When recruiters review your resume, one of the first things they're looking for is a quick summary of your abilities, without having to read through your entire work history. If you don't yet have any work experience, or your work experience isn't strictly applicable to the job you're applying for, you can use a resume objective instead.
What’s in a Resume Objective?
As the name suggests, a resume objective explains what your objective is in applying for the job, while also serving as a summary of the most important abilities you bring to the table. So, in contrast to a resume summary, which is almost exclusively focused on presenting your abilities, a resume objective is meant to convey your abilities while also addressing your motivations. This is a good idea for anyone lacking work experience relevant to the job, as you can score extra points by demonstrating your commitment to a specific career path. Recruiters like to see applicants have a very clear idea of what their career goals are, after all.
Importantly, while your resume objective should explain why you're interested in the position, avoid focusing too much on what you want to get out of this employment relationship. If you put too much emphasis on what you want out of the job, your recruiter may get the impression you're too preoccupied with your own desires. Always include information on what you can offer your future employer in return, based on your educational background, skills and characteristics. Here's an example:
"Motivated team player with an engineering degree from MIT seeking to acquire hands-on experience in aeronautics research and eventually progress towards a senior research position."
Guidelines for writing a resume objective
Your objective statement is your chance to highlight your most important personal "selling points" (skills and abilities, a college degree, a prestigious award, or certification, etc.) and place them at the top of your resume, where your recruiter can easily find them. You can follow these guidelines to present all of this information in a way that's advantageous for you:
- Be specific: Focus on highlighting abilities and qualities that are relevant to the particular position you're applying for. Read the job listing carefully to identify such required skills and qualities.
- Be interesting: Avoid generic qualities like "I'm a diligent worker" and try to think of things that make you unique instead. Such attributes will help you stand out from the large number of job applications your recruiter is working through.
- Be concise: Keep your resume objective between one and four sentences, focusing solely on your most important skills and career goals. Your recruiter wants a quick overview; they're not looking for you to reiterate everything you've already included in your cover letter and the work history or educational history sections of your resume.
- Be honest: When you’re analyzing the job listing and identifying relevant qualities for the position, don't make things up just to fit the requirements. If you don't possess a specific quality they're looking for, try to emphasize another quality you do have.
- Be confident: Avoid phrases like "I'd like to" or "I could". Instead, use strong, assertive action verbs to show you're confident in your abilities.
Who Should Use a Resume Objective Statement in Their Job Application?
Generally, any job seeker can use an objective statement to showcase their skills and career aspirations. However, if you already have extensive work experience, you may want to use a resume summary that emphasizes your past accomplishments instead.
There are two types of job seekers who should include a resume objective in their application, though:
- Job seekers entering the job market for the first time
- Experienced workers looking to change careers
There's a good reason for that: both new job seekers and workers changing careers often lack experience working in the relevant fields, making it hard to argue for themselves based on their previous work history alone. Giving a little insight into your career goals or why you've decided to change careers can be much more engaging for recruiters.
Note that a resume summary will give you a stronger bargaining position when it comes to things like your salary and benefits, as it focuses entirely on what you have to offer your future employer. Using a resume objective instead puts you in a position where you're asking for a chance to some degree, which could lead employers to justify offering you a lower starting salary, for example.
Don’t Use the Same Objective Statement for Every Application
Coming up with the perfect resume objective statement and then simply copying and pasting it into all of your applications may sound tempting. Still, it's not a great strategy, as your objective statement is unlikely to meet the specific requirements of each job you're applying for.
Instead, always make sure you highlight the qualities that make you the ideal candidate for the specific job at hand. While your overall career goal may remain the same, consider how this particular job will help you achieve it. Use the details in the job listing to identify exactly what your recruiter will be looking for, and tailor your objective statement to fit these requirements.
Some General Resume Objective Examples
Crafting your perfect resume objective statement only requires a small spark of inspiration, as well as some time to write and refine. To help you with the former, let's take a look at some beginner resume objective examples first.
If you've just graduated, it's a good idea to highlight your most important educational achievements, as well as any accolades that might be associated with them:
"NYU magna cum laude graduate in Chinese Studies seeking to apply my near-native Chinese language skills and cultural understanding in a company with extensive business connections to China."
If you lack educational accolades to show, you may want to focus on your positive characteristics and the motivation you bring to the role. Since this runs the risk of becoming too general, try to think of things from your personal life that illustrate and support the characteristics you claim to offer:
"Highly motivated sister to three siblings with extensive experience in managing complex social situations, looking to establish a foothold in the online community management industry. Having grown up immersed in online communities, I have acquired decades of experience with the social dynamics involved."
Meanwhile, if you already have some work experience that isn't directly related to your new job, you can still use that work experience to illustrate some of your general qualities. Additionally, take the opportunity to give a short explanation of why you're switching careers in the first place:
"Experienced marketing professional eager to apply my social and language skills towards the satisfying pursuit of working with underprivileged teenagers in education. As a team manager with over 10 years of experience, I am well-versed in group dynamics and capable of defusing challenging interpersonal situations. "
Career Objectives for Your Resume—Suitable for Both Seasoned Career-Changers and New Job Seekers
A resume objective is your chance to provide your recruiter with a brief overview of your skills and highlight your motivation for the job. Together, these two elements should tell a compelling story: that you're the ideal candidate for the job, even if you have limited work experience or are transitioning into a new career from an unrelated field. Be careful when crafting your resume objective to ensure it captures your recruiter's attention. This could be the first step towards being invited to a job interview.