Resume Objective Guide
How many resumes do you think
employers get a day?
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In a recent visit to a Fortune 500 company I met some Human Resource employers who get more than 1,000 resumes a day!
How do they read them all? They do not.
Most resumes are scanned by software programmed with chosen keyword algorithms. So if you did not customize your writing to match the qualities and skill words these employers are looking for, you have very little odds of getting an interview. |
Imagine how fast your desk would pile up if you got 1,000 pieces of mail a day. Even if half of those were email you could not read them all.
Can I leave the resume objective off my resume and just use a Summary of Skills section?
Yes and No. Yes when: Your resume objective is inadequate. A poor resume objective is worse than none at all.
A poor resume objective:
- is self centered.
- does not make any effort to connect relevant skills with the employer's position.
- does not point out relevant skills.
- does not use the identical skill keywords the employer uses.
- does not entice the reader to want to read the resume.
- does not include the exact job title of the target position
No when: A Summary of Skills section should not be used strictly to avoid creating an effective resume objective.
Your resume objective is usually one of the first items on the page and therefore gets more weight for having keywords and if per chance your qualifications should end up in front of a live human being, this is what they read first. Make sure that your resume objective effectively highlights the qualities and skills required for the job.
You can use both a resume objective and summary of skills on your resume when they are powerfully written and compliment one another.
Look at writing a resume objective this way: What if that is all you could send an employer? A resume objective of one to three lines. Your resume objective would need to spell out what you have to offer and persuade the employer to hire you. This is exactly what should be happening. Your resume objective should be so great as to be able to stand alone and get you an interview.
Four Elements of the Effective Resume Objective:
1. Skill Keywords:
If you are building your resume in response to a job advertisement, make sure to get a summary of the job title and skill requirements that the company is looking for. This can be in the job posting, on the company web site, or you can call them and request a job description. Develop a career objective that includes the exact job title and centers around the skill sets that are required for the job.
Use the exact same verbiage for your skills as the employer.
This will tell the employer you are paying attention to their ad and that you are fully aware of their job opening and will get you through the keyword scanning process.
2. Customize:
Create a resume objective that is not generic in nature. Usually, employers will not waste their time reading about generic career goals. At that point they know you have generic writing being sent to different companies. You should not give a potential employer enough reason to suspect that you are sending job applications to several other companies with the same generic page. Therefore, take as much time and effort as needed to create a customized objective statement that can relate to your reader.
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