Resume Objectives - Do You Even Need Them?
Job-hunting classes and textbooks have long recommended the use of "objectives" on resumes. This is a statement that tells the employer what kind of job you're after. Here's an example of a resume objective used by job seekers:
"Obtain a position in sales where I can exercise my initiative and customer-relations skills as part of a dynamic team."
The question that job seekers ask is: Do I really need an objective on my resume? The short answer is that it depends. It's something to be considered on a case-by-case basis. But most resumes can do without the objective statement, and I've explained why below.
As former hiring manager, I have the following advice about resume objective statements. Unless you're going for an upper-management job, or an executive position, you can probably do without the objective part. If you do include one, you shouldn't spend too much time on it. There are far more important parts of a resume, such as your skills and accomplishments.
For the most part, I've never really understand the concept of objective statements. The only time they serve a purpose is when you send a batch of resumes to a large number of potential employers (i.e., the shotgun approach), and that's the kind of "strategy" you should avoid.
The best way to apply for a job is to tailor a resume for the specific position. Of course, you can start with a master resume to save time, and to avoid recreating the wheel. But you need to get specific with the process, and avoid the shotgun technique entirely. You want to give the employer the impression that you're after their job -- not just a job in general.
And this brings us to the resume objective, and why I feel they're unnecessary. If you're applying for a specific position, there is no need to state it on your resume. You can (and should) mention the job you seek within your cover letter / email. But it doesn't need to be on your resume. It's implied.
The objective is only useful when you send unsolicited resumes to multiple companies, which is something to avoid. That's where the whole concept came from in the first place. The idea was this. You would print out 100 or so of the same exact resume, and then you would mail or email them to every company in the city where you wanted to work. With this approach, the objective was a must, because you weren't applying in response to a specific job posting. You were carpet-bombing the entire town, in hopes of landing a job. So you had to tell them what kind of position you wanted. I think you'll agree that this is hardly the way to conduct a job search.
There's one other situation where resume objectives might be useful. If you're applying for a company, as opposed to a particular job, you'll need to clarify your resume in some way. For example, let's say you want to work for Apple. You know they have several types of jobs available, and you'd be happy to do any of them. In this scenario, you would have to include an objective statement on your resume, so the hiring manager would know what you're after. But in the current economy, this kind of job-hunting strategy is a shot in the dark.
"Obtain a position in sales where I can exercise my initiative and customer-relations skills as part of a dynamic team."
The question that job seekers ask is: Do I really need an objective on my resume? The short answer is that it depends. It's something to be considered on a case-by-case basis. But most resumes can do without the objective statement, and I've explained why below.
As former hiring manager, I have the following advice about resume objective statements. Unless you're going for an upper-management job, or an executive position, you can probably do without the objective part. If you do include one, you shouldn't spend too much time on it. There are far more important parts of a resume, such as your skills and accomplishments.
For the most part, I've never really understand the concept of objective statements. The only time they serve a purpose is when you send a batch of resumes to a large number of potential employers (i.e., the shotgun approach), and that's the kind of "strategy" you should avoid.
The best way to apply for a job is to tailor a resume for the specific position. Of course, you can start with a master resume to save time, and to avoid recreating the wheel. But you need to get specific with the process, and avoid the shotgun technique entirely. You want to give the employer the impression that you're after their job -- not just a job in general.
And this brings us to the resume objective, and why I feel they're unnecessary. If you're applying for a specific position, there is no need to state it on your resume. You can (and should) mention the job you seek within your cover letter / email. But it doesn't need to be on your resume. It's implied.
The objective is only useful when you send unsolicited resumes to multiple companies, which is something to avoid. That's where the whole concept came from in the first place. The idea was this. You would print out 100 or so of the same exact resume, and then you would mail or email them to every company in the city where you wanted to work. With this approach, the objective was a must, because you weren't applying in response to a specific job posting. You were carpet-bombing the entire town, in hopes of landing a job. So you had to tell them what kind of position you wanted. I think you'll agree that this is hardly the way to conduct a job search.
There's one other situation where resume objectives might be useful. If you're applying for a company, as opposed to a particular job, you'll need to clarify your resume in some way. For example, let's say you want to work for Apple. You know they have several types of jobs available, and you'd be happy to do any of them. In this scenario, you would have to include an objective statement on your resume, so the hiring manager would know what you're after. But in the current economy, this kind of job-hunting strategy is a shot in the dark.
Labels: resumes