Write a Career Objective
Writing a career objective is often a part of crafting a competitive resume or CV, or otherwise marketing your skills and experience. The career objective helps a potential employer to figure out more about what you, as a job applicant, are good at and where your interests lie.
Contents
Steps
Writing a Solid Objective
- Include different facts depending on your level of experience. What you should include in a career objective depends on your level of experience. If you're a high school or college student looking for entry level work, your career objective would be much different than someone with much experience in a given field.
- If you're a high school student, a career objective should focus on general traits or values you possess. You should include a self introduction, measuring your strongest qualities, information about what role in a company you're hoping to fill, and an emphasis on your reliability as a job candidate. For example, something like, "Dedicated student with a strong GPA and high work ethic. Seeking to use my abilities as student intern. I am very dedicated and goal-oriented and can help benefit the goals of your company."
- If you're a college student, you're likely looking for entry level of internship experience. Your objective should include your degree, level of experience, your strongest traits, and an emphasis that you're hardworking and reliable. Something like, "Recent college graduate with a marketing degree and two years of social media marketing experience. Seeking further experience in the field of online marketing. A dedicated, detail-oriented worker with experience in SEO, web copy, and social media management."
- If you're a professional in the field already, you usually include a career objective if you're changing careers. Mention how many years experience you have, the qualities that would make you a strong candidate for a position, and any relevant education or certifications. For example, "Grant writer with 6+ years in the nonprofit sector. Aiming to use my written communication and fundraising skills to help your organization increase awareness of world poverty. Possess an MA in nonprofit management."
- Focus on how you would benefit the company. While a career objective should focus on your skills and accomplishments, it should not be all about you. Try to focus on how your specific skill set would benefit a company. Hiring managers are looking for someone with impressive skills that are applicable to the job advertised.
- Highlight relevant experience. If you're a recent college grade applying for a marketing position and you've done promotional work as an intern, talk about this. Throw something in your objective like, "Extensive experience promoting company events to the general public during my college internship experience."
- Talk about your general skills that benefit that specific company as well. If you're applying for a position as an auditor, talk about your organizational skills, attention to detail, and strong written communication skills.
- Bring up relevant accomplishments. If you were salesperson of the year at your last job and are applying for a similar position, include something like, "Macy's saleswoman of the year 2 years running at the Lancaster, PA location."
- Use the right words. Resume buzzwords are great for highlighting your experience in an impressive manner. However, do not simply choose impress sounding words without thought. Make sure the words you pick adequately reflect your accomplishments.
- Focus on words that reflect your skill set. If you primarily worked behind the scenes alone, don't call yourself "people-oriented" or boast of "high verbal communication skills." Instead, talk up your "great attention to detail and high capacity for self-motivation."
- Do not pack too many buzzwords into your objective. This can be overwhelming for readers. Strive to make yourself sound impressive, but do not awkwardly force in multiple 3 or 4 syllable words into each sentence.
- Proofread. While it may seem unlikely that a two to three sentence statement would have errors, you would be surprised. Rewording something over and over again can increase the risk of typos. Make sure you proofread your objective before sending out your resume. Have a friend or family look it over to make sure it's typo free.
Understanding Career Objectives
- Know when to include a career objective. Career objectives are not usually included in resumes. However, in some cases it can be beneficial for you to include an objective.
- If you're changing fields, like going from marketing to accounting, an objective can help employees see how your marketing specific skill sets could be applicable to accounting.
- If you're very young and have limited experience, an objective might help you sell yourself to an employee even if your experience is small.
- If you're applying for a specific position, always include an objective.
- Learn common mistakes people make when writing objectives. Watch out for certain pitfalls people encounter when writing a career objective. Make sure your objective is free of any of the following common errors:
- Being too vague
- Longer than 3 sentences
- Focusing on your skill set without explaining how its applicable to the advertised position
- You should also avoid cliches. Phrases like "dynamic self starter with an entrepreneurial spirit" are both incredibly vague and overused. Avoid phrasing that sounds too familiar. An employer is likely to toss out a career objective that's laden with cliches.
- Write several career objectives. You should never send out the same objective for multiple jobs. Always cater your objective based on the skills a job posting is asking for.
