Have you ever wondered why you send your CV to countless recruitment agencies and companies in response to advertised vacancies to be greeted by what can only be described as a deafening wall of silence?
An article published this week on the BBC website may well provide the answer to your frustration.
It’s all down to keywords.
Out of a survey of twenty of the biggest global organisations, comprising a total of four million employees between them, it was revealed that eighteen use software - referred to as ‘applicant tracking machines’ - to manage their recruitment processes.
It is these very machines that decide the fate of a job application. The use of such eloquently named software is becoming increasingly popular amongst employers and while recruitment agencies have long used database searches in their quest to find that elusive candidate, continuing technological advances mean that software is becoming ever more sophisticated.
While a candidate may possess all of the skills and achievements needed for the job in question, without the inclusion of the all important keywords their application will be discarded as unsuitable by the scanning software, leaving it to fester in the recesses of the forgotten candidate database.
Will your keywords separate you from the competition in an incredibly competitive job market?
With the average scanning time of a CV estimated at a maximum of ten seconds, your impact has to be instant. To improve the chances of your CV being read by an actual human next time you apply for a position:-
- Keep the layout free of boxes, elaborate fonts or patterns or it will be rejected regardless of content.
- Search for the keywords relevant to the industry and position you are applying for. Study the company website to familiarise yourself with typical keywords. Read the job description carefully to discern which words are used most frequently, those are the keywords that will make the different to your application.
- Distinguish between keywords and non-keywords. Job adverts will often provide the biggest clue. Job titles and specific qualifications, such as ‘civil engineering degree’ are always keywords; character traits such as ‘excellent organisational skills’ are not. Use the job title in the opening lines of your CV.
- Manage your keywords in one of two ways, either by including a section specifically for the keywords entitled ‘Core Competencies’ close to your opening statement or include them naturally throughout the body of your CV. For maximum impact, try both.
- Some job boards have a specific section to include keywords so take full advantage of that facility.
- Use primary and secondary keywords. Primary keywords are often the job title itself such as ‘Software Engineer’. Secondary keywords will normally be incorporated in the section on responsibilities, for example ‘production planning’. Both should be optimised throughout your CV to increase your chances of success.
- Adapt your CV for each individual submission. The days of sending a ‘one size fits all’ CV into multiple job applications are over.
With a growing number of companies turning to applicant screening software for cost effective management of the recruitment process, candidate selection by keywords is here to stay. Successful candidates are quickly learning that the meticulous inclusion of relevant keywords is the difference.
