3 ways keywords play a critical role in development CVs

With hundreds, or even thousands, of applications to sift through for a single development job posting, recruiters need to make quick calls on whether a candidate’s CV is worth a closer look. “When a recruiter is first scanning a CV, one of the things they are scanning for are keywords that pop out to them to show that you generally have the experience they are looking for before actually spending time going into more detail into your work experience,” said Kate Warren, executive vice president and executive editor at Devex. This is just one reason for job seekers to take a strategic approach to using keywords in their CVs. Here are three crucial reasons why keywords are so important to the job application process, based on insights from leading development recruiters and career experts. They help you advance past the screening stage While many organizations first vet CVs using automated systems, others screen every application manually. Either way, keywords are what’s being looked for. Several recruiters, including Lykke Andersen, chief of talent acquisition and people programs at the United Nations Development Programme, suggested using the job description as a guide for determining which words should be incorporated. “If we say ‘lead,’ ‘facilitate,’ ‘communicate’ … refer to some of the keywords from the job description in your application. Because when we are screening applications, we also look for these keywords and you have to make an application that stands out,” Andersen said. Having a good sense of keywords that are commonly repeated, understood, and specific to global development will help you identify what to look for in the job descriptions, Warren said. Examples include “program and project management,” “monitoring and evaluation,” “capacity building,” and “team leadership.” They convey your relevant expertise It’s important to not only strategically apply common keywords but also job-specific ones. Peder Apall-Olsen, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s former head of recruitment and development unit, suggested that this can help candidates highlight their expertise. “If you are applying for a role within [gender-based violence] and you don't mention the word GBV anywhere in your CV, it's unlikely that you will be selected even though you have the right skill set,” Appall-Oslen said. To make this work, don’t use the same CV for every job application. Maria Chaney, a former staffing specialist with Tetra Tech, said candidates should use keywords to “revise or tailor their CV directly to the position” to highlight their most important and relevant experience. “[That way] we're able to see that they do have the experience that we are looking for and, as long as that aligns with the project, we are definitely interested in speaking with them,” Chaney added. They draw attention from recruiters online Keywords play a role even before you apply for a position. In terms of online recruitment, using keywords in digital candidate profiles will help you appear higher up in recruiters’ searches. This is because there are job vacancies that are not publicly advertised, especially for consulting and project-based work, Warren said. For these positions, recruiters will search for potential candidates on platforms like Devex, which allow job seekers to create online profiles and CVs. “You want to make sure that you are showing up on those searches,” Warren said. According to Warren, recruiters will often search for specific attributes like language skills and the countries where candidates have experience working in. “Having a separate section where you list those countries of work experience will help you rank higher in searches,” she said. Ready to stand out from the crowd and get noticed by the recruiters who matter most? Update your Devex profile and start connecting with top global development recruiters now.