Job Objectives on the Resume

Effective Use of a Job Objective Can Help the Job Search

Oct 27, 2008 Peggy Crippen

An objective is a brief statement on the position a candidate seeks. The job objective on a resume provides direction on types of jobs which interest a candidate.

Most resumes contain a job or career objective. A human resource manager may rely on this objective statement to select appropriate resumes, to eliminate irrelevant or unqualified resumes, and to route resumes received to the proper departments.

Components of an Effective Job Objective

A job objective should be direct and to the point. Some objective statements may be written as a sentence, other effective objective statements may simply be phrases with little or no punctuation. This portion of the resume should be tailored to the individual position for which a candidate is applying. If the advertisement or job description has obvious key words, it is useful to include these in the objective.

Examples of effective objective statements include:

• A position in Early Childhood Education utilizing my ten years experience teaching in a Head Start Preschool
• An entry level position in human resources with the opportunity to advance to a human resource generalist
• A position as a Sheriff's Deputy for the Clarke Township Sheriff's Office

Things to Avoid in a Job Objective

Do not write a general catch-all statement as an objective. If your job objective contains no usable information, it is better to have no objective statement. Avoid long objective statements, as well. Give the potential employer a concise and direct statement that needs little interpretation. If an employer has to figure out what position interests the applicant, the resume often goes into a file with many other resumes which may or may not be reviewed by the hiring agent.

Examples of poor job objective statements include:

• A position using my skills and abilities to improve the company
• A job leading to a manager position
• Seeking a position using my skills to provide good service and improve the company bottom-line and to grow in my job to a more responsible position

Arguments Against Using an Objective Statement

Some resume professionals now argue that using a job objective on a resume is no longer appropriate. According to the website Quintessential Careers' article, "Should You Use a Career Objective on Your Resume?" about half of hiring professionals do not feel a career objective is necessary on a resume. One of the arguments against using a career objective is that job candidates do not provide employer-oriented objectives or provide vague ineffective objectives. Another argument is that the employer has job openings that need to be filled and the company will hire for those positions no matter what the objective states.

The decision to use or not to use an objective statement is very personal. A job seeker must take all these facts into account then decide whether or not an objective will be helpful for her personal job search. If an applicant uses a career or job objective, the job objective should contain useful and targeted information and avoid any generic or vague statements.

The copyright of the article Job Objectives on the Resume in Career Advice is owned by Peggy Crippen. Permission to republish Job Objectives on the Resume in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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