Welcome to this week’s Resume Writing Tip of the Week! There are quite a few “experts” out there providing misinformation about how to write a resume. The purpose of providing the resume writing tip of the week is to help you with a single source of information necessary to help your resume generate the necessary results.
This week’s Resume Writing Tip of the Week is: Eliminate the Objective! You read this correctly, eliminate the objective from your resume. First of all, this tactic is completely obsolete. More importantly, the hiring manager or recruiter is not at all interested in what YOUR objective is. They are more concerned about whether or not you are a candidate who can perform for them. Typical objectives include: “I’m looking for a company that will utilize my skills.” or “My objective is to get a job with your company.” If you want to find the express lane to the circular file, by all means, continue incorporating an objective on your resume. Yet, if you sincerely want to get noticed and put yourself in position for an interview, remove it as quickly as possible.
How many times have you heard that you only have six or eight seconds to make a first impression and pique the interest of your audience? Too many times, I’m sure. Where on your resume is the objective typically included? Right below your name and contact information! This means that it will undoubtedly be read and, most likely, thrown away because it will not generate a positive response from your audience.
If you remove it, then you have to replace it with something. Replace the objective with a professional executive summary. Regardless of the resume format you are using, this three to four sentence synopsis can be a clear a snapshot of your relevant experience and skills to generate interest on the part of your intended audience. When reviewing a resume, the first question a hiring manager thinks to him/herself is, “why should I hire this person?” If you have an objective at the top of your resume, you have no chance of answering this question with any sort of punch, which leaves your audience unsure of your skills, and more importantly, disinterested. There are a few resume examples on my blog. They provide an idea of how beneficial summaries are to making that first impression and keeping your audience engaged throughout the document.
I hope you have enjoyed this week’s installment of the Resume Writing Tip of the Week! Check back most Fridays, for the most recent “Resume Tip of the Week”.
