For anyone who has ever sent a resume to virtually every hiring manager and employment agency in the Southern Hemisphere – and waited and waited with no results – I will guarantee you that your resume objective statement (or lack of!) was the reason for such a poor response.
After all, your objective is to get a job, and preferably one you really want. This seems so obvious yet it is absolutely shocking to see how many resumes flood my desk, giving me no idea what these job hunters want to accomplish..
When a hiring manager first glances at your resume, you have about 7 seconds to show him what he needs to know. There is one thing he looks for, and one thing only. It is not your name. It is not your educational credentials. It is not your last job title or company name. It is your resume objective. It is that little paragraph at the top of your resume which explains as simply and concisely as possible exactly what you are looking for in your next job.
Within those 7 seconds if he can't find an objective statement that gives him a reason to read your entire resume, guess what? You blew it. He has no interest in trying to figure out what it is that you want to do with your life!
You don't get a second chance. It's over.
In today's economy competition is fierce. With every agency and hiring manager looking at the possibility of hundreds of resumes coming their way each day, you need to shine. You need to rise above them all so that one hiring manager will look at your resume and say, "This is the one!"
To increase your chances of getting a positive response to your resume, let's work on writing that resume objective statement. No matter what you do for a living, no matter what your salary range, no matter what your accomplishments are, your objective statement will be instrumental in deciding your future.
You are the only person who has any clue what you want to do. If you have no objective statement on your resume, you are doing yourself a further disservice.
Here is an excellent example of what could happen if you submit a resume without that vital piece of information. A few years back I was working closely with a local organisation that helped unemployed minorities find jobs. They had sent me a stack of resumes to review. One resume looked particularly interesting. It was from a woman who had fifteen years experience as an executive secretary, and I happened to be looking for an executive secretary for myself. I called her on the phone and introduced myself. As soon as I mentioned I had a secretarial position available, she rudely cut me off and said, "Why are you talking about a secretary's job? I don't want to be a secretary anymore. I want to get into marketing!"
I apologised for the blunder, but I had no way of knowing that because she had no objective statement within her resume, and her entire career had been as a secretary. How is anyone supposed to assume otherwise?
Equally as bad as having no objective statement, is writing a vague statement. Here are some I keep seeing time after time.
I am seeking a position that will allow me to utilise the skills I have while learning new ones, and growing with the position.
My objective is to find a new job.
I want to find a job in an established company where I can make a lot of money and grow.
Your objective needs to be as clear to the reader as it is to you. The reason most people use objective statements similar to ones above is because, sadly enough, even they don’t have a clear idea of what they want to do. If you can't figure out what you want to do, how do you expect someone else to?
Don’t make this mistake!
If you really want a job, you must be able to communicate this to prospective employers. Tell people what you want to do! Would you sit down in a restaurant and make the waiter guess what you wanted to eat? Job hunting is no different.
You must add value when writing a resume objective statement and make people want to learn more by reading the entire document. Here are some excellent examples taken directly from real resumes:
After five years as a successful inside sales rep, I am seeking an outside sales position in the telecommunications field. I am willing to travel and relocate at my own expense if necessary.
Having recently graduated as a paralegal, I am now seeking a challenging position with a large established law firm in the Melbourne area that specialises in criminal law.
After spending the last 8 years constantly on the road traveling, I am now seeking an account rep position in the pharmaceuticals industry where my travel will be limited to the local region only.
After reading the above statements, a hiring manager has an excellent idea if you are a fit for the available position(s). Remember, you can't please everyone – nor do you want to! No matter how accomplished you are, many hiring managers are grateful to read an objective statement that actually rules you out. This is really a win-win situation. This is why you took the time to develop such a detailed description of what it is that you are looking to do. If your objective statement says for instance that you can only take a night shift, and the hiring manager sees this but only has day shifts available, you saved both him and you a lot of time. Imagine actually going for an interview, getting your hopes up, and only then finding out it won't work out for you?
There is even a hidden benefit here - he liked your resume, he understands what you want, and he'll probably keep it on file until the night shift you need finally becomes available.
Right now, take out your resume. Look at your objective statement. Could it use some work? You will be pleasantly surprised at what a few changes can do for your future!
