Resume Keyword Optimization for ATS Success

Resumes should be keyword-optimized for applicant tracking systems (ATS) and hiring managers by prioritizing job duty keywords.

### Mastering Resume Keywords for ATS and Hiring Success
* 📝 Every job application requires your resume to pass through an **ATS scanner**, which looks for **specific keywords** to determine if you are a fit for the position.
* 🔍 To ensure you have the right keywords, analyze the job description for **job duties**, **industry terminology**, **software**, and **equipment**, and prioritize these over professional traits.
* 📊 Organizing these keywords into a table can help you **visualize and incorporate them effectively** into your resume, especially in **professional titles and skills sections**.
* 🚫 Avoid the unethical practice of **hiding job descriptions** in your resume, as ATS scanners will flag this, leading to potential **blacklisting from companies**.
* 🤝 If you lack certain skills, you can still reference your conversations with colleagues who possess those skills or mention collaborative experiences to **incorporate relevant keywords honestly**.
* 💻 A more impactful way to add skills is by taking LinkedIn Learning courses, which can be listed on both your resume and LinkedIn profile, demonstrating your **commitment to learning**.
* 🛠 For long-term career growth, consider gaining real-world experience through volunteering, side projects, or formal education to **develop the skills you need**.
* 🎓 Ultimately, investing time in acquiring new skills will provide you with a **stronger foundation for your career** than merely attempting to **keyword-stuff your resume**.

I'm going to show you how to keyword your resume so that ATS scanners and hiring managers will both say yes to inviting you for an interview. And I'm going to show you how to add skills you don't have to your resume without getting in trouble. Now, every time we

apply to a job online, our resume is being passed through an ATS scanner, or applicant tracking system, to look for keywords. And if you don't have the right keywords in your resume, you're not getting hired. So, keywords that need to go on our resume typically show up in

the job description in the form of job duties, industry terminology, software and equipment, and, to a lesser extent, professional traits. So what we'll do is we'll take a close look through the job description itself, and we'll highlight all of those keywords. And then what I

like to do is move them into a table like the one you'll see on the right. Here's a sample of what it looks like when it's completed. So, once we have all these keywords, we're going to prioritize job duties, industry terminology, and software and equipment over professional

traits, which is generally more of an afterthought. And then we're going to put as many of those keywords that apply to our experience into our resume. And typically the most important place to put all those keywords is in our professional titles. I might mention them in the professional summary, but then we

can really pile them in, in our professional skills and technical skills sections. And, by the way, if you don't have a great resume template that you love that has room for all this stuff, I have linked down to all the templates I designed in the description of the video.

down below. Now, keyword matching your resume to the job description is absolutely essential if you want help. Using ChatGPT to help keyword match your resume to the job description? Check out my ebook, "The ChatGPT Resume," which is linked down below in the description.

So the question we want to answer here is: what do we do when we don't have the key skills they're looking for in the job description? And how do we add those to our resume so that the ATS scanners and the hiring managers will

both think that we're qualified for this job? So, do we just add those skills we don't have to our resume in plain sight for the hiring manager to see? No, because if they see those skills on your resume, they're going to ask you about them

during the job interview. And if you don't have any real-world experience to speak to related to those skills, you are going to look like an idiot. Now, you have definitely heard people give this advice as well. It is a huge no-no:

the idea of copying and pasting the job description directly into your resume and then hiding it by changing it to size one font and putting it in white. I've done that in this resume here. Now, people are right, you can't notice it when you're visually looking at this. If

it was printed out, you wouldn't notice. However, first thing, we would see the word count is 935 on a small, one-page document. If you look at enough resumes, you know that's crazy and something is up. And then, if we see there are many lines of

text down here at the bottom. Now, people aren't going to notice that, but an ATS scanner will. So when it's pulling all of your experience out, this stuff's just going to show up in plain text. And as soon as someone notices you've done this,

you will be blacklisted from that company, possibly the entire industry. And even if this worked, the person would then review your resume after the ATS said that you had the right keywords. They would read your resume and see that you didn't have all of those experiences, so

we are not going to do this. It is a terrible idea. So how do we include skills that we don't have in our resume without getting in trouble? Well, first, I'm going to show you the two fastest ways we can do this. So, number one, we are

going to mention working with others who have these skills. This will allow us to use those keywords in our resume while being honest and also showing some working knowledge of the subject matter related to the skill. So here's a couple examples of what that looks like. Another

fairly similar, but distinct, option, which we can go to right away, is entering a bullet point about a conversation we've had about those skills. So if we have never made our own budget, but we've talked to other people about their budgets and working within budgets, or

something like talent recruitment, anytime that we've had a conversation about these skills, if we need to, we can add those to our resume. Now, this is not going to carry the same amount of weight as if you had actually done something with these skills, but it will certainly

Check a box. And if you've done your homework and built an exciting resume full of great accomplishments, and they want to hire you and they just need you to be able to check this box so they have an excuse to do so, these two tactics will get you there. Now, those

options aren't going to blow anyone's mind, but they will work in a pinch. Now, if you do want to add those skills to your resume in a more meaningful way that's going to carry you even farther, here are my suggestions. Now, the easiest and fastest way to add skills you don't

have to your resume in a meaningful way that is going to impress people is to sign up for a free trial of LinkedIn Premium and then take courses on that subject matter in LinkedIn Learning. This way, you can add the LinkedIn Learning courses you've taken to your LinkedIn

profile, but also to your resume. And then any of the subject matter that you were studying in those courses, you can add to your key skills or areas of expertise section in your resume. This is amazing because it can be done in just a couple of hours, but it does add some real value.

Now, the last option for adding a skill you don't have to your resume in a meaningful way will take a bit longer, but it's also the most impactful way to do this, and it will help you in the longest term for your entire career, is

to go develop that skill for real. So this could look like us asking our boss or colleagues for some additional responsibilities at work related to that skill. We could be volunteering with a community organization or a non-profit who needs help with that particular subject matter or skill.

So we could start a side hustle. This is how I got started in resume writing. Maybe we'll complete some independent projects. This is a really common move, especially if you're in tech. You'll have sort of a project portfolio, also great for anything visual or marketing, or

anything, really. Uh, and then the last option, which can be the most time-consuming and possibly expensive, is to go back to school and actually take a program that would then give you that skill. This might be a full formal degree; it might be a boot camp that you take

online that's just a couple of months, or maybe it's just a more involved course than a simple LinkedIn Learning. But if you are dead set on getting a job in an industry that requires these skills, I highly recommend you consider this option as well. This is going to help you

in the long run so much more than any of the other advice you've got here today. For more help building a 10 out of 10 resume, check out my free resume writing course right here on YouTube.

How to Keyword Your Resume to Get More Interviews: Including Adding Skills You Don't Have

Greg Langstaff

How to keyword a resume for ATS scanners and hiring managers.

Use keywords from the job description, such as duties, terminology, software, and traits.

Prioritize keywords related to job duties, industry terms, and software/equipment.

Incorporate keywords into professional titles and skills sections.

How to add skills you don't have to your resume.

Don't list skills you don't have or copy and paste the job description.

Mention working with others who possess the desired skills.

Include bullet points about conversations you've had related to those skills.

More impactful ways to add skills to your resume.

Take LinkedIn Learning courses and add them to your resume and LinkedIn profile.

Develop the skills through real-world experience, such as additional responsibilities, volunteering, or side hustles.

Consider independent projects or formal education to gain the necessary skills.