Resume Format – What’s The Objective?
Historically the objective section in the format of a resume was where you told the employer what job you were applying for.
For Example: “Obtain a position in customer service management where I can utilize my experience to improve customer satisfaction.â€
While this is a good statement it is the same type of statement that everyone else is writing. To answer the question I posed earlier, what’s the objective? The objective is to get the person reading your resume to want to read further. You have to grab their interest. Remember you may be applying for a position in a pool of 100 or more applicants. You want your resume to stand out, be different, tell the reader why they should hire you and want to ask you to come in for an interview. You do not stand a good chance of achieving this objective by using an objective statement.
You have to sell yourself. How do you do this? You will use a professional profile instead of an objective. While an objective tells the prospective employer what you would like to do the professional profile informs the employer what you have achieved and can do for them. The top portion of your resume is prime real-estate and you have to write a statement that will encourage the reader to read more.
For Example: “Developed a department staff of 50 unionized workers with mediocre customer service scores, coached and inspired them to become the leading department in the organization.â€
Compare the professional profile example above to the example of the objective statement. If you were the hiring manager which statement would encourage reading further and finding out more about the candidate whose resume you are reading? I venture to guess you would agree that the professional profile is more results oriented, and speaks to what an employer is looking to achieve in their business. I would like you to write several of these result oriented statements together to capture the reader’s attention and market what you can do for the organization. Your can place the title of the position you are applying for above your professional profile to inform the reader which job opening you are interested in. You will find the professional profile an effective tool in getting offers for an interview. After all the objective is to get the interview and your new dream job.
Recently
October 28th, 2007 at 1:41 am
Great post Kevin!
I really liked your suggested objective statement. I will use that on my resume.
Vince
October 29th, 2007 at 3:17 am
What a great concept and technique, as well as attention-grabber! Is this now common practice in the field of resume writing? As someone who frequently reviews resumes in academia, I haven’t seen that this much, but if I did, it would certainly get my attention and that of a search committee. Thanks for this useful tip!
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:19 pm
[...] words in a resume the format is the second most important aspect of your resume. In a previous post (Resume Format – What’s The Objective) I described the need for you to use a professional profile and the title of the position that you [...]