Developing the Career Objective

The format for the career objective can be arranged to a person's unique background or wishes, and is of great help in organizing this difficult portion of the resume.

At the simplest level, the career objective may be stated as a professional designation, followed by a specialty area in that field. e.g. Electrical Engineer - Research & Design, or Public Accountant - Auditing and Taxes, or Sales Representative - Industrial Hardgoods and Equipment.

The next level of sophistication in a career objective statement may simply state that an entry-level position is desired, followed by a comment on the functional area of work, e.g. Entry-level Bank Management Trainee-Loans, or Entry-level Store Management Trainee-Merchandising, or Social Service Trainee-Child Welfare.

After these simple formats, the matter becomes more difficult. There are a number of ways to organize career objectives.

The Short-Term/Long-Term Format

Immediate Objective:

Entry-level Accounting Trainee with an Industrial Firm.

Long-Term Objective:

Progression to Comptroller function, with responsibilities for a number of accounting systems and policy responsibility for fiscal affairs of a corporation.

The Functional Format

Functional Work Objective:

Position that includes responsibilities for systems analysis and creating data systems for maintenance of records, evaluation of programs, and projection of future sales trends.

The Skills Format

Skills Objective:

Position that requires knowledge of decision-making models, and application of models to marketing and production planning.

Functional/Industrial Format

Functional/Industrial Objective:

General Sales Representative with company that produces soap, toiletry, or food products.

Skill/Industrial Format

Skills/Industrial Objective:

Position that requires knowledge of COBOL, RPG II, and BASIC, and that requires sales/customer service abilities in the software industry.

When functional or skills types of objectives are used, the work experience section or the education section of the resume should reflect the abilities and wishes set forth in the objective statement.

Career objective statements should avoid terms such as: opportunity for advancement; a challenging position; position dealing with people; a progressive company; position that requires creativity; a company that recognizes...; a chance to...

While these terms may sound nice to the job applicant, they have little meaning to the person who will make a decision for an interview invitation, and in fact may indicate that the candidate has no idea about objectives. The candidate who applies vagueness will get a vague response in return.