Pull the ATS keywords out of any job description.

Why the right keywords matter

Many employers keep applications in an applicant tracking system (ATS), and many of these systems include search. A recruiter may type a few terms into a search box — "Salesforce", "B2B SaaS", "account management" — and look at the CVs that come back.

So the question isn't only "am I a good fit?" It's "do I use the words this recruiter will type?"

Good candidates can miss out because they describe their experience in their own words. The posting asks for "stakeholder management" and the CV says "worked closely with lots of teams". A person would see the match. A search for "stakeholder management" may not.

How to pull keywords from a job description by hand

You can do this yourself in about ten minutes per posting. Here's how:

1. Find the required section. Most postings split "Requirements" or "What you'll need" from "Nice to have" or "Bonus points". Your most important keywords come from the first one.
2. Underline the nouns. Skills, tools, job titles, industries, certifications, outcomes. For a marketing role you might get: paid social, Meta Ads, Google Analytics 4, A/B testing, CAC, B2C, content calendar.
3. Note the exact spelling. "GA4" or "Google Analytics 4"? "Customer Success" or "Account Management"? Use their version. For acronyms, write both once: "customer acquisition cost (CAC)".
4. Look for repeats. A term that shows up in the title, the summary and the requirements is a must-have even when it isn't labelled as one.
5. Rank them. Must-haves, then important terms, then nice-to-haves. You'll use them in that order when you edit your CV.

It works. It's also slow when you're applying to ten jobs a week, and it's easy to miss a term that's only mentioned once in the middle of a paragraph.

What the keyword extractor does for you

The tool above does those five steps for you. Paste a posting and the same Job Analyst that powers our CV X-Ray reads it like a recruiter setting up a search:

• Must-have keywords — the terms from the required section and the ones the posting leans on.
• Important keywords — strong signals a recruiter is likely to search for.
• Nice-to-have keywords — the bonus skills. Use them only when they're true for you.
• Synonyms — the other ways people write the same skill ("Postgres" for "PostgreSQL", "fintech" for "payments"), so you know what already counts.
• The required list — the posting's must-have requirements in its own words, so you can check each one against your experience.

Copy the list, keep it next to your CV, and you've done the slow part.

Where to put the keywords in your CV

Having the keywords is half the job. Where they go matters just as much:

• Your headline and summary. These are among the first lines a recruiter reads. Put two or three must-haves here.
• Your most recent role. A keyword in last year's bullet is easier for a reader to notice than the same word in a job from 2016.
• Inside real results. "Cut churn 18% by redesigning onboarding for enterprise accounts" uses three keywords and proves them. A skills list only claims them.
• A short skills section. Good for tools and certifications that don't fit a bullet. Keep it to the ones the posting cares about.

For a deeper walk-through with examples, read our resume keywords guide and how to tailor your resume to a job description.

Don't stuff keywords

It's tempting to paste the whole list into a white-text block or a giant skills section. Don't. Systems don't all handle repeated terms the same way, and the recruiter who opens your CV will notice a list of terms with nothing behind them. Worse, every keyword on your CV is a topic you can be asked about in an interview.

A simple rule: if you can't point to a project, a role or a result that backs a keyword up, it doesn't go in. Leave it out, or learn it first.

How Zentivion handles this for you

The keyword extractor is the free first step. When you want the whole job done, the crew takes over:

1. The CV X-Ray (free, no sign-up) compares your CV with the posting and shows exactly which keywords and must-haves are covered, partly covered or missing.
2. The crew (free for 7 days) rewrites your CV, cover letter, recruiter email and LinkedIn profile for that job, working in the posting's keywords where your experience supports them.
3. The Truth Guard checks every line against your own evidence. A keyword you can't back up is removed, not slipped in. You get a CV that matches the job and that you can defend in the interview.

Questions people ask

Is the keyword extractor free?+

Yes, with no account and no card. To keep it free for everyone there's a limit of ten scans a day per connection.

Do I need to upload my CV?+

No. The extractor only reads the job posting. When you want to know which of the keywords your CV already has, the free CV X-Ray checks your CV against the same posting.

Which job sites does it work with?+

Paste a link to the posting or the posting text. Some sites, like LinkedIn, Indeed and Workday, block automatic reading or need a login — when that happens, copy the text from the page and paste it instead.

How does it decide what's a must-have?+

It sorts the posting's terms by priority: terms from the required section and anything the posting repeats are must-haves, terms from the bonus section are nice-to-haves. When a posting has clearly labelled sections, those labels win.

Should I add every keyword to my CV?+

Only the ones you can back up with real experience. A keyword you can't talk about in an interview costs you more than it gains. Use the posting's exact wording for the ones you have, and leave the rest out.

Why does it show synonyms?+

Search behaviour varies by system: a recruiter may search for one spelling or list several, and people read both. If the posting says "PostgreSQL" and you wrote "Postgres", don't assume a search will treat them as the same. Writing it their way once is the safest choice.

FREE · NO SIGN-UP

See what the crew finds in your CV.

Match score, ATS read-back, missing keywords and the recruiter's first skim, for the job you actually want. Files uploaded for the X-Ray are deleted after 24 hours.

Run my free X-Ray