Resume objectives

Posted on 08. Mar, 2006 posted by Bill in Employment News

Choosing an appropriate objective for a resume can be a difficult endeavor. For some employers and some jobs this opening statement is not very important, while for others it is extremely important. Its true purpose is not always understood by the job seeker and taking it lightly could be a mistake.

Many looking for a job use the same objective for every position they apply. For people with a specific career focus this may be appropriate. In others cases, for people without such a clear purpose, this can be the wrong approach.

There are some things to consider that can help avoid mistakes.

An objective is a statement of what you want to do for an employer. It needs to be supported by the information in your resume that you can indeed perform what is in the opening statement. Without this backup _ it is meaningless.

It should consider your abilities, skills, education and interests as they pertain to the position you are applying for. In other words you are saying _ “this is what I want to do and the information that follows is why I can perform the job duties.”

Review your past. Write down what jobs you have held, what you liked, what you have accomplished and what type of education you have had. Ask yourself what really motivates you.

This undertaking should help you narrow down your personal objective. Without insight into yourself, you may have no career focus. Without that it is hard to have an overall career direction.

Each job you apply for can have an altered objective within the framework of your personal objective.

It should not only consider what you want, but should also be about the needs of the employer. It should tell the employer what you could do for them.

To help achieve this and create your opening statement, determine who your audience is. Is it a hiring manager looking for an employee that can produce more quantity, or a commissioned recruiter concerned with quality results? Is it a human resource person trying to fill a large number of positions of new hires that are to be in a two-week training program, or a top-level executive looking for one key assistant? It is sometimes unclear who your audience really is.

If you are looking for a position in sales, for instance, the objective may be one based on producing quantity. If you are looking for a position as an accountant, it may be based on quality results.

The objective should show you have an understandable purpose oriented toward achievement. It should be realistic and beneficial in the context of the position. Saying you want to become the president of the company when applying for a salesperson position is not likely to help you get the job.

Try and express as much enthusiasm as possible for the position. Hiring managers look for people interested in doing the job. They generally don’t want someone looking to come in, gain experience and then leave in a short period of time. It does not reflect well on them. The hiring and training process is expensive for employers.

Try not be too general. Let the hiring manager see a results oriented person that really wants to do the job.

Spend time thinking about your objective. Too often prospective employees spend lots of time on their resume and virtually no time on their objective. The lack of effort could cost you your dream job.

EmploymentDigest.net

Resume objectives

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