Career objective, make it sing and dance to the right tune

Posted July 4th, 2023

Marching & matching all in line, all in tune, just like a career objective, it needs to fit in to the tune of the resume.

Career objectives are tricky, but if written with the audience in mind can be powerful music to their ears!

I’m not a fan of  writing a career objective in the resume. The career objective can be a tricky statement to compose as it’s is often open to various misinterpretations and unless you intend to remain in a narrow career field, can pigeon hole you.

Sometimes these paragraphs read as  just “motherhood” statements, really broad and boring.  They are often non-specific and tell the reader NOTHING about you. The reader is left not knowing much about you, in fact, sadly,  some statements can be a complete turn off.

One example is ” I am looking to find full time employment, long term and sustainable employment” or “want to work close to home”. Well,  who doesn’t? Is this a realistic goal when so many jobs and companies are not sustainable? Does this even sound like a career objective? does it sound more like a dream, a wish, and a hope to have a job for life?

Is your career objective from your perspective and not that of the future employer?  Your potential employer does not want to disappoint nor can they guarantee  a job “forever”. The writer has missed the objective of “career objective” all together! Instead of writing what they want, they needed to inform the reader that they are highly skilled in the areas that are described in the job advert and that they have a lot to offer the role and the organisation.  What if the role they applied for was Part-time?

What if the part time role could lead to full time? Then the Career objective has just ruined an possible employment opportunity!

I certainly don’t want to employ someone because their main objective is a job for life, nor do I want someone who can’t articulate how their skills, knowledge and experience will help me and my business. Let’s face it, if I only want loyalty, then I can buy a dog.  Employers want MORE than loyalty, they want talent!

Be VERY CAREFUL writing a Career objective. It is not a place to demonstrate desperation; it is the place where you show the relevance between your skills, experience and knowledge with the advertised position.

Lastly, think and imagine the employer who will read your resume.  Sit in their chair and imagine them reading your resume. What will they want to read? What specific skill-set are they looking for? Research the company and the job job description. Mirror and match your career objectives to your research.

Just like a great marching band that dances uniformly, and with great interest, your career statement will make sense to the reader and they will see a “fit”; an attractive sequence and pattern that will all make sense.

Ivana Agapiou Resume writer and career advisor