Excluding skills and keywords

Excluding a keyword takes it out of scoring completely. It stops counting as something the job asked for, so it no longer weighs against you and it disappears from the report. It is one click, and the scan you are on re-scores immediately.

Use it for keywords the scan picked up that are not real requirements: a product name that happens to match a common word, a term lifted from a benefits paragraph, a skill from a part of the posting that describes a different role.

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How to exclude one

You exclude from any keyword row in your report, and the control is in a slightly different place depending on which view you are in.

• In the skills table, the row control is tooltipped Exclude Keyword.
• On the Smart Report beta, the row action is Exclude from scoring.

Either way you get a confirmation naming the keyword and telling you your score has been updated.

Exclusions are global, always

There is no per-scan exclusion. Every exclusion applies to your whole account, and the Settings page marks each one Global so the scope is never in doubt.

The consequence is worth sitting with: a keyword you excluded because it was irrelevant on one posting stays excluded on every scan you run afterwards. If the term is genuinely a skill you have, or one you want to be measured on, leave it in.

What it does to existing scans

Adding and removing an exclusion do not mirror each other, so it is worth knowing both rules.

• Adding an exclusion re-scans the scan you are looking at, and only that one. Your other existing scans keep the scores they already had, because nothing goes back through your history.
• Removing an exclusion re-scans nothing at all, neither the scan you are on nor any other. To see a removed keyword back in scoring, create a fresh scan.

Every new scan you create is scored against your current exclusion list, so once a term is off the list it behaves normally again from that point on.

What it does to your score

Your score usually goes up, because excluding a keyword removes it from what the job asked for and you stop being measured against it.

One case is worth knowing in advance. If you exclude the only keyword of a type, that whole type reverts to full marks, so excluding the single soft skill on a posting awards all 15 soft skill points automatically.

Managing your exclusions

Settings has an Excluded Keywords page listing everything you have excluded, with a Keyword column, a Status column, and a Remove button on each row.

Exclusions are created from a keyword row in a report, so this page is where you review and undo them rather than where you add them. There is no limit on how many keywords you can exclude.

Before you exclude

Excluding is the right tool for a keyword that should not be scored, and the wrong tool for a keyword you do not have yet. In the second case your score rises while your resume gets no closer to the job, so the number stops telling you anything useful. The employer still sees the gap, and you no longer do.