Resume Objective

Including a resume objective section in your resume is highly recommended. 

Your resume objective lets an employer know the type of position you are seeking and why you are qualified for that type of position. 

And it lets the employer know this information early in your resume.

Since employers scan resumes quickly, it is important to make it as easy as possible for an employer to see that you are interested and qualified for the type of positioning they are trying to fill.

To show you are actually targeting the type of position the employer is trying to fill rather than fishing for anything, include your desired job title in your resume objective, if possible. 

Using your job title of interest in your resume objective will also help you if an employer performs a keyword search based on job title on an online job site or with their internal resume database to find “matching” resumes.

If you have a target industry, also include information about that target industry in your resume objective.

An alternate approach to a resume objective section would be to include a headline (see examples below) as part of your Professional Summary section instead of an Objective section.

Whether you decide to include an Objective section in your resume or not, your resume needs to be focused on a target position. What you include or omit on your resume is based on what is relevant to the target position you are seeking.

Your resume needs to present a clear picture to a potential employer of the type of position you are seeking and why you are qualified for that type of position.

Resume Objective Examples

Objective

To obtain a software developer position that allows me to learn new technologies while utilizing my experience developing web-based applications as well as my knowledge of ASP, HTML, VBScript, and JavaScript.

Objective

To obtain a position as a procurement specialist or materials coordinator that utilizes my purchasing experience in the construction industry as well as my knowledge of manufacturing operations.

OBJECTIVE

To obtain a position as a Distribution Manager that utilizes my 7 years of distribution and logistics management experience, my experience founding and managing a small business, and my bachelor’s degree in business administration.

An Alternate Approach

An alternate approach would be to include a headline in Professional Summary Section instead of a resume objective. Here are some examples of that alternate approach:


Professional Profile

Manufacturing Engineer  ·   Project Manager  ·   Lean / SolidWorks / AutoCAD

 


Professional Profile

Purchasing ·   JIT / Lean / Six Sigma / Kanban  ·   Inventory Management



Specific Recommendations

  • Consider adding an Objective section to your resume after the contact information section to help the reader quickly understand the type of position you are seeking and why you are qualified for that type of position.
  • Incorporate the keyword phase that best represents your target job title into your Objective section.  This will help you when employers initially screen resumes using keywords and keyword phrases since job title is a commonly used keyword phrase.
  • An alternate approach would be to include a headline as part of your Professional Summary section instead of an Objective Section.
Copyright © 2009 Quest Career Services, LLC.  All Rights Reserved.  Reproduction of this content is prohibited without the consent of Quest Career Services, an outplacement company that provides outplacement services to jobseekers located throughout the world.