Use keyword research to define your skills and interests
As I wrote in a previous post “Career Search in 16 Steps,” you’ll only find a satisfying career or job if you’re doing what you like to do. And one of the best ways to start is keyword research: writing 10-20 keywords reflecting your strongest skills, interests, knowledge, experiences, desired industries and other preferences.
The keyword research strategy helps you find enjoyable jobs and avoid companies not interested in your job skills. Approaching businesses who have no need for your skills is like forcing a square peg into a round hole. Instead, create both the hole (the job or career) and the peg (you)!
How to Do Keyword Research for Employment
If you’re familiar with keyword research on the Web, you’re already ahead of the game since the process is very similar. Try this technique.
- Write down on a piece of paper (or spreadsheet, if possible) 20 words related job likes, career experiences and employer preferences. Use active verbs, like “train,” “build,” “write,” “create,” “manage,” etc. Also include words related to job knowledge you’ve acquired such as “computer,” “truck,” “marketing,” “health care,” “construction,” etc. If you’ve already written a vision statement, explained in another PCS post, borrow keywords for that exercise.
- Ignore job titles, companies or industries as keywords. At this stage, you’re exploring what you enjoy doing. So open your mind to possibilities. If you’ve been a carpenter for ten years, that doesn’t mean you can’t use acquired skills in another profession or job.
- Write keyword phrases (two or more words). Examples are “train dogs,” “build houses,” “write press releases,” “create sales teams,” “manage projects,” etc.). Notice I’m creating keyword phrases with an active verb followed by nouns. Creating keyword phrases this way avoids the trap of job titles. For example, you may love training dogs but titles for related jobs may not be “dog trainer.” It might be “canine consultant” or “manager of dog development.” By focusing on what you like doing, you avoid the “title trap” so common among job seekers.
- Put at least 5-10 related keywords in groups and rate them 1-20. This will produce more relevant results when you use Google and the search engines in the next step.
You should now have a list of 50-100 keywords and phrases related to your career skills and interests, broken into two or three groups.
Having successfully completed this keyword research, you’re ready to test them on the Web.
