What is Your Objective? To Get a Job of Course.

I have had the difficult task over the last few weeks of attempting to write a resume in German for an internship I am trying to obtain. This is no small feat by any means, but I have found that the one thing I am having the most trouble with is writing my objective statement. I have to admit that I also had difficulty doing this for my “normal” resume that I just updated and it got me thinking about if I actually need an objective statement. Fortunately for me, I recieved this article from our V.P. of Professional Development and it talks about the importance of a well crafted objective statement and it also gives us suggestions on how to craft one.

1. Focus on how you would benefit the employer, not on how the employer would benefit you. Stay away from objectives that state your working preferences, such as “seeking a team-oriented environment that fosters professional development.”

2. Don’t be vague. Steer clear from statements that say nothing substantial about your career goal (e.g., “seeking a challenging position with potential for growth and advancement”).

3. Keep it concise and targeted. Hiring managers often sort through hundreds to thousands of resumes to fill one job opening. Make it easy on them by keeping your objective short and to the point. The best objectives contain a desired job title or target.

4. If you have more than one career goal, create a different resume version for each objective.

~ by Josh Green on April 2, 2007.