A Resume Objective, Or A Resume Objective - What Does That Mean And, Why Should You Care?

A resume objective - Whenever somebody uses that term I am curious as to what they really mean. For example, do they mean the objective of the resume itself?

Usually that is not the case. More often the person using the term means the Objective of the person whose background is being presented by the resume. In other words, what they are really talking about is the Jobseeker's Objective which should be included in the Objective portion of a resume.

I am bringing up this slight "twist" of words to illustrate a point: what we say, and how we say it, can have a direct impact on the message we are trying to convey. Resumes are no different, except that the stakes are higher. If a hiring manger must assume, or is left to misinterpret, a key portion of your resume, that misinterpretation can take you out of consideration before you even have a chance to compete for a position. And, in this tight job market, that is not what you want to have happen.

So, now let's go back to where we started. And, for the sake of our discussion, let's use the term resume Objective (note that the work Objective is capitalized). Jobseekers, and many professional resume writers, confuse the resume Summary portion of a resume with the resume Objective portion of a resume. The Summary portion of your resume should do what the title implies, which is to provide a high-level summary of your qualifications. More importantly, the Summary should articulate your Value Proposition as a candidate.

What is a candidate's Value Proposition? Simply stated, it is what a candidate brings to the table in terms of proven knowledge, skills and ability. It is what a prospective employer can expect to get if they hire you, and it sets you apart from other candidates.

But wait before you jump to any conclusion about the Summary portion of your resume. Just because you bring certain knowledge and skills and have done something in the past with those, does not mean that you now want to do that again. In fact, your career objective (as described in a resume Objective section) may be far afield of what you have done in the past. Absent making it clear in your resume that you have a specific career objective in mind, the reader is left to "guess" or "presume" what you want to do. Is that what you really want to have happen?

Letting a prospective employer guess what you want to do with your career may work out if you are, for example, an accounting manger today and want to be an accounting manger tomorrow. But, what if you are an accounting manager today and your next career objective is to land in a position that will lead to a Director of Accounting position in a short timeframe? Or, perhaps what you really want is to be a Director of Accounting now. In either event, if that is the case, you need to articulate that clearly in your resume. That needs to occur in the resume Objective portion of your resume. And, it has to be very clearly written.

Personally, I think the resume Objective section of your resume should be positioned after the resume Summary section of your resume. I feel strongly about this for one reason. If you have a well-written resume Summary, with a well-defined Value Proposition, the reader will have been able to determine that he or she wants to know more. If your resume then immediately follows with your Objective, the reader can easily assimilate what you offer (your Value Proposition) with what he or she needs (the open position) and with what you want. In short, the reader can easily "connect the dots".

If the dots connect, you get called for an interview. It is that simple. And, if you get called for an interview, your resume has fulfilled its objective - which is to get you the interview that other jobseekers are not getting.