If you're like most - and if you're smart - you probably start most of your resume sentences with action verbs like "Managed," or "Assisted," or "Developed."

More and more, however, job search industry experts are advocating that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques be incorporated into resumes. And in some cases, they are advocating a revolution - one where SEO-only resumes become the norm.

What SEO is. Without getting too technical, SEO is a means of making sure your content is found. In the online world, content producers and web masters increase the SEO of their content by repeating the key words or phrases essential to the content at hand. When dealing with resumes, therefore, it's essential to know the most important skills and experiences for a particular job - and then peppering the words or phrases through out one's resume.

A big SEO mistake. A common SEO mistake is to repeat the same key word or phrase to the point of nonsense (e.g. "Adhered to accounts payable procedure stated in the accounts payable policy of company's accounts payable handbook"). This is overkill. In the online world, Google and other search sites have algorythms that detect this practice on web pages and actually make it harder for the pages to be found in a search. If an employer is using a search that doesn't take advantage of this algorythm, the prospective employee's resume may be found, but s/he will look like an uneducated fool who doesn't know how to write - let alone know anything about SEO.

SEO trends. Some HR professionals, recruiters and other industry experts believe the era of SEO resumes is here, and the days of the "begin every bullet with an action verb" practice is over. Actually, these people are only partially correct. SEO is growing ever more important in terms of resumes, but it's essential to incorporate SEO techniques into your resume and not have an SEO-only resume. Yet, that is. It's difficult to see whether this will lead to an era where SEO-only resumes replace current resume formats, or if it will merely become an essential tool all job seekers will need to incorporate into their resumes.

IN THE CARAVAN: SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is becoming increasingly important and it's a good idea to learn about it before your competition does.

NEXT MONDAY: SEO Resumes: Incorporating SEO in Your Resume