The Objective Section of Your Resume

The Objective Section of Your Resume is optional. Our Resume Writing Guide shows you when and why you can leave this section out. It also shows you how not to sabotage your resume by stuffing this section with meaningless clichés that the hiring manager has seen before.

3. The Objective Section

Use the Objective Section when the exact position is not known. Be short.

The objective section follows your job title and is only one or two sentences long. It’s not a full paragraph. Keep it short. The hiring manager just scans your resume and won’t take the time to read a full paragraph.

In many cases the objective section is optional and redundant

If you are using this resume to apply for a specific job you do not need an objective statement. Simply show the job title at the top. That says it all.

When do you want to use an objective section? When the exact position is not known.

Please avoid the cliché’s that we see so often:

• Looking for a position where I can utilize all of my fantastic abilities and reach my full potential while working for a truly great company that will pay me a lot more than I am worth…
• Hardworking, trustworthy individual, great at working with people, looking for a position in…

We don’t know who first put this kind of general, vague nonsense on a resume, but people have been doing it as long as we can remember.

The hiring manager knows that everyone:

• Wants a position where they can utilize their full potential.
• Wants to work for a great company.
• Wants to be thought of as hardworking. You wouldn’t tell them you were lazy and preferred to watch TV all day would you?
• Wants to be paid a lot for what we do.

We are not telling him anything truly useful to him. We are wasting precious “above the fold” space saying nothing of importance.
Remember the purpose of the resume is to show proof you can do the job. And that you can do it better than anyone else who is also applying.

Here are examples of good objective statements:

• Looking for a senior management position in the field of Strategic Marketing.
• Looking for an entry level position in customer service.

Before we move to the next section of the Hybrid Resume, let’s make sure we’ve got the right amount of focus.