A Career Objective Identifies Clearly Your Career Goals

A career objective, often listed as objective only on your resume, is a statement of your career goals. It sounds simple – you want to get a good job, utilize your experience and education, and get paid well. However, this is the most difficult part of the resume to compose, as you are limited to one to two sentences in which you are expected to convey your professional expertise, expectations from a job and an organization, as well as goals for your professional growth. Doesn’t sound so easy now, does it?

See the examples of different objective statements below.

Career Objective Mistakes

The most common mistake people make is not listing an one at all. Most people operate under the assumption that the objective is not necessary to include in a resume because it states the obvious – your objective is to get the job you are applying for. However, this is a big misconception. Employers are looking for an idea of what you want to achieve and they want to know what it is that you are looking for in order to determine whether or not you are a good match for their company.

The second most common mistake is including one that doesn’t actually express your goals and your qualification. For example, a statement like the one below is commonly used is resumes:

“To obtain a position where my experience and education can be utilized and expanded.”

If you examine this statement, you will find it doesn’t say anything specific about what you are looking for in terms of professional growth. Avoid using generic statements like this. They will hurt you more than help you in your job search, because your employer will be left with an impression that you don’t have a set a goal in mind.

This career objective statement is better, but can still be improved:

Seeking a challenging position with a forward looking business and the opportunity to utilize and further enhance my web design skills for the benefit of the organization.

Now what about this one:

A highly numerate and reliable individual with a Masters in Finance and a strong work record; conscientious and detail orientated, methodical in approach and able to work in teams as well as on own initiative. Seeking to creatively apply my financial and analytical skills and accounting knowledge in a reputable CPA firm upon completion of Masters Degree in Taxation.

That is quite specific don't you think? It works well to address the employer's needs and not just to inflate the applicants own experience.

Career Objective Tips

Now that you know what not to do, here are some helpful tips on creating a winning career statement that will get your resume noticed and get your foot in the door. First, make your career objective personal. Think of your whole resume as a sales tool; your career objective is your opening statement. You want your employer to know what you want, not just restate what other people want. Second, you want to state your commitment to your career goal. If you are unsure of what you want, how is your employer to believe that you really want the job at their organization and you are not just applying because you want to get out of your current work environment?

Don’t be afraid to state what you want from a job and from an organization. Third, while you want to state your commitment, you also want to show that you are willing to take action to achieve your goal. Indicate what direction or action you are willing to take in order to accomplish your goals. Fourth and most important factor in a successful statement is being specific about what you are looking for in a work situation. While you can say that you are looking for a “challenging” environment, this doesn’t mean anything to your employer, as people define challenges in various ways. Avoid using generic and broad terms. Simply state what you want, and what you are willing to do to get it.

Keeping in mind these criteria, let’s revise the above statement so that it effectively states what you want.

An Effective Statement

“To obtain a position of a sales representative in a health insurance industry, where I can utilize my management and customer relations skills, with the opportunity for performance-based advancement.”

This statement tells a potential employer that you know what kind of job you want, what experience you have in order to get the position, and what you are willing do to become a successful professional with the company. Thus, you have just created a winning career objective for your resume or CV.

If you need some help with creating a professional looking and interesting CV or resume, you could use my CV and Resume writing services and put your career objective statement to good use, letting the reader know exactly what you are aiming for.

A Word Of Warning...

An effective Profile or Summary rather than a 'Career Objective' is arguably the most important part of your CV. You can use it to focus the reader's attention on what makes you stand out: your dynamic record of achievement, your unique skills set, the value you bring to the table - all things that nobody else can claim so that it decisively sets the tone for the rest of the document.

Whatever your job is (or whatever job you want), a prominently displayed job title that is clear and descriptive will immediately inform potential employers about the type of position you are looking for; if you don't include a job title at the start, your CV will lack focus throughout and employers won't know where you fit in.

Although still in relatively common usage on US style resumes, for the most effective executive CV presentation, a ‘career objective' statement is an old CV technique that is no longer appropriate because it speaks more about your needs than the prospective employer's needs. Therefore, with the exception of some entry level positions and for recent graduates and otherwise I do not recommend it any more.

These Career Objective Tips will get you off to a great start. Go on for more Resume Tips for great resume writing help.

Continue to the common Resume Mistakes you should try to avoid.

Return to the resume templates page or go back to Your Career Change home page for more information.

You should find that the Personal Assistant CV which is a professional PA CV, based on a CV I wrote for a client recently is one you can use to help you get your own CV in order; otherwise you can use the search box to find more CV samples and covering letter examples.