Does the person looking at your resume care what your career objectives are? Not really.
Objective statements on resumes can all sound alike, and instead of grabbing the attention of the potential employer, they usually do the opposite: They send the perception you are like everyone else.
If you are in a job search or you are a hiring decision maker, I am sure you have read resume objective statements that sound like this:
“Seeking a challenging position with a growing company using my skills in organizing and supervising daily office operations” or “I am seeking a position with a company that will provide growth and stability”.
What do employers care about? They care about their objectives.
That’s why using a catch-all objective statement on your resume can be risky. What if you state an objective that the hiring decision maker feels has no significant value to his company? That’s the risk you take when you start your resume with your career goals instead of the employer’s needs.
Hiring decision makers are not that interested in whether you deem the position as challenging. If you really want to get their attention, focus your resume on solving their problem. In other words, focus on solving their problem, not meeting your needs.
If you decide to use an objective statement then at least customize it to to the employer’s interests. The time you spend applying for a position should include researching what the company does and how you can bridge your skills to their products or services.
A clear, concise objective statement can be useful when starting your career or after a long gap in employment. I lean towards having a good summary that you can customize to each employer’s needs.
While it might be comforting to have an employer interested in your career objectives, the bottom line is really what you can do for the employer.
Do you know if your objective statement ever helped you land a good opportunity?
