Objectives: Leave Them Off Your Resume

Reader Comments
Back to blog

Thank you, Alison, for your advice and opinion! As I re-write my friend's resume, I am aware of mistakes I've made, or could have made (had I not come across this blog), which will be fixed. This blog has been very helpful. =)

Katie of CA 1:00PM June 12, 2013

Why do you assume the hiring manager is a "she", no men are managers or what?

Lamer of CA 2:40AM January 24, 2013

so i am taking off your objective

Kalpana of NJ 1:50PM January 16, 2013

I recently heard of a way to use objective statements in a more beneficial way: Not what you are going to benefit from the job, but how your job experience outlined below is going to make you better at the specific job. You always say to tailor your resume, so why not tailor your objective statement? I feel like it's a summary of my cover letter, and actually helps me to focus my cover letter when I write it like a thesis statement.

Maria of MI 1:42PM January 07, 2013

Dan you are absolutely right!
Plus, she's talking to older--more experienced and established job seekers. Newbies don't need to read that information. She's totally wrong in that regard. That's what makes for dissatisfied workers--they don't know what they want and they are in a "job" just for the sake of having one! We need to have an objective and be clear about what we want. Like Stephen Covey said and win-win situation.
Thanks Dan.
Ms. Green--please qualify your comments as not to hurt people in their job hunt.

Rachel of SC 2:19PM August 07, 2012

A WELL written objective statement is crucial. I shall counter your reasons 1-3.
1) The interview process is a two way street. The interviewee must interview the company as much as the company interviews him. If it's not a good fit and he gets hired, he will soon look for a different job. The company must be able to determine if they can live up to the interviewee's expectations, if not, he will leave. If he states he wants to work for a fast growing company and you know you are not, you know what will happen within a year of him starting work.
2) If you are a manager and you read an objective statement for finance but the position is health care, then you are done with that resume. Thank you objective statement. People can accidentally (or intentionally) apply for wrong positions.
3) Objective statements that don't add anything are just not well written. The same reasoning can be said about the "experience" section that's not well written. Imagine a resume where the experience section has no order, too short or too long, inconsistent indentations, etc will only hurt the candidate not help.

Dan of TX 12:05AM July 27, 2012

Resume objective is only shows your goal in which field to make your career. I agree with your statement. http://resumeobjectivesample.blogspot.in/

Smith of MA 7:16AM June 19, 2012

Dear Alison,
In the Not-for-profit sector I frequently use "I aim to be a voice for the voiceless" as my objective statement.
This is a life mantra for me, does it intrigue you as an objective?

Rachel of NY 10:02PM January 22, 2012

Well I've hired people and I like them, with stipulations. When I'm hiring for ten or fifteen different positions an objective that indicates the specific job for which the candidate is applying is helpful. It also gives me a chance to, as you mentioned, see who is "mass broadcasting" and who knows how to target a specifice job at a specific company.

Dee of CA 5:32PM December 13, 2011

I wholeheartedly agree with your "waste of space" take on the "Objective" portion of a resume. They lend to the writer looking out of touch with today's market. We're living in a world where everyone is looking for the most amount of information using the least amount of words. An objective is a repeat of what the act of sending the resume did.

Linda Kuriloff of NY 8:33PM November 25, 2011