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Sample Resume Objectives: What They All Tend To MissSample resume objectives. When a harried and possibly panicked job seeker finds one he thinks is good, he feels like the drowning man who just got rescued. But as Shakespeare said, there's something rotten in Denmark. Or in that sample you thought would save you. The problem is that sample resume objectives all tend to miss one thing. It's truly shocking to me that they do. But they're usually free, and often they're worth about what you paid. The thing they miss is that a resume objective isn't about you. "What?!", you say, "Of course it's about me!" That's probably what you've been taught. I'm sure it's what some people have told you. Just the words "resume objective" plant a bad seed in your mind. Those words suggest...no, they SAY...that you should state the objective of your resume. That's poppycock. There's only one purpose of an objective statement on a resume, and that's to state how you can give your new employer profit. Any resume objective statement that doesn't do that is garbage. That's certainly where your resume will end up. Those kinds of objective statements all translate into "get a job." That brilliantly states the obvious. Every potential employer knows you want a job. In fact, there's nothing wrong with saying you want the job. But your objective statement isn't where you want to do it. You do it in your cover letter (indirectly), and in the job interview. Your resume is your commercial for the improved profit you can add to your new employer. It's not about you, or what you want. Nothing, and I mean nothing, sells like the promise of windfall profits. Sample resume objectives you're likely to find online miss that point entirely. Here's an example: "A challenging job in an industrial setting performing chemical syntheses and characterizations; the ideal position will offer diverse tasks and the opportunity to work with a team." Oh boy. Let's see. If I'm a potential employer reading that resume, all I see is that this person wants a job. Maybe I get that he's a chemist. Maybe I infer that he's a good team player. Maybe...I'm bored already. It's too much work to figure out what he'll do for me. In the bin. Next! Don't believe for a second that you simply need to copy some resume objective you find online. A better strategy is to steal..ahem...creatively borrow all the good ideas you can and create your own. (c) Copyright 2005 by Roy Miller An article by Roy Miller, creator of http://www.Job-Search-Guidepost.com. A quick, successful job search is about more than copying sample resume objectives. Go here to find a simple technique to analyze any sample resume objective you find online: Sample Resume Objectives: Stick With The Good Stuff. And if you liked this article, be sure to sign up for Roy's free weekly newsletter. This article may be reprinted for use in newsletters and on websites provided that this information box is kept intact. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: roy@job-search-guidepost.com. |  | | | RELATED ARTICLES How to Terminate an Employee and Live to Tell the Tale 1. Employee Backdrop in Australia How To Effectively Present All Of Your IT Skills Effectively present all of your IT skills with the IT Technical Skills Summary - an exceptionally powerful document that should form part of every resume submitted. Dissatisfied with Your Job? Take Your Power Back! Apparently, there are all sorts of reasons to be dissatisfied with your job... Should You Telework/Telecommute "WOW! I can work from home and make money? I can sit around in my PJ's and work whenever I want? How great, I want to be a Teleworker!" Why Become A Truck Driver? There are a great number of good reasons for someone to become a truck driver. First and foremost among those reasons would be the great pay. Did you realize that most truckers, their first year out on the road, earn an average of $35,000 a year? And, that after just a few years out, those same truckers are making an average of $45,000-$50,000 annually? And finally, veteran drivers who own their own trucks make average salaries that are over $100,000 a year. What other profession can you get into, where the pay is that good? Best Strategy Using Internet Job Search Engines Best Strategy using Internet Job Search Engines Getting A Leg Up Legging Up Your Competition Managing Emotions During Career Change and Job Search, Part One How can you manage your emotions during your career change or job search? To answer this practical and wise question, let's first define what emotions are. Emotions, also commonly referred to as feelings, are energy released in your body in response to perceived events, that is, to data received via your five senses. How to Track Your Right Career Are you lost in the wilderness when it comes to choosing a career? Once, we knew the way. As children, we played at different roles, but some became our favorites. Those favorites hinted at our gifts. They pointed the way to our exciting futures as entrepreneurs, dancers or astronauts. We did what was fun, and, in the process, we began to find and follow our paths. So, What Do You Do For Work? I remember being asked this question a lot when I was dissatisfied with my career. My usual strategy would be to give a pat answer and immediately turn the question back on the person who asked it. How To Get More Interviews In Your Job Search Richard Bolles, job search guru and author of What Color Is Your Parachute? predicts that you can expect to search for work 1-2 months for every $10,000 you hope to earn. So, if you're looking for a $40,000 a year position, you may search for 4-8 months to land it. Back when the economy sizzled, that job search length would have seemed outrageous, but now, many people would be thrilled to only search for 4-8 months. What Students and Parents MUST Know about Student Loans A student loan helps you get through college. Then youcome out into a high-paying career. It's a greatinvestment in your (or your sons/daughters) future. How to Write a Better CV (UK), or