If you’ve spent any time lately trying to upgrade your resume, you may be a little stuck on what to do about the objective statement. Things have definitely changed over the years as a resume objective is not quite the same as it used to be.
In the “old days” an objective statement told a potential employer exactly what kind of work you wanted and why – a kind of a goal written out in a couple of sentences. However, now an objective statement is a personal summary that highlights what you can bring to the table. Essentially, you are now tasked with selling yourself to the person reading your resume, in 100 characters or less.
A well-written objective speaks to the recruiter, telling him or her how your experience and skills will help the company meet its goals. If you are a career-changer, or simply looking for a better opportunity, this is especially important because recruiters need to sense that you are ready to break into a higher role. In this statement, you must convey that you understand the company objectives and mission, so make it count.
Take a moment to read your objective, right now.
What does it say about you? Does it paint a picture of your strengths, or what makes you stand out? If you were a recruiter, would your objective “wow” you? If not, then it’s time to revamp your professional objective so that it accomplishes what you need it to do for your job search.
Let’s review some of the guidelines for writing an effective, eye-catching objective statement on your resume.
- Start with a powerful opening sentence that gets right to the point about your skills and expertise. For example, “14 years as a wellness physician with a strong background in alternative medicine and plant-healing research, awarded for outstanding contributions to Health Daily Magazine” See how this grabs the attention of a potential hiring manager?
- Add a supporting sentence to further explain how you can meet a critical need in the company. Give more information or a little history that allows the recruiter to learn more about you, and why you are the best fit for the open assignment.
- Close with an open-ended call to action for the recruiter to review the rest of your resume, and reach out to your professional references. You want the hiring manager to keep reading and you want them to call you.
- Limit this objective statement to 3-5 short sentences, with proper grammar and punctuation. Remember, you are not writing a book here, just an attention grabbing statement that leaves the recruiter with a positive impression of you, and wanting to know more.
- Provide 3 ways to contact you on your resume. This is very important, although it falls outside of your objective statement, you need to give the recruiter a way to reach you easily. Add your full name, your home and mobile phone numbers, and a good email address where you can be contacted,
Writing a great objective statement takes time, and you may need to modify it a few times to get it perfect. You will also want to have several versions of your objective and resume to submit to potential employers, geared towards the type of jobs and industries you are applying to. Your recruiter at Venteon can give you more ideas and examples of good objectives and resume formats to use.