Tuesday, November 5, 2013

To have an Objective or not to have an Objective, that is the question?

It seems everyone has an opinion on the "objective" section of the resume. Below are some excellent points to think about before placing one on your resume:

1)      An objective can provide a resume with direction when it might not otherwise have a clear one.

2)      An objective can note the target of a career transition when the resume content only details transferable skills from indirectly related experience.

3)      An objective can help the student with extremely limited experience demonstrate a goal in mind to prospective employers.

4)      An objective can provide the introduction you need when a contact is passing along your resume as a referral to another contact and so on and so on.

5)      An objective is unnecessary when there is a strong clear theme to one’s resume.

6)      An objective is unnecessary when you are sending a cover letter in which you discuss your intentions as an applicant.  (Alas, the devil’s advocate in me voices the opinion that many employers don’t read the cover letter, so maybe an objective is still needed.  Ah, the cover letter.  A tale for another blog entry!)

7)      IF an objective is used on the resume, please be specific.  I actually saw one recently that I shall paraphrase as the following, “Looking for a position in the working field.”  Okay, that’s a bit extreme, but you get my meaning.

In sum, there are many diverse opinions on this subject, so make sure it fits your resume and needs at the time you are updating your resume.

Pulled from: http://blog.naceweb.org/ 

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