Simple words will help your CV get noticed
dubai — Updating your CV when changing your jobs can be a challenging task, especially if you are hoping to get noticed among that hundreds of candidates that you will be up against.
A new survey, however, has revealed that employers often look for keywords when sourcing talent. According to Bayt.com, the most heavily-searched keyword last year was “sales”, searched for over 170,000 times in 2016 alone. This was followed by “manager”, “engineer”, “accountant” and “HR”. Other popular words included “marketing”, “finance”, “project manager”, “assistant”, “secretary”, “IT”, “business”, “development”, “mechanical”, “procurement”, “design” and “civil”.
Experts say that with these hot keywords, jobseekers will have the knowledge to revise or tweak their profiles and increase their visibility and attractiveness for employer searches and find more career opportunities.
Suhail Masri, vice-president of employer solutions at Bayt.com, said that having a powerful CV is important to stay competitive in the job market, and job seekers who hold the qualifications and skills related to the most wanted positions will have a greater chance of being viewed and contacted by the employer for career opportunities. However, this will be more successful if the most popular keywords are mentioned.
It is recommended to use keywords in all marketing communications as a job seeker, including in CVs, cover letters, profiles and interview follow-up letters. Communicating a message of who the job seeker is and what value/knowledge they can bring is an important factor.
Recent research also revealed that for young job seekers and fresh graduates, the greatest challenge for getting their career started is the high competition. The second challenge is the lack of career support from universities and schools.
When it comes to salaries, 30.6 per cent of respondents agree that entry-level jobs are paid well in the Middle East, and 19.6 per cent were
30.6% of respondents agree that entry-level jobs are paid well in the Middle East
neutral. While nearly half of respondents disagree with that statement, it is also worth noting that only 17.4 per cent of job seekers value having a high salary the most in an entrylevel job. In addition, 42.5 per cent of respondents look for opportunities for career growth, while 21.9 per cent look for experience relevant to their education, and 18.2 per cent look for a reputable company and positive work culture.
“In today’s economic climate, it is important for both prospective employees and employers to be aware of the available solutions when it comes to obtaining and creating jobs,” said Masri. “Competition for jobs has never ceased to exist, which is why jobseekers are continuously encouraged to enhance their CVs and online profiles as well as utilise the most advanced tools and technologies.”