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By Kris Fannin

Resume Strategies – Part 2 – Keyword Research and Analysis

Industry and Role Keyword Research

Keywords are vital in any resume. It makes it more appealing andrelevant to a broader base of hiring managers and increases yourchances of being including in the initial searches done in automatedapplication systems. Keywords and phrases are a part of thisalgorithm. Every company and every position are different so don’tget obsessed with trying to figure out the algorithm, but set yourselfup for success by incorporating industry and targeted role keywordsand phrase trends.

Goal of Keyword Research

The goal of keyword research is to develop a list of frequent andrelevant industry, position and operative words that will increase thechances of successfully being saved in both an automated ‘resumebot’ screening and an overworked hiring manager who is quicklyscanning hundreds of resumes.

Additionally, once you get to the point of customizing and targetingyour resume for specific positions, you’ll also further refine this listfor those ‘dream job’ positions.

For now, we will focus on how to conduct keyword research anddevelop your keyword list for your baseline resume.

Determine Industry and Position Targets

Narrow the industry and possible positions that you will be targeting as they primary keywords will be different basedon these two factors. At most, stick to 2-3 industries and position target combinations and be sure to make them asprecise as possible.

For example, ‘consulting’ as an industry is entirely too broad to use in your resume keyword strategy.

Management consulting, IT consulting, career consulting would be more specific industry categories to include in yourkeyword research.

The same applies for position targets. ‘Analyst’ is too broad of a position target for the IT consulting industry. Morespecific position targets would be a business analyst, technical analyst or data analyst.

Seniority Position Targets

Ideally, your target position should be specific to seniority as the job requirements, and descriptions will have somecritical differences based on seniority.

For example, you can further specify a seniority level for the position of ‘analyst’ such as senior analyst or leadanalyst.

How to Do Resume Keyword Research

Step 1

Do An Online Search Based on Your Industry, Position and Seniority Targets

Based on the target criteria you developed earlier, search for job descriptions of particular positions.

My advice is to begin with leaving geographical and industry specific criteria out initially so you can build a broadersample of words and phrases.

For example, let’s assume I’ve narrowed down the following with my search criteria:

Industry Focus: Training and Development in the Finance industry

Position: Leader of training and development teams/departments

Seniority: Director

My initial search is going to leave out the Finance industry search criteria.

If you are narrowly focused on only one industry, then you should include that in your keyword research initially, asthere will be industry-specific requirements and terms that will be vital to leverage in your resume. If it is simply atarget, then leave it out at first.

Based on the above, my initial search is going to be for “ Director training and development job descriptions.”

There is magic here that you don’t see yet!

Before you go all crazy-brilliant and start clicking through all the links in results, there is some magic that you do notsee yet. I’ll show you how to find it.

Place your cursor in the search bar and you’ll see a list that automatically displays.

What is this and why is it so important?

These are variations on the search you just performed, and you are going to want to capture these for additionalsearches throughout your resume, interview and general career strategies.

I can already see that a standard industry equivalent title to Director is Manager. I am going to do some searches forManager as well.

Before you do that, be sure to capture the information:

Open a word processing document (I use Google Docs and Drive, and they are free with your Gmail account).

Title the document with the job title.

Back in the search results window, go to the print option. Select print to PDF. It should render the PDF before youhave to print or save it.

In the print preview, highlight the terms that appeared in the search results.

Copy the highlighted terms.

Paste the search terms in the doc to save so you have the additional keywords and phrases for future use.

Alternative method: Save to Google Drive Browser Extension

If you use Chrome, then a real simple alternative is to use the Save to Google Drive browser extension . Above justyour resume keyword research, this tool is an incredible productivity booster. I use it dozens of times a day.

And look at how cute that damn puppy is. I simply cannot with that little nugget!

Once you install the extension, right click on the icon, and hit on ‘options’. Choose to save as a Google Doc.

Back in the search results page, just hit on the icon in the browser and then magic happens.

Still More Magic Treasure in the Search Results

On the same search results page, scroll all the way to the bottom.

You’ll see something similar to this:

You now have even more search terms and phrases for both your resume and job search strategy!

Be sure to copy and paste these into the document you started earlier.

These are going to be especially useful for your job position searches.

Step 2

Find 10 or More Relevant Job Descriptions

I would start your way from the top and work your way down. Ideally, they should be currently or recently active jobdescriptions. Be sure to read them.

Why?

I want you to pick the ones you would have an interest in applying for, and this will ensure your keywords and resumeare strategically targeted.

Although they will likely fall in your search results, some other excellent sites to find relevant job descriptions wouldinclude:

Job Description and Keyword Research Resources

LinkedIn Jobs

Apply to 145,433 Linkedin jobs on LinkedIn. Sign-up today, leverage your professional network, and get hired. NewLinkedin jobs added daily.

Truity Careers

You can use this tool to find careers that match your top interests, while filtering out careers in areas that you havelittle or no interest in.

Indeed

Find millions of jobs from thousands of company web sites, job boards and newspapers. One search. All jobs.

