Do you really need an objective section in your resume? Given the fact that recruiters spend very short time looking at a resume, does it make sense to have an objective on your resume?
Let’s explore that for a bit with some examples and try to measure how effective it really is.
| Job requirement from employer | Sample objective found on resumes | What would the recruiter think? |
| Territory sales manager | To be a Sales Leader in……… | Will this person be able to perform in a territory manager’s role? Will the role be much higher or lower than what this person is currently doing? Can the person handle a big sales quota? |
| Product manager | To be a Project Manager in……… | Can I hire a project manager and expect product management performance? Is this a good fit? Can I short list this person for a phone interview? |
| Customer Service Representative | To provide exceptional Customer Service to enterprise customers ……… | Can this person manage consumer customers and not just enterprise customers? Does this person have the right skill set? |
As you can see, having objective on your resume can result in:
- Creating confusion in recruiter’s mind
- Creates perception that there’s not a perfect fit between what your career objective is and the job description
- Gives a great reason for the recruiter to pass on your resume – “seems that this person may not exactly be willing to work in this role”
- Can land you in junior position or impact your offer negatively
- Even if you cleverly place the right words in your objective to match the resume, it may backfire on you if the job req changes. Or if the understanding of the job requirement in the hiring manager’s mind is different than what’s on the job description.
Also, the objective for you might not be what you wrote on your resume – your objective might be to get the job. But the objective for the employer is to solve business problems. Be relevant, focus on the company’s objective rather than yours and you will be more successful.
The last thing you want to do is to create another hurdle for you in the job search process.
Resist the urge, kill the objective statement from your resume.
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