How to find the keywords in a job description

Recruiters skim, and applicant tracking systems search. Both look for the words from the job advert: the skills, tools and qualifications the employer actually asked for. A strong resume that describes the same skills in different words can still be overlooked. Finding the right keywords takes ten minutes per application and makes a measurable difference.

What counts as a keyword

• Hard skills: “financial modelling”, “customer onboarding”, “patient assessment”.
• Tools and technologies: named software, platforms, programming languages, equipment.
• Qualifications: degrees, licences and certifications by name.
• The job title itself, and close variants.
• Industry terms: the vocabulary of the field, such as “procurement” or “compliance”.

Soft skills like “team player” appear in almost every advert and carry little weight on their own. Show them through examples instead.

Find them step by step

1. Copy the full job advert, including requirements and responsibilities.
2. Paste it into the Word Counter and look at the most used words. Repeated terms are usually what the employer cares about.
3. Highlight anything under “requirements” or “essential”; those are the must-haves.
4. Paste the advert and your resume into the Resume ATS Checker. It shows an overall match and lists key terms from the advert that your resume does not contain.

A quick example

Suppose an advert for a marketing coordinator says: “You will plan email campaigns in HubSpot, report on results in Google Analytics, and coordinate with designers. Experience with SEO and a bachelor's degree in marketing or similar required.” The keywords to look for in your resume are email campaigns, HubSpot, Google Analytics, reporting, SEO, marketing degree and coordinator. “Plan” and “coordinate with designers” matter less as words, but are worth showing through an example.

Use them honestly

• Add a keyword only where it is true. If you have used the skill, say so in the advert's words.
• Put keywords in context: “Built monthly financial models in Excel for a 2 million budget” beats a bare list.
• Mirror exact spellings and phrasing: if they write “CRM”, write CRM.
• Include both the acronym and the full form once: “search engine optimisation (SEO)”.
• Use the important ones in your profile summary, where readers look first.

What not to do

• Keyword stuffing: repeating terms or listing every word from the advert reads badly to the human who opens the file.
• Hidden text: pasting the advert in white text is detected by many systems and recruiters and can get an application rejected.
• Claiming skills you do not have: interviews test them.

Missing a requirement?

If you lack one or two must-haves, apply anyway if you meet most of the rest, and address the gap in your cover letter with related experience or a plan to learn. If you lack most of them, the role is probably a stretch too far for now.

Cover letters too

Use two or three of the most important keywords naturally in your cover letter as well. See how long a cover letter should be, and how to make your resume ATS-friendly for formatting that systems can read.