Dear SafetyXChange Members:

Today's job seekers don't just write resumes; they also post online profiles in cyberspace. Of course, the ultimate success of these profiles hinges on whether recruiters and employers actually see them. Getting the right person to find your profile online, in turn, hinges on including the right keywords in it.

What Are Keywords?

Keywords are the words (mostly nouns) and phrases that a person uses to run an internet search. For "sellers," the art of search engine optimization (SEO) is to identify the words or phrases that a "buyer" is most likely to use to search the internet when that buyer has a need that the seller's "product" is designed to resolve. The more keywords you use, the greater the likelihood that your buyer will find you.

In the context of job searching, SEO means selecting key words that a person would use when looking to hire or place a person of your qualifications. Mark Freedman, managing director of The Resource Planning Group, cautions against using general terms such as "seasoned," "hands-on," "team-builder" and "decision-maker" in the profile. These aren't good keywords. "Keywords are phrases that define the position to which you aspire or are specific to the industry niche in which you wish to continue," Freedman explains.

How to Find Keywords

How do you find the right keywords? Look for descriptions in actual jobs that recruiters and employers use to find candidates for the targeted position. "I ask my clients to find three to six job ads," according to one recruiter. "We then identify the descriptors, keywords and keyword phrases from each ad and make sure we incorporate the most important ones in the online profile (and resume)."

To make optimal use of keywords, you should list concrete bullet points in the body of your profile/resume that back them up, such as Strategic Planning, P&L, TQM, QA, SAP, CRM and Risk Management, adds Freedman.

Conclusion

Resumes have changed a lot over the years. And online profiles didn't exist until recently. But while the presentation has evolved with technology, the essential function of the resume remains the same: Persuade readers that you've got what they need. Ultimately, then, success depends on two things:

• Knowing the target's needs; and
• Persuading the target that you're the goods.

Fancy resumes and online profiles can enhance the message and make it more likely to be seen by the right people. But if you don't have the substance, the presentation will be little more than window dressing.

Wishing you career success,
Lauryn Franzoni

ExecuNet, www.execunet.com

THIS DATE IN HISTORY

Howard Hughes

November 2, 1947

By Glenn Demby

I am about to break an unwritten law of journalism: I am going to write the name "Howard Hughes" and not include the phrase "eccentric billionaire" somewhere else in the same sentence. But I guess I'll have to do it in the next paragraph.

Aviation-wise, Howard Hughes may be best remembered for the "Spruce Goose." (There, I did it.) The project was conceived in 1942. German U-Boats in the North Atlantic were massacring the merchant ships carrying wartime supplies to Great Britain. One potential solution: Deliver the supplies by air. The problem, of course, was to build a plane capable of doing the job. The plane would have to be heavy enough to haul massive amounts of troops, material and equipment and still possess the range to make the Atlantic crossing.

Howard Hughes and shipbuilder Henry Kaiser teamed up to meet the challenge. Originally named the HK-1, the Hughes Kaiser flying boat was a monstrosity weighing 400,000 pounds (when loaded) and possessing a wingspan of almost 320 feet. When Kaiser pulled out, Hughes stripped the "K" from its name. But skeptics had another name for the H-4 Hercules: "Hughes's Folly."

Among other things, the critics complained that the plane would eat up too much precious aluminum needed for other wartime projects. To get around the metal shortage, Hughes designed the plane almost entirely of wood. Although it was nicknamed the "Spruce Goose," it was actually made of birch.

On this date 70 years ago, pilot Hughes taxied the Spruce Goose along the waters of Long Beach bay near Los Angeles. It was supposed to be just a low-speed run over water. But to the surprise of onlookers, Hughes lifted the plane into the air 70 feet above the waves and rode her for about a mile at a speed of 135 MPH. The Spruce Goose could actually fly!

Hughes had defied the critics. But it was a hollow victory. The war had been over for two years and the need for a plane like the Hercules had passed. The Spruce Goose would remain in mothballs until Hughes's death in 1976. The Walt Disney Company acquired the plane in 1988 and tried to turn it into an attraction. But the venture proved a disappointment. The plane was finally acquired by an Oregon aviation museum in 1995 and that's where it remains today.

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