12:53 AM
Adil Syed
Imagine you are a HR Director sifting through stacks of resumes from potential candidates for a position you needed to fill yesterday. You too would probably be wincing at overused resume objectives which, although well written, tell a busy recruiter nothing about you, your skills, specific goals or your potential value to the organization. This type of generic objective typically won't get your resume past the recruiter's 20 to 30 second power scan.
The following guidelines will help job seekers audit and proofread the resume objective for effectiveness. This will ultimately increase the employer call back rate.
Be specific with goal statements
Specifically mention positions or departments that are of interest to you. Identify specifics such as a preferred company branch location, regional office location or a specific project on which you would like to work.
Demonstrate immediate value to the employer
The resume objective is a great place to show what you might be able to do for the company in terms of improving the organization and the bottom line. For example, state your desire to work on enhancing a new company brand or meet a specific fund raising goal.
Avoid superfluous "nothing" statements
The example given in the opening paragraph is one such "nothing" statement. It is clearly a case where more is not better - just more. Why take the chance that the recruiter will have to read your objective more than once to even understand it? You don't want recruiters to spend all 20 to 30 seconds of the "Resume-Power-Scan" reading just your objective.
Tweak resume objective according to needs
Just as no one resume fits all jobs, no one resume objective fits all resumes. Make adjustments as needed to keep it meaningful for recruiters. Make the connection with the job description.
Avoid the 1 or 2 word resume objective
"Management", "Supervisor", "Part-Time" and "Sales" are just some of the common one-word or two-word statements that recruiters see. Use the objective to set the tone for the rest of your resume.
Minimize the use of personal pronouns such as "I", "me", "my"
Many professional resume writers advise job seekers to eliminate these personal pronouns completely from the objective. However, it is acceptable to keep them, if removing them would disrupt the flow of an otherwise good, effective objective.
Supporting Evidence
Once you have created a marketable objective statement, the rest of your resume must provide the supporting evidence needed to meet the stated objective. Keeping in mind that the top 30% of your document is the most important, remember to list the most important evidence first.
As a confident job seeker, use the resume objective section of your resume to demonstrate your immediate value to the recruiter and be bold about where you want to be and what you have to offer.
Marcia Robinson writes and trains on career, workplace and employment related issues. She is a Principal at The RayeMartin Group, a HR consulting firm in Philadelphia, that owns BullsEyeResumes, publishes the Norristown-At-Work monthly and maintains career advice blogs. Robinson has a BS in Human Resources Management and a Masters in Business Administration.
Bullseye Career Blogs: BullsEyeResumes.com
