A keyword resume primarily focuses on nouns and phrases that employers are likely to use when searching for an applicant with your skills. To maximize the chances of your resume receiving a hit during a search, you will want to use as many keywords in your resume as possible.

Keywords are more than a block of text at the top of your resume - they summarize the words that are found throughout the body of your resume. Choosing the best keywords and phrases is subjective, largely dependent on your career objective and the type of position for which you are applying.

Keywords should focus on technical and professional areas of expertise, industry-related jargon, and your work history. Also include the names of associations and organizations to which you belong. Whenever possible, use synonyms of keywords in different parts of your resume and if you use initials for a term in one section, spell the term out in another. This is where the keyword summary becomes useful. If you use the initials B.A. in the education section of your resume, spell it out, Bachelor of Arts, in the keyword summary.

Always be specific. For example, while it may be fine to include the phrase "computer literate," you will also want to list specific software with which you are proficient.

Remember when creating a keyword resume to clarify your job objective, list each of your job/position titles in chronological order, list your responsibilities for each job, list the skills you used for each job, list the accomplishments that illustrate each skill used, write specific statements that qualify/quantify your accomplishments, and list your specialized training and education. In other words, make the resume as computer/scanner friendly as possible, to extend its life span in a database and enhance its likelihood of receiving hits.

The Keywords section of your resume can also have the following titles:

• Additional Information
• Geographical Preference
• International
• Other
• Other Facts
• Presentations
• Related
• Special Projects