The ABC's of Resume Writing | "O" is for OBJECTIVE

O: The best OBJECTIVE is not to have one.

Are you still using an objective statement on your resume? Do you still have a flip phone? Are you still paying your bills by mail? Are you still buying music on CD? If you are doing any of these things, then you need to come out from under that rock that you have been living under for the last 5 years and get up to speed. Most music is now purchased online, one song at a time. Bills can be paid online and most banks offer this service free, which is why the post office is losing so much money in lost stamp revenue. And if you do not have a smart phone by now, you are definitely not in the know, but I am sure that there is an “App” for that. So, when writing your resume, be advised that some things have changed here as well, one of them being the replacement of the age-old objective statement.

Employers don’t care!

Let me clue you in on a little secret. Employers don’t care what you want to do in your career. Gasp!. It’s true. Employers have a problem to solve. That is why the position is open in the first place. Their objective in reviewing your resume is not so that they can fill your need of employment; it is so that they can fill their need of solving their particular problem. Most employers skip right over the objective statement, because they know these statements are self-serving and useless. For example, look at the objective statements below:

To obtain a position as a medical sales associate where my experience, technical, skills, and education will be of value.

To apply marketing and problem-solving skills in a marketing research/analysis position for career growth.

A certified medical technologist seeking a challenging position in a private laboratory setting.

To contribute acquired clerical skills to a challenging position within an organization offering opportunities for growth and advancement.

It is not a secret that 99.9% of everyone looking for a job wants a job where their skills will be of value, a job with career growth, a job that is challenging, and a job with advancement opportunities. Yet, this is how most objective statements are written. You do not have to tell the employer what they already assume. Who would apply for a job where their skills were useless, there was no room for career growth, the job was boring and mundane, or they could not advance? Almost no one, I am sure.

Out with the old, in with the new

So what replaces the objective statement? When I write resumes for my clients, I never use objective statements. Instead, I use a professional profile, also referred to as a qualifications summary. Why use this? This allows me to present a snap-shot of my client’s career and help them develop their personal brand. In this economy, personal branding is critical to separating yourself from the masses. What makes you different? Is it your 20-plus year career in management? Is it your award winning sales experience? Is it the fact that you speak more than one language? These profile statements can be thought of as a version of your 30-second elevator speech, where you describe whom you are, what you do, and what value you bring.

So, stop your collection of musical CDs, stop buying stamps, lose the flip phone, and replace your objective statement with a professional profile. Your job search will thank you for it.

And that is the art of the job search!