Your resume objectives
How to write your career objective
Resume objectives and career objectives are terms that are often confused. Your overall objective or goal when preparing your resume is to get an interview.
Your career objective however is a statement about where you are wanting to head in your career.
If you decide to use this heading when creating your resume you must make your career objective statement compelling reading.
Why? Because this will be the first thing the reader will learn about you. And.....as always, first impressions are important and lasting impressions!
Resume objective statements
Should you include a 'Career Objectives' statement?
This is an important question.....often there may be a difference between your "real" career objectives, and the career objective that you are writing about in order to achieve your goal of obtaining a job interview.
Resume Writing Tips
Your real career objectives are often best kept confidential to you.
If, for example, say your real career objective is to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company within the next 10 years.
But...... you are currently at middle management level!
In this situation your longer term career objective is not likely to resonate all that well with the reader, or be relevant to their interest in hiring you.
Your reader will be interested in what you can do for them in the here and now - not your ambitions 10 years into the future.
Having said that - what would you do if you knew the employer is looking for someone with that type of career goal and ambition?
Naturally you would carefully consider including a relevant career objective statement along these lines.
The first thing to consider.....is this heading really necessary for this application?
Will a statement of career objective assist you to attract sufficient attention and interest so that you get the interview?
A statement of career objective doesn't necessarily always work to your advantage.
Sometimes for example a career objective statement can kind of put you in a box in the eyes of the reader.
If the effect or impact you want to create with your resume is that you are open to a range of opportunities then it might be better not to use this heading.
Here's a big problem with career objective statements in resumes.
Employers, naturally, are more concerned about how you can contribute to their organisation, rather than your own self serving personal agenda.
Poorly written, naive career objective statements are usually all about the ambition of the candidate.
If you want your career objective statement write it in terms which explain your desire, and ability, to make a difference in the employer's organisation. That approach is more likely to get you noticed!
Here's just two examples of poorly written career objectives:
- I'm a mid-level manager who is looking for the next challenging opportunity that will help me advance my career.
- Looking for a position in an organisation that provides me with the opportunity to engage in further training and education.
When does a career objective statement work best?
This heading works best to help you achieve your resume objectives when you are:
- Demonstrating that your career objective has direct relevance to the position you are applying for - This is the key consideration - your career objective must have relevance to the reader's needs or interests..
- Dealing with professional recruiters - You are sending your resume to a professional recruiter to get on their data base, rather than responding to a position that the recruiter has advertised. Why? - because it helps the recruiter to know what type of roles you'd like to be considered for.
- Following up on some networking activity - When you have met someone through networking, a career objective statement can make it easier for this person to assist you in your job search.
Resume Writing Tips
Your career objective statement isn't, or shouldn't be really about you!
This is a key tip in the process of creating a resume.
What is the most effective type of career objective statement?
It's where you lead the reader to conclude that there is a match between what they are looking for in an employee, and what you, the prospective employee, is looking to do in your career.
In other words, your message needs to communicate that by helping the organisation to meet their objectives, you'll be working towards yours - your statement should communicate "Win - Win".
How to write a career objective statement
Think of achieving your resume objectives as a two step process - we're talking basic sales letter techniques here.
When writing your statement you will need to first attract the attention of the reader and then arouse their interest in what you have to say.
- Create interest by beginning in a slightly unpredictable way - start with an action word like "seeking" instead of "I am seeking"
- Interest is created when you relate to the reader's needs - in other words helping them answer the question WIFM - what's in it for me?
A simple formula for writing resume objectives
Try using this simple formula to help you to construct your resume objective statement.
Seeking a position as.. (the type of role)..in (explain, if relevant, the industry or niche where you want to work)...
where my...(describe two, perhaps three of your strongest assets - skills, knowledge, attitude)...will contribute to.....(key words which relate to what is important to the employer - for example words like - profitability, productivity, efficiency, image or reputation, service quality, safety, cost effectiveness etc)
Career objective statement - An example
Seeking a position as a Training Consultant in a service based industry where my well developed instructional design and facilitation skills in Quality Service Management can be utilised to assist the organisation achieve a reputation for delivering service excellence.
Resume Writing Tips
The main features of the sample statement above are:
- It begins with an action word "Seeking" - aim to get rid of unnecessary language in your resume like "I am (seeking)
- The position you claim are seeking which you describe in your statement would be the same or similar to the job title in the advertisement you are responding to
- Likewise - the same industry setting or niche is where the employer operates would be included
- Key attributes you bring to the role are featured - in this instance instructional design, facilitation skills, Quality Service Management
- The attributes you describe are referred to in the context of how the employer will benefit - assisting them to achieve a reputation for....
Wording your career objective statement like this helps to create an impression with the reader that your purpose is to help them.
If that connection is made, one of your resume objectives is achieved - interest in your application - which then could lead to interview invitation.
Career objective statement
A poor example - for contrast
I am seeking a position in your organisation which will enable me to take the next step in my career. In keenly interested in learning more about the whole area of service excellence together with the opportunity to further develop my instructional design and facilitation skills.
See the difference? - This statement is all about the writer - not the reader!
Resume objectives - Summary
If you decide to include a career objective heading and statement in your resume it has to work for you by enhancing your application.
You will fail in achieving your overall resume objective if you write a statement which is all about you - your statement has to reflect that your career interest is in helping your employer.
If you decide not to put in a career objective statement, what's the alternative?......Begin with your profile statement.
Finally if you haven't already done so, make sure you are following the other resume guidelines that will help you write a terrific resume.
Also, are you confident you've made the right choice about resume layouts, and are you using the right headings when creating a resume?
Another critical area of the resume relates to the recording of your career accomplishments or career highlights. Go to the link if you don't know which ones you will include, and if you need some suggestions about how to write about them.
New! Comments
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