Resume Objective or Career Statement

• Resume Objectives

  A resume objective is a summary statement about your skills combined with what kind of position you’re most interested in.

  There are two common schools of thought on resume objectives. One is to leave the objective off completely. The other is to make the objective specific to each position you apply for using resume keywords from the job ad or posting.

  Leaving the objective off deprives you of the opportunity to provide an at a glance summary of what you bring to the table. But a poorly written objective is worse than no objective at all.

  Including an objective written specifically for each position could be a good idea if you have the time and resources to do this. But an objective that is too specific can eliminate you from consideration for other positions you might be interested in.

  On the other hand an objective that is too general can make it look as if you don’t know what you want to do.

  What’s a job seeker to do?

• Career Statement

  A better approach is to use a career statement in place of a resume objective. A career statement summarizes your strengths and illustrates how you can apply those strengths to accomplish a business objective for the benefit of a potential employer.

  A subtle distinction perhaps but an important one.

The Tone

In other words, it’s not about you and what you want. It’s about you and what the hiring authority wants.

Not...
Administrative Assistant with experience compiling statistical reports and handling executive's calender seeks secure position with stable company where advancement based on performance is possible.

But Rather...
Professional administrative assistant with a proven ability to free up executive's time by providing effective traffic control and information management support. Possess a heightened sense of organizational awareness; a proven ability to keep information confidential; and the ability to interact appropriately with individuals at all levels of the organization.

If you were the hiring authority which statement would keep you reading?

The Construction

The career summary should be located directly under the resume contact information . It should be no more than the equivalent of three sentences long. Using short phrases instead of complete sentences is OK.

Don't use personal pronouns. Action words are stronger. And it sounds less egotistical to speak in the third person.

It may help you to pretend you're writing a classified ad selling 'someones' abilities. Do this knowing you're not allowed to use proper names or personal pronouns.

Example:

"Speedy data entry pro with proven accuracy seeks opportunity to populate data base while preventing or reducing data backlogs."

Your powerful career statement will positively impact your ability to get face-to-face with the hiring manager. It can also be the jumping off point for developing your verbal career profile which is used to give you an employment edge in the interview.