How to Select IT Resume Keywords

I just discovered why my client wasn't getting any interviews. She was using the wrong keywords. For 8 months, she'd been applying to "Digital Marketing Manager" roles. Her resume said: "Marketing Specialist with expertise in online advertising and social media management." The problem? Recruiters weren't searching for "online advertising." They were searching for "PPC." They weren't looking for "social media management." They were looking for "paid social." Her skills were perfect. Her language was wrong. Here's what we changed: ❌ "Online advertising" → ✅ "Google Ads, Facebook Ads, PPC" ❌ "Social media management" → ✅ "Paid social, organic social, community management" ❌ "Data analysis" → ✅ "Google Analytics, conversion tracking, ROI optimization" ❌ "Content creation" → ✅ "Content marketing, copywriting, A/B testing" Within 2 weeks: 5 interview requests. Same person. Same skills. Different keywords. Here's what most people don't understand about ATS systems: They're not smart. They're literal. If the job posting says "Salesforce" and your resume says "CRM software," you won't match. If they want "project management" and you wrote "managed projects," you're invisible. The ATS doesn't care about synonyms. It cares about exact matches. How to keyword-optimize your resume in 10 minutes: 1. Copy 5 job postings for your target role 2. Highlight the repeated technical terms 3. Count which skills appear most frequently 4. Replace your generic terms with their specific language 5. Use their exact phrasing, not your interpretation Stop writing your resume in your language. Start writing it in their language. Because the best resume in the world is useless if the ATS can't find it. Your job isn't to be creative with vocabulary. Your job is to speak the same language as the job posting. Need help identifying the right keywords for your industry? I'm offering FREE resume audits this week where I'll analyze 10 resumes and discuss all the gaps. Comment and send me your resume. Stop being invisible. Start being searchable. #Keywords #ATS #Resume #JobSearch #GetFound #ResumeWriting

How many times have you heard you have to "add the right keywords to your resume?" A lot of people tell you that you *need* to do it. Not many actually show you how to do it. Let's fix that. Here's a simple 4-step process for adding keywords to your resume for any new role you want to apply for. It'll help you boost your chances of landing the interview without spending hours on resume updates: Step #1: Finding The Right Keywords For Your Job Description To start, we're going to find the keywords that we want to focus on with our updates. I'm going to use this Senior Account Executive role that I found on LinkedIn, then do the following: 1. Pull up a copy of my resume and the job description 2. Head to ResyMatch.io, paste my resume on the left and the job description on the right, then hit scan. 3. Note my score, then scroll to the Hard Skills and Soft Skills Match sections 4. Identify the top 5-10 keywords that appear more than one time on the resume Step #2: Preparing Your Resume For Updates Next, we want to prepare our resume for updates. Here's how I'd do that: 1. Keep your ResyMatch scan results handy in one tab 2. Open a new tab and head to ResyBuild.io 3. If you have a resume saved, load it up. If not, choose the "Import" option to import your existing resume 4. Review your resume to make sure all of the content is up to date and ready to go besides your new keywords Step #3: Weave Your Target Keywords Into Your Resume Now that your resume is ready for edits, it's time to incorporate your keywords! Here's how to do it: 1. For the first keyword in your ResyMatch scan, identify the Skill Gap (this is how many times you'll want to add it to your resume) 2. Next, review each bullet on your resume from top to bottom. Look for places where you can naturally insert the keyword, then add it into that bullet 3. Repeat until you've closed the skill gap for the first keyword, then repeat again with the next keyword on the list Note: When adding keywords, we want to infuse as many as we can without losing the "natural" feel of our resume. We never want to feel like we're "forcing" keywords into our resume. Step #4: Run A Final Scan To Verify Updates Once you've woven in as many keywords as you can without losing the natural feel of the content, it's time to run one last scan. The goal of this scan is to verify the updates we made and ensure our match score is a in a good place before applying: 1. Export your updated resume from ResyBuild 2. Head back to ResyMatch and re-run the scan using your new resume and the target job description 3. Verify that your score has increased in proportion to the keywords you added Now you're all set to apply for that role! I hope this helped provide some clarity around how to actually do what everyone is telling you to do with your resume. Good luck out there :)

If you're applying to jobs and not hearing back — this might be why. As a career coach, I’ve seen so many talented candidates get ignored. Not because they weren’t qualified. But because they didn’t use the right words. Here’s the truth: Recruiters use Boolean search in LinkedIn and ATS platforms. We literally type in keywords from the job description to find candidates. If your resume or profile doesn’t include those keywords… We may never even see you. Here’s how to fix it: Step 1: Find 3–5 job posts you’d love → Look at how they describe tools, responsibilities, outcomes Step 2: Write down repeating keywords → Examples: “lifecycle marketing,” “Agile methodology,” “SQL,” “talent acquisition” Step 3: Use those keywords naturally in your resume & LinkedIn → Not copy-paste — apply them where they match your real experience Instead of: “Worked on email campaigns” Say: “Managed lifecycle campaigns using Hubspot and A/B testing — improved retention by 18%” Where to use them: → Resume summary → Top job bullets → LinkedIn headline & About section → Skills section This isn’t gaming the system. It’s helping your skills get seen. Have you tried this strategy before? Did it work for you? Let’s share tips in the comments #JobSearch #ResumeTips #LinkedInStrategy #ATSResume #CareerAdvice #BooleanSearch #RecruiterTips #JobHunt #PersonalBranding #VisibilityMatters

𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬+ 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝟭𝟬𝟬+ 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳, 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿. 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀? 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝟯 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵: ̲ 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 Instead of randomly "sprinkling" keywords, target exactly what recruiters want:  1. Identify where keywords live in job descriptions: • Overview/About the Role • Responsibilities/Duties • Qualifications/Requirements • Preferred Skills/Nice-to-Haves  2. Use this AI prompt to extract keywords efficiently: "You are an expert resume writer with 10+ years experience helping job seekers land roles in [industry]. Highlight the top 10 keywords in this job description, sorted by frequency. For example: LLM(10), AI(5)" 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 Sort keywords into these critical buckets by reading through it:   1. Technical skills: Tools you've mastered (Zendesk, Jira, Tableau, Python, CIPP certification)  2. Industry jargon: Field-specific terms ("Trust & Safety," "risk mitigation," "content moderation")  3. Job functions: What you actually do ("analyze," "optimize," "escalate," "lead") 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 Pick up nuance from the job description. Frankly, I still believe this is where we humans are the best.   1. Track repeated terms—they reveal priorities. Example: "Define and execute vision and strategy for Onboarding to drive new user retention" signals they want someone with experience setting OKRs and long-term roadmaps.  2. Note geographic specifications: "Experience in EMEA markets" tells you to highlight any relevant regional work.  3. Decode stakeholder language: When they request "ability to align diverse stakeholders toward a common goal," prepare a bullet point showcasing how you led cross-functional projects to successful completion with measurable results. From my experience, deeply understanding the job description helps narrow your resume focus to 3-5 powerful bullet points that directly address what they're seeking. Looking to land more interviews? I offer personalized reviews. DM for help!