In today’s job market, you need to find a way to stand out among the competition and shine. To accomplish that, the first step is to get the person on the other end to sit up and pay attention to your resume instead of tossing it into a pile of “maybes”.

One trick is to use certain keywords throughout your resume.Keywords matter when they’re scanning your resume in these programs to gauge if your skill set is the right fit for an open position.

3 Reasons to Keep In Mind Why Keywords are so Important in a Resume

It helps you to get in front of a human being. Remember that applicant tracking systems use keywords to sort and organize resumes and cover letters. This is designed to save the hiring manager some time, so make sure your resume doesn’t get lost in the shuffle simply because you didn’t use the right keywords.

It helps you to sort what’s most important. Some job seekers submit resumes that are multiple pages long — and the truly important information gets buried beneath other achievements that are completely irrelevant (such as how many high school basketball championships you won when you’re applying for an accountant position). Making a list of keywords up front can help you to whittle down your long list of experiences to just the ones that the hiring manager will actually care about.

It shows you’re speaking the same language as the hiring manager. Hiring managers use certain keywords in the job posting or description. Here, it’s important to show that you’re on the same page by using similar terminology to convey your specific skill sets, qualifications and experience.