HOW TO WRITE AN SEO RESUME?
In the world of search engine optimization, experience is everything. If you have been working in SEO for a while, then it’s likely that your resume is chock-full of successful results and impressive client references. In order to get the job, however, you need to be able to sell yourself beyond your credentials.
The first step toward writing an effective SEO resume is to understand that it’s not a traditional document; instead, it’s a marketing tool used to sell you and your skills. As such, an SEO resume should be written with the prospective employer in mind. Your goal will be to demonstrate how your experience and skills make you an ideal candidate for the position at hand (see How to Land an Interview in the SEO industry).
A good way to get started is to look at some SEO resume samples and see which catches your eye as an employer. Once you’ve gathered all the necessary information, it’s time to start on yours. Be honest about where your own skills lie and don’t be afraid to exaggerate slightly by rounding numbers.
Tailor Your Resume for Each Employer
While many of your duties are likely to be similar, every employer will have unique needs. For example, if you are applying to work with a large enterprise vs. a small company or startup, your responsibilities may vary significantly. If you are an agency worker, you will be expected to work on diverse projects and not necessarily with the same client.
Use Keywords Strategically
There is no such thing as a “one size fits all” SEO resume. You need to customize your document for each job that you apply for and highlight the specific skills that they are looking for. Just like SEO requires you to think like a search engine, the same is true of your resume. To market yourself effectively, it’s critical that you use keywords – and lots of them!
Employers spend very little time looking over resumes; in most cases, they can tell within seconds whether or not someone is right for the job. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that your resume is as easy to read as possible. When it comes to formatting, choose a sans-serif font such as Arial or Helvetica and limit the number of fonts used throughout. Similarly, you should use bullet points and short paragraphs wherever possible.
Include Diverse Work Experience
One of the quickest ways for a resume to be rejected is by not having enough experience for the position. The key here is “diverse” – you want to show that you have worked across a variety of projects and can easily handle those that are thrown at you.
Don’t try to hide gaps in employment as this will immediately raise red flags, but do explain what you were doing for that time period. For example, if you were unemployed after graduating with a degree in creative writing and took up Tae Kwon Do to stay active, explain your newly acquired skills on the resume.
If You Don’t Have Experience, Get It
While this may seem like common sense, it’s important to note that experience isn’t always easy to come by. If you are fresh out of college, internships can be your best friend. Volunteer work is also beneficial as it allows you to network with people in the industry and learn about different aspects of SEO.
Try freelancing for companies that need short-term help; this will improve your skills while giving you insight into how SEO works in a corporate environment. It will also give you the edge with regard to the internship vs. full-time salary debate.
Emphasize Your Leadership Abilities
Employers want individuals who can take charge and get results; therefore, if you can highlight how well you work independently and manage teams at the same time, you should do it. You can easily emphasize your leadership abilities by including headings such as “led projects” or “motivated team members”.
If this is not possible (and it may not be), try to show that you can work well with others by including headings such as “collaborated with” or “built relationships”.
Don’t Forget the Technical Stuff
Resumes are not just about past experience and job duties; they also provide employers with some important technical information. You should include your programming languages, advertising networks that you have used, CMS knowledge (if any), and relevant software packages.
You should also ensure that the SEO resume objective statement mentions your SEO experience, as this is an important selling point for you.
Resume Objective Statement
Before you even start writing, it’s important that you know what kind of job you are looking for and how you can benefit the company. Note that this is not a standard resume objective statement; rather, it should highlight your technical skills and your ability to use them in an SEO role (see How To Write The Perfect SEO Resume Objective ).
The best way to start this paragraph is by stating what industry you are looking for a job in and what you would like to achieve in the next five years. If you have a relevant degree, it’s a good idea to mention this as well so that employers can see why your knowledge of SEO is more than just theoretical!
Skills
You will need to include all of the technical skills you have that are relevant to SEO. The best way to do this is by using word association; if an employer mentions “keyword research”, for example, you should list knowledge of SEO tools and research techniques as one of your key skills (see How To List Technical Skills On YourNote down all the technical skills that you currently possess; if possible, use tools such as Excel to organize them by the relevant job role.
Education
You should include your highest level of education (not necessarily in that order). If you’ve got an advanced degree, it’s always a good idea to mention this first. If not, list any media-related courses or vocational training before your high school diploma.
Experience
One of the most important components of your resume is your work experience. In this section, you should describe each job in terms of its duties and responsibilities. If possible, give some hard numbers to illustrate how successful you have been at previous jobs (see How To Write About Your Work Experience ). Include headings such as “Responsible for” or “Drove”.
Organization
This section is effectively another description of your job role. Mention the size of the company you worked for and whether you managed people or not (see How To Describe An Organization ). If possible, give some hard numbers (see How to Describe Your Work Environment).
Your resume summary paragraph is your “elevator pitch” and should be written in a way that makes employers sit up and take notice. Note that your SEO resume summary paragraph is different from that on a traditional resume; you need to sell yourself by highlighting who you are and how this makes you qualified for the job (see How To Write The Perfect SEO Resume Summary ).
The best way to write an SEO resume summary is to use the same keywords and phrases as the job advertisement in a way that shows how you match up. If the ad lists “SEO campaign management” as a desired skill, you should mention how you have used this to achieve stellar results. You should also include a brief description of your work history and what you enjoy doing on the job.
The above tips are going to help you do your resume thing right.