Resume (USA and elsewhere) The first point to make is that the terms "CV" and "Resume" (with or more often without the French acute accents over the e's) are virtually interchangeable in the UK; they mean the same thing, but if anything the norm is CV. In the USA and elsewhere, the CV (Curriculum Vitae to give it its full title - literally "Life Study") is a different animal - a dry listing of qualifications and experience more suited for a university faculty listing for example. Expose Lies on Resumes Purpose: Learn about the new Polygraph for management hires My Landscaping Business is Better Than Your Lanscaping Business... Yesterday I was having a discussion with Mary who I know from a mother's group that I attend with my daughter Sammi. Through previous conversations I have determined that this woman is very talented in the areas of landscaping and interior design. No Degree, No Problem According to a recent survey, 52% of job candidates polled lied on their resume about having a college degree. Here are 3 brief horror stories: A new Director of Logistics and his family were actually loading the moving van provided by his new employer for relocation from California to North Carolina. The phone rang and it was the Human Resource Manager from his new company. The offer was being withdrawn. Through a routine degree verification check, the company learned the potential new employee did not have a degree. He was 3 hours short of graduating. Had the candidate been honest, the job was still his. It was an integrity issue. Five candidates for a high level software sales job were interviewing. After the face to face interviews, the candidates were offered a "grace period" to revise their application. The company was aware of a problem with one canddiate. The lead candidate changed his college degree information to "Did Not Graduate." He was dropped from contention. A candidate for a Vice President of Logistics position for a multi-billion/multi national company was offered the job. However, the background check could not verify the degree as listed on the resume. The stunned candidate said he could fix the problem. After one week, he called and faxed over the degree verification information. Only two blank pieces of paper came out of the fax. He said, "I must have faxed the wrong side." The offer was rescinded the night before his start date because of the integrity issue. The company would have hired him if he had been honest about not having a degree. Offers withdrawn because of "no degree" are not because the lack of a college degree was a "deal breaker." The issue was that each of these high level managers misrepresented themselves on their resume and during the interview. As a search firm, we always encourage candidates to be upfront and candid about the information on the resume, including whether or not they have a college degree. Don't try to hide it amongst several other educational courses you have taken. If you are hiring, ask the candidate directly. It's amazing how many hiring managers "assumed" the candidate graduated. The most deceptive piece on a resume is: University of Any State, 1986-1990. Listing the years but not if they graduated. Common oversight. Most times, if the candidate has a solid background and the chemistry is strong with the organization, the company hires the person. Remember 70% of hiring is Chemistry. Degree isn't the most important factor. The Chicken or the Egg? Even before I checked my calendar on Monday morning, I knew the appointment would be there. Passed over for promotion again, Ralph wanted specifics on why I hadn't chosen him for the position. This was not a new conversation. I thought of Ralph as my chicken and egg dilemma. Ralph was the chicken. He believed he would make a great Team Leader, and when I promoted him, he would step up and show me how well he could lead. My position was that of egg. Prove to me you have leadership skills by demonstrating leadership in the job you have now, and I'll consider giving you the next position. Here's the question: is it better to do the work, knowing you will ultimately be rewarded for having done it, or should you wait until the reward is there before you do the work? Like the proverbial question of which came first, the chicken or the egg, people differ widely on the answer and run their careers accordingly. Here's the way I see it - one has more to lose by taking the position of the chicken and waiting for someone else to anoint them, than by being the egg and anointing oneself. If I had waited to be a leader until someone offered me a leadership position, I might still be wishing and hoping for someone to notice me. When I wanted to be a manager, I did the work of a manager by taking on more and more responsibilities. And, I got promoted. When I wanted to be a director, I did the work of a director, without questioning compensation or title. After proving myself, I got the job, the title and the compensation. Same with being a vice-president. Doing the job first, gave me the job. It's the same now that I'm out of the corporate arena. Take my dream of being a writer. Changing careers after twenty-something years in management, I could have waited to write a column until I secured a writing contract for one. But, why would someone pay me to write without reading my words and knowing I can. Chicken and egg again. What works for me has been consistent. When I do the work first, the rewards follow. I think of it like exercising. Doing it gives me better results than thinking about it. No one likes to be called a chicken, so ... be the egg. (c) 2004 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved. 17 Surefire Ways to Annoy Potential Employers Despite the President's encouraging words, the job market is still in sorry shape. There are more job seekers than job openings, so do NOT make things harder on yourself by doing any of the things on this list! Never, ever do these! Dress For Success You have heard the phrase, "Dress for Success." This is very important in your job search. 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