource for gathering what motivates a company. For example, they may value innovation, service to their community and integrity. Whatever words they use on their site to describe their values, find ways to put them into your resume.
Commonly-desired Skills. No matter what job you’re applying for, there are common skills that nearly every employer hopes to find in a new employee. Qualities nearly every company wants in their workers are passion, accountability and leadership. You can use these words in various places on your resume such as to describe what you’ve accomplished in certain positions or in an objective.
Words Used in Your Industry. Each type of industry you may pursue has a set of vocabulary particular to it. Again, you can figure out these key words by looking at their website and also carefully reviewing the job description. For example, in a tech industry, you’ll likely see mention of specific software or analytical processes. Or, in an administrative setting, you may see hard skills like typing, accounting or payroll.