Assessing Strengths of SEO Skills on a CV

Assessing the strengths of SEO skills on a CV has become close-to-vital in today’s job market, where hundreds of applicants are vying for each new role.

Some shocking statistics to back that up, state:

52% of new hires turnover before their first anniversary at a company.
The average employee turnover for UK workers is currently sitting at 34%. 

These ever-growing numbers in combination with the current state of the job market have been promoting further expenses for companies hiring, as well as pressures and stress on both parties involved: candidates and companies alike. 

While we can’t completely eradicate employee turnover–it’s a normal part of business; it can be potentially dangerous when there are increasing numbers of employee turnovers.

This is when losses become greater: financially, and motivationally. 

The good news is that these indicators allow us to make necessary changes, and those changes can go all the way back to the first step: the initial screening. 

Identifying strong, quality candidates is the precursor to a successful, efficient hiring process, and effectively reducing employee turnover rates. 

Many of our agency owner networks have been enquiring about just that–identifying the strength of SEO skills from a CV standpoint.

Today, that’s exactly what we are going to share with you.

Types of Skills:

• Hard Skills
• Soft Skills 
• Transferable Skills: Skills applicable across different roles or industries.
• Job-Specific Skills: Skills tailored to the specific role being applied for.

Assessing SEO Skills: The KEL Approach 

In this approach, we explore:

• How to identify SEO skills through keywords for effective screenings. 
• Evaluating skills through their given experience. 
• Looking at education and certifications for hard skills.
• Analysing the literacy of the CV to assess expertise and enhanced communication. 

Reviewing SEO skills on a CV can be broken down into 3 key categories: 

• Keywords 
• Evaluation 
• Literacy 

A.K.A: KEL. 

This will help you to quickly spot skills and their respective strengths with ease and efficiency. 

Keywords: 

Identify the main keywords you’d like to look for in the CV and application. 

Tip: Many hiring managers nowadays include a keyword or catchphrase to  eliminate the AI and spam applicants, from the decent ones. 

If you include an instruction somewhere within your job post, it will help to show the applicants that took the time to thoroughly read through the job ad, and then apply after being fully aware of what the role entails.

This could include an example such as:
“If you’ve gotten this far through the job ad, make sure that you include “golden moon” into your application. Applicants who overlook this will not be considered.”

This will also allow you to see how creative applicants can be with including a phrase in their application.

Outside of the above, you can also include a list of keywords to identify, that are specific to the role, and the qualities that the role requires. 

Include examples: 

• SEO Manager 
• Tech SEO 
• SEO Exec
• Director of SEO 
• Head of SEO 

Speaking to your team to help identify the specific skills they prefer in a new teammate could also be useful here. 

Evaluation: 

Evaluating the above skills is where the real bottleneck comes into play–because this is where you start to identify the strengths of those skills mentioned.

Drafting a scorecard which you can assess each applicant’s skill sets (keywords) on is useful in this stage, as it can help to determine the strongest of the most applicable candidates. 

For instance, an example below could look like: 

As per the above example, candidate 1 and 2 are the highest scoring.
You can additionally add a ‘bonus’ column, which is where you can add extra points to candidates with unique skills that are worth considering. 

For instance, if candidate 4 didn’t make it through via his initial scorecard, but does offer particularly unique skills to the other candidates, those could be considered in the bonus column, where extra points will be offered. Allowing him to move onto the next interview stage. 

Literacy 

Lastly, literacy and tone of the CV will also help you to gain an idea of the level of expertise and professionalism of the applicant. 

Look out for candidates who are:

• Short and concise, yet impactful in the way they convey information
• Don’t over-supply unnecessary information 
• Anything else?

Within this, it may be worth exploring: 

• Context: Are the skills demonstrated with any examples? 
• Quantifiable results: Has the candidate provided data or achievements tied to their skills?
• Frequency and depth: How often was the particular set of skills practised? 

Red Flags on CVs

• Recognise vague descriptions and overly generic skill mentions that lack specificity
• Constant job hopping: a candidate not staying in roles for longer than a few months (granted, this is non-contractual work). 
• Excessive internal promotions within the same company without proper experience or career growth. For instance, a candidate could move from a Manager to Director. 
• Their salary requirements don’t align with their experience. 

Conclusion

As always, the SEO For Hire team are masters at effective candidate sourcing and vetting. We have a large, growing network of +44k SEOs globally, which we are constantly speaking to, and vetting, so that they are prepped fresh and ready for their next SEO role. 

We’re the perfect candidate to be a company matchmaker, with a 99% successful candidate placement rate, and a 1 year successful placement guarantee. 

If you’re looking for an effective way to invest in your next asset and grow your SEO team, book a call with our team.