How to Write a Strong Resume Objective
How to Write a Strong Resume Objective
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How to Write a Strong Resume Objective
How to Write a Strong Resume Objective
Your job objective is a very important part of your resume that reflects who you are as a career professional as well as what skills you have to offer a company. Think in terms of marketing your educational and previous work experience when you begin to create a powerful resume objective. It is important to showcase your professional capabilities and how they are a perfect match for the open position by utilizing succinct and compelling phrases and words.
Ensure that your resume objective “tells” the employer where you have been in your education and career, where you are now, and where you see yourself in the very near future. When answering these questions, keep the job you are applying for in mind. Does this mean that you may have to revise your job objective on your résumé each time you submit for a new job opportunity? This could be the case, unless most of the positions that you apply for are very similar in nature. Be careful, however, not to compile an objective that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the job. Employers only give 10-15 seconds of attention to most resumes and you want yours to stand out.
One of the first things you should consider when creating a resume objective are a few of your best qualities related to the job at hand. If you are applying for a cashier position for example, you could list money handling experience, customer service skills, and attention to detail. Now if you want to make your objective “pop” you should add strong adjectives to your skill set. Change money handling experience to extensive cash handling experience or over 10 years cash handling experience. By doing this the employer will immediately notice how much cash handling experience you possess. This is also great for your objective if the job posting asked for a specific amount of cash handling, let’s say, minimum 5 years. The employer will immediately see that you are definitely qualified for the position in respect to your cash handling knowledge.
Do the same for your education experience if it is relevant to the position. If the position asks for a bachelor’s degree, specify this in your objective. Remember that your objective isn’t for adding extra information, (your resume body is for this), the objective is to demonstrate to the employer that you have the minimum or more of the requirements necessary to qualify for the position. The objective is an overall quick view of your skill set to entice the employer to continue reading your resume.
The best way to format your resume objective is similar to this example:
Self Starter with over 15 years as an administrative assistant who meets project deadlines and requirements while performing multiple tasks within fast-paced environments. Respond rapidly and appropriately to changing circumstances; evaluate problems, make astute decisions to endorse positive change, and refocus on new priorities. Thrive as a team player; outstanding interpersonal communication skills, and can quickly establish rapport with customers/clients. The ability to work unsupervised and supervised in any environment. Organized and analytical with the ability to manage multiple priorities. Accustomed to working with small business owners as well as large corporations. Frequently have worked with matters requiring total confidentiality. Associates degree in Business Communications.
The example above makes the employer aware of the number of years experience this person has as well as some of his or her best attributes. This candidate has also stated that they have an Associates degree in Business communications. We can safely assume that this person is applying for an office or administrative position where they will have contact with customers. This position may also require organizational skills and the candidate has listed these capabilities as well.
Another method to writing a job objective is to list your capabilities in bullet format. For example the objective above can be formatted to look like this:
Self Starter with over 15 years as an administrative assistant who meets project deadlines and requirements while performing multiple tasks within fast-paced environments.
Either formatted method is correct, however, bullet formats are popular because they are easy to read and easy for employers to quickly scan and locate candidates that are qualified for their job openings.
Other key points you can include in your objective are:
Write your objective using strong verbs and powerful adjectives to describe your success. Remember not to add too much information in your objective. The idea is to get the employer to stay interested enough to continue reading your resume and ultimately want to call you for an interview. An easy format to follow is:
Continued success in your resume objective writing!