If you’re in the market for a new job, you probably know that the internet is usually the most useful tool for being found by a recruiter or employer. In order to increase your chances of being spotted as a potential candidate, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind when completing your resume and online profiles. Remembering that search engines take the main words from the phrase typed into the search bar and try to match those words in their results as closely as possible, make sure you follow these helpful do’s and don’ts.

Don’t be creative with your job titles

Having a unique and creative job title is appealing to just about everyone—it frequently impresses people who see your business card and can give you an enhanced sense of purpose for what you do. However, the problem is that when you are looking for a new job, too much of this creativity makes it difficult for companies and recruiters to locate your online profile and resume.

Using the example of a recruiter searching an online resume database for an Account Manager, the database would filter and sort all of the candidate profiles according to the ones that have those keyword terms in them. A candidate who has the exact background experience that the recruiter is looking for might be filtered out of the results if their resume and profile list their title as a Director of Customer Happiness. While the latter title is certainly more “catchy,” it’s not very useful in this situation, since the search engine lacks the understanding to associate it with the person’s actual job functions.

Be specific about your job functions

Recruiters are looking for specific keyword search terms that their clients have emphasized as important aspects of the open position. If your resume doesn’t mention those keyword terms, the recruiter might not think you are qualified for the position, or worse, the search engine will filter your resume out of the search completely. For example, if you have 10 years of experience underwriting oil and gas policies, but only briefly mention that your background includes underwriting, the search engine or the recruiter looking specifically for those oil and gas search terms would probably pass you over for the next resume in the list. Obviously it can be challenging to condense all of your background experience into a few short paragraphs, but you need to be intentional about choosing very specific words to put in those paragraphs.

At the end of the day, recruiters and hiring departments very much prefer resumes that are easy to find and comprehend over witty or generic ones. My advice—save the catch phrases for your business cards and email signatures and use common terminology for your online resume, and always be specific about the important elements of your previous experience.

Any further questions about online job searches? Feel free to post a comment below or contact us directly!