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keyword spam

What Not to Do: Countdown of Four Things to Avoid on Your Resume

Number four in our countdown of things not to do on your resume is keyword spam. Modern Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)—the software that “reads” resumes to save humans work—are aware of context. If you are a chemical engineer, the terms “chemical,” “engineer,” “engineering,” and so on should appear naturally in the description of your career. That is a better way of handling keywords than listing them over and over with no regard for context.

Number three is sending your resume to a resume writer who is not qualified. The unqualified people include not only family and friends (no matter how well meaning) but those who advertise themselves as professional resume writers without any of the credentials. By way of contrast, I am a member of the top three professional organizations in the resume writing field, namely Career Directors International (CDI), Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PRWA/CC), and the National Resume Writers Association (NRWA); I speak at many resume writing conferences and webinars; and I have more than 20 years of experience. Those qualifications are the definition of “professional.”

Number two is focusing on skills instead of accomplishments. Take our chemical engineer example. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 32,000 chemical engineers were employed in the U.S. in 2008 alone. A list of skills would be identical for all 32,000. None of them would stand out to a company as the perfect hire. But if they concentrated on accomplishments, on what they did with those skills, then some of them would clearly match the company’s requirements, culture, and expectations more closely than others. Want to stand out from your competition? Concentrate on accomplishments.

Number one on our countdown of things to avoid is lying. Companies will check the facts you give them. They will ask you questions during the interview to confirm what you’ve told them. Inconsistencies, hesitations, and confusion will alert them to problems they don’t want to deal with.

If you have trouble creating a strongly written resume that clearly and truthfully demonstrates your value to future employers, turn to a professional resume writer. Turn to Robin’s Resumes®.

Free Resume Help: Step Right Up

One of the reasons that I offer this free blog on resume writing is to explain what goes into a great resume. Another reason is to give back where I can: to help people who are trying to write their own resumes. Free resume help is also available from the public library, many high school and college career centers and some nonprofits.

If you are a do-it-yourself resume writer:

  1. Do not let yourself get befuddled with advice. There are dozens of ways to write a good resume and all of them are valid. Limit the number of books you consult on resume writing and the number of people you ask for opinions.
  2. Remember that free advice is generic advice: it does not take into account your accomplishments, your goals and the job you want. Customize your resume to you.
  3. Try to see your resume through the eyes of an employer. Amateur writers tend to love and believe in everything that they write. How you feel about your resume is not half as important as how a future employer feels.
  4. Do not try to “beat the system” or “stand out” by using quirky fonts, colors, keyword spam, QR codes or any other attention-getting devices. What recruiters and hiring managers want most is a resume that is clear, accurate, easy to load into an Applicant Tracking System and a match for the skills, experience and attitudes they are looking for. That is enough to concentrate on!

At Robin’s Resumes®, I give excellent value for the fees I charge by making sure your resume will catch the eye of recruiters and hiring managers in the best possible way. If your do-it-yourself resume and job hunt are failing you, stop wasting precious working weeks, months and years: contact me today.

Keyword Spam: What It Means on a Resume

Keywords are those critical words that an employer will automatically expect to find on any resume from a job applicant. For example, if you are applying for an accountant position, the employer will expect to see the following words (among others): profit & loss (P&L), accounts receivable and cash flow. When the resume is searched electronically, those words had better show up or the resume will be rejected.

Keyword spam (also called keyword stuffing) occurs when your resume contains a list of all possible words that the employer might possibly search without any regard to your actual skills and achievements. Keyword spam tells nothing about you as a past and future employee; it does not set you apart from all the other candidates; it merely wastes the time of recruiters and hiring managers.

Some keyword spammers even write the key words in the same color as the resume background (for example, white words on a white background) so that the words are invisible to the human eye but can still be read by the computer.

Sooner or later, however, those words have to be backed up by real content—by real achievements, skills and knowledge. Spamming is just as abhorrent on a resume as it is on email.

If you have been relying on keyword spam to get your resume noticed, contact Robin’s Resumes® today. I can show you a better way.

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