Cover Letter + Resume Tips

Writing Your Career Objective

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Job Pixie > Cover Letter + Resume Tips > Resume Basics > Writing Your Career Objective

Your Career Objective (sometimes labelled just "Objective") is a short section (one or two sentences) at the top of your resume containing a statement of your career goals. It should attempt to give potential employers why you are applying for this particular job, and why you are suitable for them to hire.

Of course, at a very high-level, everybody who applies for a job wants it because they they want to get paid well, utilize and perhaps expand their experience and education, and hopefully enjoy their work too, however this is not what employers want to know. What an employer wants to know is why, specifically, you are suitable for the job. What is professional expertise? What are your expectations from the job and the company? What are you goals for professional growth? Clearly this is a lot of information to pack into just a couple of sentences, so understand that writing your Career Objective is not something that you can throw together in a spare five minutes - you need to put some time, effort and serious thought into it.

Because writing a Career Objective is so difficult, many people simply omit this section from their resume. These people are making a big mistake; employers need to know what you are looking for, otherwise they have no way of determining if you are likely to be a good match for their organization.

Another common mistake is to write in completely general terms. If you career objective reads like it could apply to literally anybody, and does not express anything specific about your goals and qualifications, then you need to rewrite it. A vague Career Objective says absolutely nothing about you, except, perhaps, that you don't really have one. Here is the type of thing that you must avoid:

OBJECTIVE

To obtain a position where both my experience and education can be fully utilized and further expanded.

Here are the most important things to remember when writing your Career Objective:

Remember that your Career Objective, just like all the other sections of your resume, is a sales tool. You want to present yourself in the best possible light, and demonstrate to the employer why he should hire you.
State clearly that you are committed to a career goal, explain what that career goal is, and state what you are looking for from your employment.
Try to show that you are willing to take, and indeed have taken, action to move towards achieving your career goals.
Be specific about yourself and your goals. For example, don't say that you are looking for "challenges", say specifically what sort of challenges you are looking to face.

Here is an example of a well written Career Objective:

OBJECTIVE

To obtain a position as financial planning manager in a leading financial services company, where I can utilize my financial planning, management and customer relations skills, with the opportunity for performance-based advancement.

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Cover Letter + Resume Tips

Writing Your Career Objective

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