If you want recruiters to find you and email you directly even before you apply to any job postings, you should definitely use keywords on your LinkedIn profile and on your resume.
Recruiters do not always look for candidates for a single position. They generally try to hire for several positions at the same. Therefore, they may not always know the details of every position as much as the hiring manager does. Instead, they only know the basics. Also, recruiters may not always have the time to advertise the position and wait for candidates to apply or even though they have enough time, sometimes it is harder to find the right candidates for certain positions such as technical positions or executive level positions. As a result, what do you think recruiters do in these situations? Well, they try to find the right candidates directly and email them to see if they are interested in that position.
Do you know how recruiters identify the right candidates? Let me explain. They utilize LinkedIn and several job boards and search for candidates using the keywords on their job description. For example, if they are looking for someone specialized in data analysis, they use “data analysis” as a keyword and type it into their candidate database or LinkedIn or wherever they are pulling resumes from. If they are looking for someone who knows about internet marketing, they may use Google AdWords or Google Analytics as their keywords. They use specific keywords to pull up resumes as a faster way to identify the right candidates for their open positions.
I recommend everyone have a summary section at the beginning of your resume and put keywords in that section summarizing your expertise because using keywords increase your visibility among other people and help you brand yourself easier. You should do the same for your LinkedIn profile as well. If you don’t have a profile on LinkedIn, open up an account right now and start using it. There are so many recruiters looking for candidates on LinkedIn that you may get some offers you have never thought of. However, make sure that your LinkedIn profile is as complete as possible. When you are summarizing your expertise and explaining your job roles and responsibilities use keywords in your sentences. You should use the right keywords that are important in your job role. Otherwise, you won’t see the benefits. You can identify the right keywords by looking at job postings similar to your position or even by looking at your coworkers’ profiles.
Recruiters scan many resumes during a day and usually only spend a minute on each resume. Therefore, in order to get ahead of the competition, increase your visibility and improve your personal brand, I certainly recommend everyone list as many keywords as they can on their resumes and LinkedIn profiles.
