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Basic Resume Formats: Anatomy of a Resume
THE
OBJECTIVE
Ideally, your resume should be pointed toward conveying why you are
the perfect candidate for one specific job or job title. Good
advertising is directed towards a very specific target audience. When
a car company is trying to sell their inexpensive compact to an older
audience, they show grandpa and grandma stuffing the car with happy,
shiny grandchildren and talk about how safe and economical the car is.
When they advertise the exact same car to the youth market, they show
it going around corners on two wheels, with plenty of drums and power
chords thundering in the background. You want to focus your resume
just as specifically.
Targeting your resume requires that you be absolutely clear about your
career direction or, at least that you appear to be clear. The way to
demonstrate your clarity of direction or apparent clarity is to have
the first major topic of your resume be your OBJECTIVE. Let's look at
a real world example. Suppose the owner of a small software company
puts an ad in the paper seeking an experienced software sales person.
A week later they have received 500 resumes. The applicants have a
bewildering variety of backgrounds. The employer has no way of knowing
whether any of them are really interested in selling software. They
remember all the jobs they applied for that they didn't really want.
They know that many of the resumes they received are from people who
are just using a shotgun approach, casting their seed to the winds.
Then, they come across a resume in the pile that starts with the
following:
"OBJECTIVE - a software sales position in an organization where an
extraordinary record of generating new accounts, exceeding sales
targets and enthusiastic customer relations would be needed.
This wakes them up. They are immediately interested. This first
sentence conveys some very important and powerful messages: "I want
exactly the job you are offering. I am a superior candidate because I
have the qualities that are most important to you. I want to make a
contribution to your company." This works well because the employer is
smart enough to know that someone who wants to do exactly what you are
offering will be much more likely to succeed than someone who doesn't.
And, will probably be a lot more pleasant to work with as well.
Secondly, this candidate has done a good job of establishing why they
are the perfect candidate in their first sentence. They have thought
about what qualities would make a candidate stand out. They have
started communicating that they are that person immediately. What's
more, they are communicating from the point of view of making a
contribution to the employer. They are not writing from a
self-centered point of view. Even when people are savvy enough to have
an objective, they often make the mistake of saying something like, "a
position where I can hone my skill as a scissors sharpener.." or
something similar. The employer is interested in hiring you for what
you can do for them, not for fulfilling your private goals and agenda.
Here's how to write your objective. First of all, decide on a specific
job title for your objective. Go back to your list of answers to the
question "How can I demonstrate that I am the perfect candidate?" What
are the two or three qualities, abilities or achievements that would
make a candidate stand out as truly exceptional for that specific job?
The person in the above example recognized that the prospective
employer, being a small, growing software company, would be very
interested in candidates with an ability to generate new accounts. So,
they made that the very first point they got across in their resume.
Be sure the objective is to the point. Do not use fluffy phrases which
are obvious or do not mean anything, such as: "allowing the ability to
enhance potential and utilize experience in new challenges." An
objective may be broad and still somewhat undefined in some cases,
such as: "a mid-level management position in the hospitality or
entertainment industry." Remember, your resume will only get a few
seconds attention, at best! You have to generate interest right away,
in the first sentence they lay their eyes on. Having an objective
statement that really sizzles, is highly effective. And it's simple to
do. One format is:
OBJECTIVE: An xxx position in an organization where yyy and zzz
would be needed.
Xxx is the name of the position you seek. Yyy and zzz are the most
compelling qualities, abilities or achievements that will really make
you stand out above the crowd of applicants. The research you have
previously done, to find out what is most important to the employer
will provide the information to fill in yyy and zzz.
If you are not really sure what job you are after, you should adapt
your resume to each type of job you apply for. There is nothing wrong
with having several different resumes, each with a different
objective, each specifically crafted for a different type of position.
You may even want to change some parts of your resume for each job you
apply for. Have an objective that is perfectly matched with the job
you are applying for. Remember, you are writing advertising copy, not
your life story.
You do not need to use a separate "Objective" section if you are
looking for a job in your present field. You will include your
"Objective" in your "Summary" section. The point of using an
"Objective" is to create a specific psychological response in the mind
of the reader. If you are making a career change or are a young
person, you want the employer to immediately focus on where you are
going, rather than where you have been. If you are looking for another
job in your present field, it is more important to stress your
qualities, achievements and abilities first.
A few examples of separate "objective"
sections:
- Senior staff
position with a bank that offers the opportunity to utilize my expertise
in commercial real estate lending and strategic management.
- An entry-level
position in the hospitality industry where a background in advertising
and public relations would be needed.
- A position
teaching English as a second language where a special ability to
motivate and communicate effectively with students would be needed.
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