Resume Search Optimizer

This App provides data on how well your resume keyword content matches a prospective job description. The focus is on individual keywords, not phrases or combinations of words. The goal is to detect keywords that appear in a job description that are absent in your resume. It is common for companies to use different words to refer to similar concepts and skills. The companies Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that analyzes your resume may rank yours lower if you are not using terminology used by the company or relevant words are missing. The goal is to get beyond the initial automated analysis typically performed by an ATS and get to a human review. Most companies use these ATS systems to filter and rate submitted resumes. Those that score well may then get the opportunity for a talent acquisition professional to take a closer look at your resume.   There are hundreds of different ATS systems and there is no set rule on how to prepare for an automated review. This App is a tool to provide you with additional information to assist you with optimizing your resume.

Example #1:  

Company A’s Project Manager job description uses the term “PMP” to refer to an industry-standard project management certification.  

Company B refers to it as “Project Management Professional (PMP)”.  

Your Resume uses “Certified Project Management Professional”.  

All refer to the same thing but you may score a higher ranking for Company B than Company A because the words used better match.  If you want to apply for Company A’s position you would want to tweak your resume to also include the “PMP” terminology to describe the certification.   When using the App, the keyword match report would have highlighted that the “PMP” term was found in the job description but not in your resume.

Example #2:  

Company A’s Operations Director job description uses “Budget Planning, Forecasting, P&L's” to refer to a director’s typical duties of managing expenses, budgets, forecasts.  

Company B’s refers to it as “Fiscal Management”.  

Your resume generically refers to it as “Financial Planning”.  

These are generically referring to the same thing in the context of this position.  Since you have skills in budgets, expenses, forecasts, P&L’s, financial and fiscal performance you would be better served by tweaking your resume to also include the terms used by Company A and Company B.   When using the App, the keyword match report would have highlighted that the “P&L”, “Forecasting”, “Budget” and “Fiscal” terms were found in the job description but not in your resume.

App Features:
- Calculates Resume and Job Description keyword matches and highlights words that are missing from the resume but found in job description
- Calculates a Noise Ratio that is a measurement of how often the most common words in the job description appear in the resume compared to the size of the resume. The higher the frequency of the common words and the lower the size of the resume the higher the score. This gives a sense of how focused the resume is on the words found frequently in the job description.
- Resume word count analysis and measurement against typical standards
- 350+ Power Word recommendations to strengthen your resume
- 40+ words to avoid in your resume
- 6 simple and practical steps to prepare for the job interview

350+ Power Words for your Resume

Are you looking for the best words to use in a resume? In addition to the typical words you would see on a resume, the included list provides numerous creative and powerful alternatives.

40+ Words to Avoid

These words are commonly cited as words, phrases, and clichés to avoid. Typically they are considered overused, and could be construed as negative, vague, awkward or express the obvious.

6 Job Interview Preparation Steps

Preparing for your interview takes time and effort. You want to go in prepared and confident. Before the big day, review these helpful pre-interview steps.