Resume Keywords – This New Tool Is Totally Awesome!

When you are seeking a job you ask yourself, “How do I identify resume keywords?” That is definitely a tough question to answer with an easy explanation, until recently. While we can suggest or upload job listings into a word cloud, it’s a tool that’s still pretty crude. Word cloud may tell you which words show up most frequently in a job posting but these counts aren’t necessarily proxies for importance.

Natural Language Processing for Resume Keywords

Upon research using NLP tools, we finally found one that is ready for job applicants to use. It’s called a parts-of-speech parser. You upload a job description, and it tags the parts of speech for you (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions). Once you parse a specific job posting, it becomes almost effortless to mine the keywords and phrases that matter to the applicant tracking system (ATS) and the hiring manager.

A Fresh Approach to Identifying Resume Keywords

We Googled “resume keyword* AND parts of speech” and “resume AND parts of speech” and nothing came up. Thus, using a parts-of-speech parser to identify keywords is a new resume writing and job search approach.

Rewordify.com – Our Favorite Parts-of-Speech Parser

This is why we love it:

1. If you can copy and paste, you have all the skills you need.
2. It colour-codes each part of speech.
3. It lets you isolate one or more parts of speech.
4. IT’S FREE!

Be aware that Rewordify makes mistakes. It’s good, but not perfect. So, exercise your own judgment when using this software.

How to Identify Resume Keywords in Rewordify

Most resume keywords are nouns. Thus, if we’re mining a job posting for keywords, we want to look at nouns first. To isolate the nouns in this posting, unclick every other part of speech on the top horizontal rail. That will leave you with just the nouns.

Using Adjectives & Adverbs in Your Resume

Adjectives and adverbs can be used to describe industries, companies, and jobs. However, it gets tricky when we use them to represent ourselves. Rewordify helps to identify the adjectives and adverbs in job postings. We suggest grouping them into two categories:

1. Words that describe desirable candidates (i.e., you).
2. Words that describe entities other than you.

Don’t tell prospective employers about yourself with adjectives and adverbs. Rather, exemplify their desired qualities in your resume’s accomplishment statements.

Time to get smart with resume writing!