More and more employers today are using technology to ease the manual process of sorting through hundreds of resumes to find candidates whose qualifications meet the job description.

Applicant tracking or resume management systems offer the recruiter electronic storage and retrieval of your resume–using keywords. An electronic search pulls up only the resumes that contain certain keywords relevant to the open position. Those people are then contacted for an interview.

To make sure your resume makes the cut, create a keyword summary at the top of your resume. Additional keywords should also be used elsewhere in your resume, where it makes sense, and in your cover letter. Follow the tips below to ensure your keyword summary compliments your electronic resume.

Creating a keyword summary

Your keyword summary should list approximately 50-100 nouns and noun phrases that will produce hits on your resume when keyword searches are performed. Your goal is to catalog all relevant keywords in your field. The summary should:

• Maximize the potential for retrieving your resume from the resume bank
• Get a high ranking for your resume (when sophisticated resume management systems are being used to store your resume)

Step 1: Keyword summary
Step 2: Keyword worksheet
Step 3: Keyword research
Step 4: Narrow the keyword list
Sample keyword summaries