Stop putting a resume objective in your resume

Perhaps you didn’t know that the resume objective is no longer part of today’s resume.

Why did the resume objective stop being important?

In the past, resumes began with a resume objective. This long phrase began: “To obtain a position in the field of XYZ as a XXXXXXX that will allow me to grow and expand.”

However, the resume objective is very “me” focused as opposed to employer-focused. Jason Alba of JibberJobber asked me to clarify this on his blog a few years ago: Resume objective statements: objecting to objective statements on resumes.

As resume writing evolved, people recognized the resume as more of a marketing tool than a job history. Today’s resume features a target rather than a resume objective. This target is the job title, Vice President of Digital Transformation or the field, Senior IT Executive, with or without modifiers.

What should I focus on instead of the resume objective?

Turn the focus to your accomplishments. When I say accomplishments, I am not speaking of awards or honors but the value you brought to the position.

Every part of your resume should focus on a specific goal, which should match the target. Your resume stories should speak to the value you brought in each role that support the target.

For example, I wrote this bullet for an executive client targeting roles in organizations promoting improvement in voting processes:

• Online Voter Registration – Instituted online voter registration as election reform in state. Led project from concept to launch, supervising overall design, communications, and implementation. Currently, more than 954k voters used application to register or update registration.

The result? This executive landed a new role as the President of an organization focused on improving processes in elections.

Can you identify your value in your resume?

Many leaders struggle to determine their value. This is where I come in as a Certified Executive Resume Master. As a resume writer who writes resumes with the client, I help you identify and define your talents. We clarify how you brought value to your organization. I help you sift through your memories and then write those resume stories in ways that show the value you bring in very specific ways.

If you are skilled at changing organizations, together you and I write your story to show how you did it:

• Business Culture Transformation – Transformed 110-year-old company from a monopoly to a sales-minded culture and converted an order taking and customer service environment to an all-inclusive mindset incorporating inside and outside sales representatives where everyone in the company is an ambassador.

The bullet above came from a resume for a Senior Executive level client who wanted to leverage his sales management experience with his ability to leverage innovative processes to take the company to the next level. He was limited in geography so his new role is as a leader in a totally new industry.

Do you want to make sure your resume strategies are current and will help you land a job? Learn how I coach clients while writing their resumes in my innovative live process.