Americasjobexchange.com

Search jobs online and apply current job openings in your city or state specific to a profession or other niche area.

CareerBuilder

Get advice or search over 1.6 million jobs on the largest job site, set alerts to be first in line and have new jobs emailedto you.

Monster.com

Your source for jobs and career opportunities. Search for jobs, read career advice from job experts, and find hiring andrecruiting advice.

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Step 3

Copy and Paste Core Content into Document

In your at least 10 of the best samples, copy and paste the core content of the job descriptions. Try and excludeanything outside of the job requirements or specifications.

For example, don’t copy and past the standard headers in the document.

I would also suggest pulling some of the resumes from the search variations that you discovered earlier.

Past them all into a single document. Don’t worry about formatting as you are only after the content.

Step 4

Use Word Analysis Tools to Rank Keywords

There are two, free analyzer tools that I recommend using with each having a different purpose.

Keyword Analysis Tool

1. In the document containing all the content from the job descriptions, do a quick ‘select all’ and then ‘copy.’

2. Go to Word Counter and paste everything into the open box. Do not submit for analysis yet.

Again don’t be concerned with formatting. As long as the content is in there, it can be analyzed.

3. Go to the “Options” menu at the bottom right of the box. Select the tab “Keyword Density.”

4. Check the option for “Turn on Keyword Density panel .”

5. In the box just below put 50 in the “ Show keywords in the Keyword Density” box.

6. Uncheck “Include common words in word density count.”

7. Click “Done” and the magic happens!

In the upper right of the screen, you will see two panels.

You are concerned with the second panel, “Keyword Density.”

These are the 50 most frequently used keywords in all the job descriptions you gathered!

8. Print the results to a PDF or use the Save to Google Drive extension I explained earlier.

9. Copy and paste the keywords into the search terms document you developed earlier.

You now have 50 keywords that you should strategically use throughout your resume!

A few of important notes:

Don’t do keyword ‘stuffing.’ Don’t get so caught up in repeating the same terms again and again. Use them naturallyand strategically. Your resume should tell an original story. Don’t abuse the information you have to diminish that story.

The more content you can find to analyze, the more accurate and deep your keyword analysis will be. Continue torevise this over time as you find more job descriptions.

For specific job posting submissions, I would recommend using this tool for just that job description and tweak yourresume and cover letter accordingly.

Key Phrase Analysis Tool

Keywords are fantastic, but now I am going to show you how to do one other analysis that will give you some powerfulinformation.

1. Go to Online-Utility.

2. Copy and paste your job descriptions content into the empty box.

3. Select “Process text” below the box.

4. Copy and paste the following panels into your search terms document:

Some top phrases containing 8 words

Some top phrases containing 7 words

Some top phrases containing 6 words

Some top phrases containing 5 words

These are the most common phrases from the combined job descriptions content that also happen to hold many ofyour keywords.

The way I like to utilize these results is to decipher the key messaging that is within a block of content.

“Seriously, Why Does All of This Keyword Stuff Matter? It’s Annoying and Boring!”

In a word that is driven by data, powerful keywords strategically placed throughout your resume is vital and will – Ipromise – set you apart from the 98% that do not even know what keyword analysis is, much less leverage it in theirresume strategy.

Although I would not advise that you just copy and paste any parts of these results into your resume, what you shoulddo is focus on the most frequent messages in your resume, coupled with your keywords, to mainlydemonstrate solutions for their staffing needs.

YOUR RESUME REPRESENTS YOU.

WHAT CONVERSATION DO YOU WANT IT TO INVOKE WITH A POTENTIAL EMPLOYER?

Prospective Employer:

“Dammit, this sucks! We have all these business needs and need to find an incredibly talented andtargeted person. Let’s put a job description out there that outlines our needs.”

Your Strategically Developed Resume:

“Hey, there. Yes, that does suck. Have a looksie at me, as I’m confident the brilliant (and damn good-looking) person I represent would be able to more than be a solution for the needs you describe here.”

Prospective Employer:

“I think I’m in love. When can we meet with this person? Now?!”

Your Strategically Developed Resume:

“I’m sure we can arrange a meeting. We’ll have our people get back to your people ASAP.”

This is the conversation that you want your resume to have with a prospective employer.

It will communicate that you are the top-choice solution for their business needs!

By leveraging the powerful information you now have with both keywords and key phrases, you are equipped todevelop brilliant messaging to communicate why you are THE solution for their needs.

Part 3: Verification & Recommendations

This section continues with strategic resume preparation including targeting recommendations and how to breezethrough the verification process.

Part 4: Structure & Build

The goal of your resume is to keep them wanting more. A strategic 7 section structure will make your resume anddeveloped content magnetic.

PART 5: DESIGN, CUSTOMIZE & SUBMIT

The goal of your resume is to keep them wanting more. A strategic 7 section structure will make your resume anddeveloped content magnetic.

Part 1: Definition and Self-Assessment

If you skip preparation you end up with a resume. When you fully prepare before you develop your resume, you endup with a strategy.