SEM/SEO is a growing industry, there are plenty of jobs in large US cities and many internet marketing agencies popping up all over the place. This leads to tons of SEM and SEO job openings. At the same time, competition can be fierce, especially for the high paying, flexible and great work environment jobs. Getting your foot in the door for an interview isn’t easy, but there are a few tips that can help you get your resume in front of the hiring manager and impress them enough to schedule a phone interview or bring you in for a face to face interview. Here are some tips to follow:

1: Create A Clean Cut, Easy To Read Format

The hiring manager will most likely be skimming through hundreds of resumes, many of these resumes will use the templates available in Microsoft word. If you resume is created from one of these standard templates and is very cluttered, you can almost guarantee your resume ends up in the trash.

Try creating your own template. Something simple and clean, possibly with shades of grey or light color. Do not use vibrant colors like pinks and oranges. Make sure the template lists your name and contact information on top and then begin listing your past jobs and qualifications.

2. State The Facts Numerically

Search is a bottom line, number driven business. Hiring managers do not want to be told you are a results driven person, they want to see results. List your accomplishments and provide the numbers to back it up. Manage a large monthly SEM campaign? Then list your ROI and the growth the account made while you managed it.

If you are applying for a SEO position, provide information regarding how you increased traffic, conversions and other important KPI’s.

3. Include Social Media Links

Social media walk besides SEO/SEM and many of us are involved heavily in social media. Whether its a LinkedIn profile, Twitter or a blog you write for, if its professional and you’d like to show it off, include links to those professional profiles in your resumes. (Remember to use proper anchor text!)

4. Reputation Management

One of the first things the hiring manager will do is type your name into Google and see what pops up. It would benefit you tremendously to have your professional profiles and blogs show up in top results before your flickr and Facebook pages that contains drunken photos does.

Thing about optimizing your profiles and blogs for search engines and altering your embarrassing profiles so they do not show up.

5. List Your Certifications And Tools

If you are a Google Certified Professional, list that on your resume. Taken the SEMPO tests? List that as well. The search industry is full of tests that can show the hiring manager you have knowledge in the field. This won’t get you the job, but it may get you in the door.

You also should list any of the tools you have used, whether is Raven Tools, SEOmoz, Kenshoo or Clickequations, list the major tools you have used and have mastered.