Job seekers often ask me, “How do I identify resume keywords?”

Until recently, that was a tough question for me to answer with an easy explanation for someone to use. There aren’t many resume keyword tools. 

A New Tool That’s Better Than Word Clouds

While I could suggest they upload job postings into a word cloud, they give pretty crude results.

Word clouds can count and show which words appear most frequently in a job posting. The trouble is, counts aren’t necessarily proxies for importance.

Resume Keyword Search Software

So, to solve this problem, I started playing with NLP tools and finally found one ready for job applicants to use.

It’s called a parts-of-speech parser. You upload a job description, and it tags the parts of speech. You know, the nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions.

Once you parse a job posting, it’s easy to find the keywords and phrases that matter to the applicant tracking system (ATS) and the hiring manager.

Thus, parts-of-speech parsers can also be used as search software for resume keywords.

A Fresh Approach to Identifying Resume Keywords

BTW, I searched Google on:

1. resume keyword* AND “parts of speech”
2. resume AND “parts of speech”

and didn’t get a single helpful result.

I was happy to find that using a parts-of-speech parser as resume keyword search software is a new resume writing approach!

My Favorite Parts-of-Speech Parser

I like Rewordify because of these stellar features:

1. It’s free.
2. You have all the skills you need if you can copy and paste.
3. It color-codes each part of speech.
4. It lets you isolate one or more parts of speech.

Job Description Keywords Finder

To parse a job posting, do this:

1. Go to Rewordify.
2. Copy and paste your job description into the big yellow box.
3. Click “Rewordify text.”
4. Then, click “Parts of speech” on the top horizontal rail to get your results.

To show you a sample of how this works, I grabbed an Airbnb job posting. It looked like this after I parsed it:

Rewordify colored-coded the text by:

• Nouns (gray)
• Pronouns (purple)
• Verbs (red)
• Adjectives (blue)
• Adverbs (orange)
• Conjunctions (pink)
• Prepositions (green)
• Articles (light blue)
• Interjections (yellow)

Be aware that Rewordify makes mistakes. It’s good, but not perfect. So, use your judgment if you notice classification errors.

What are Good Keywords for Resumes?

The best keywords for your resume are the ones used in job postings. Hence me showing you how to start parsing job postings above.

Beyond that, most resume keywords are nouns. Thus, if I’m mining a job posting for keywords, I want to look at nouns first. 

To isolate the nouns in this posting, unclick every other part of speech on the top horizontal rail.

That will leave you with just the nouns.

Nouns as Resume Keywords

The first paragraph of the Airbnb posting looked like this after I parsed it to highlight nouns:

With the information I wanted highlighted in gray, the posting was easy to skim.

Then, I underlined keywords that recruiters might use to search an ATS or LinkedIn for candidates.

Industry keywords included travel, hospitality, (e-commerce) marketplace, and (software) platform. When I recruited, I might have searched for candidates for this job using any or all of those words.

I underlined “around the world” and “191 countries” because they describe a global operation.

How to Use Keywords in a Resume

When writing a resume for this job, I would look for ways to show previous employers as global companies. Plus, I would consider listing the number of countries where they have operations.

Look at the employer descriptions in this resume to see how you can share those types of keywords. 

Resume Keyword Categories

I also noted words and phrases I might want to use in a resume to resonate with the job posting. Per Stanford research, linguistic similarity with the job posting increases your chance of being hired.

While I haven’t shown screenshots for the entire posting, other noun categories (i.e., types of keywords) that caught my attention included:

• Previous experience
• Hard skills
• Soft skills
• Responsibilities
• Scope
• Challenges
• Deliverables and outputs
• Job titles
• Colleague relationships
• External relationships

As you can see, once you spot the nouns in a job posting, your resume keyword opportunities expand.

Hard Skills as Resume Keywords

For example, I parsed the Airbnb posting’s responsibilities section for nouns and found several hard skills mentioned.

Here’s a screenshot of a portion of my results:

For this job, you can expect recruiters and hiring managers to look for skills keywords. Examples include finance, planning, forecasting, variance analysis, and management reporting.

While there are other methods to find skills (here), if you want to customize your resume to a specific job, this is the best way to do it.

Weave Your Skills Into Your Resume

Then, don’t use a skills list. Eye-tracking studies have found most recruiters don’t read them. Rather, weave your skills into the language of your resume.

Look at the samples here for ideas on how to do that. 

LinkedIn Skills 

BTW, the noun review described above will also help you find skills for your LinkedIn profile.

How to Use Job Posting Verbs in Your Resume

Moving on, the verbs you find in job postings can be resume keywords, but I like them for another reason.

They make terrific starter words for accomplishment statements.

My 10 favorite action verbs from the Airbnb posting included:

• Align
• Drive
• Ensure
• Evolve
• Partner
• Prioritize
• Negotiate
• Reengineer
• Reimagine
• Structure

Again, isolating the verbs makes it easy to spot the good ones. Do that, and you will write more compelling accomplishment statements.

Using Adjectives & Adverbs in Your Resume

You can use adjectives and adverbs to describe industries, companies, and jobs. However, they get tricky when you use them to represent yourself.

Rewordify will help you identify the adjectives and adverbs in job postings. I suggest grouping them into 2 categories:

1. Words that describe desirable candidates (i.e., you).
2. Words that describe entities other than you.

Don’t tell prospective employers about yourself with adjectives and adverbs. Rather, exemplify their desired qualities in your resume’s accomplishment statements.

How to Use Rewordify to Coach Your References

Then, use Rewordify to make a list of desirable candidate characteristics (see below). Share your list with people writing LinkedIn recommendations and serving as references for you.

You can say:

“These are the characteristics the company wants in the person they hire. If you think any of them match me, I hope you will mention them.”

Parsed from the job posting above, your Airbnb list might include:

• Creative
• Efficient
• Influential
• Intellectual horsepower
• Interesting
• Investor mindset
• Proactive
• Talented

Because many of those words represent opinions, they’re best used by third parties, not you.

Prepositions

Next, and the last part of speech this post covers, prepositions describe relationships between words. They give subtle clues about your work style.

Thus, always parse job postings for prepositions. In the Airbnb ad, the prepositions “with” and “across” popped for me. 

I would be sure to weave those words into a resume for the listed position.

The Resume Black Hole

Finally, while it’s wise to do the analyses described above, you don’t have to use every keyword you see to feed the ATS. A 50% match with a job posting is often good enough to keep you out of the black hole and to get an interview.

So, exhale and enjoy!

Questions?

I haven’t analyzed the entire Airbnb job posting here. However, I think you get how to use Rewordify and the parts of speech strategically in your job search. 

If you have any questions about resume keywords, I hope you’ll ask them in the comments below.

Resume Parsing Software

One more note, you can also use Rewordify to find keywords in your resume.

Copy and paste your resume into Rewordify. It will parse your resume and let you take a quick inventory of the keywords it contains. 

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Featured by Career Sherpa & 3Plus International
Updated July 2024
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© 2019 – 2024, Donna Svei. All rights reserved.

Donna Svei

Donna Svei, an executive resume writer and former C-level executive, retained search consultant, and CPA, authors all of AvidCareerist’s posts.

She is a Fast Company Contributor and has written for and been quoted by 100+ business and general media outlets, including Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, CNBC, the New York Times, USA Today, Time, US News & World Report, CBS, the BBC, Lifehacker, Social Media Today, IT World, and Business News Daily.

Let her expertise inform your job search strategy and decision-making.

Contact Donna here to learn more about her resume and LinkedIn profile services and fee structure.