Meta-Tag your CV

Dear Job Nerd

Is it better to list every one of all my IT skills (programs and languages etc…) in my CV or to just be broad and a bit generic? Surely if I keep it quite broad then I’ll be considered for more roles?

Mark K, Helpdesk

Salutations Mark

I’ll let you into secret Mark – key words or meta-tags, whatever you’d like to call them, are searched within a recruiters database in much the same manner as a google search – in fact many recruitment firms have google search embedded in their CRM systems, so by emphasising your key words or mata-tags, your resume is prioritised in the future when recruiters search for people. Keep in mind that some agencies have over 200,000 people in their database so being able to find YOUR resume is helped by having a thorough CV.

Let me explain how it works: We might be looking for a fit for the following role: ‘A developer with .Net (3.5 or later) experience; significant Silverlight and Expression Blend experience; who has strong SQL server 2008 skills and understands Agile methodology’. So we’d pick out the keywords -.Net; Silverlight, Expression Blend; SQL; Agile – and we’d run a search to see who we have in the system who has all those keywords in their CV. The guys at the top of the Google Search list go to the top our list of people to call or email regarding the job.  If we are lucky we might save ourselves the need to even advertise the job. The job can be filled in a couple of hours – and that’s especially beneficial when we are looking for urgent contractors.

So just as you would do search engine optimisation on a website, so you should make sure your own CV’s SEO is top notch. Include all your experience and the keywords of everything you’ve ever worked on if you want to find roles in those areas again. What if you want to find a role in an area you have no experience in? Then tell us. Include your dream job keywords in your CV and let your dream job find you!