State Your Objective

Objective Writing

Targeting your resume requires that you be absolutely clear about your career direction—or at least that you appear to be clear. If you aren’t clear where you are going, you wind up wherever the winds of chance take you. You would be wise to use this time of change to design your future career so that you have a clear target that will meet your goals and be personally fulfilling. Even if you are somewhat vague about what you are looking for, you cannot let your uncertainty show. With a nonexistent, vague or overly broad objective, the first statement you make to a prospective employer says that you are not sure this is the job for you.

Objective Statements improve you resume by helping you:

• Emphasize your main qualifications and summarize them for readers
• Inform your readers of the position(s) you are seeking and your career goals
• Establish your professional identity

Here’s how to write your objective

First of all, decide on a specific job title for your objective. Think about the question “How can I demonstrate that I am the perfect candidate?”. What are the two or three qualities, abilities, or achievements that would make me stand out as truly exceptional for that specific job?

Be sure the objective is to the point. Do not use fluffy phrases that are obvious or do not mean anything, such as: “allowing the ability to enhance potential and utilize experience in new challenges.” An objective may be broad and still somewhat undefined in some cases, such as: “a mid-level management position in the hospitality or entertainment industry”.

Remember, your resume will only get a few seconds’ attention, at best! You have to general interest right away, in the first sentience lay their eyes on. Having an objective statement that really sizzles is highly effective. And its simple to do. One format is:

OBJECTIVE: An xxx position in an organization where yyy and zzz would be needed (or, in an organization seeking yyy and zzz).

Xxx is the name of the position you are applying for. Yyy and zzz are the most compelling qualities, abilities or achievements that you will make you really stand out above the crowd of applications. Your previous research to find out what is most important to the employer will provide the information to fill in the yyy and zzz.

If you are applying for several different positions, you should adapt your resume to each one. There is nothing wrong with have several different resumes, each with a different objective, each specifically crafted for a different type of position. You may even want to change some parts of your resume for each job you apply for. Have an objective that is perfectly matched with the job you are applying for. Remember, you are writing advertising copy, not your life story.

If you are making a career change or have a limited work history, you want the employer to immediately focus on where you are going, rather than where you have been. If you are looking for another job in your present field, it is more important to stress your qualities, achievements and abilities first.