Students

Writing Career Objectives

Advantages of Including a Career Objective on Your Resume

  1. Forces you to think about what you want -- the particular type of position or positions you'll seek, the specific skills or functions you wish to perform, the size or locations of companies you'll apply to.
  2. Makes you think about your strengths -- skills and abilities you have, functions you've performed in jobs or activities -- and where and how you'd like to put these strengths to work.
  3. Helps you focus the rest of the information in your resume.
  4. Employers use this objective to match their needs with yours and can immediately identify a "good fit.
  5. A career objective shows the employer you have goals!

Strategies for Developing a Career Objective

  • Career objectives should be stated as verb phrases rather than sentences. Carefully selected verbs will make you sound forceful and confident; a sentence, which would inevitably start with "I," would simply sound "I-centered." DO NOT begin with "I."
  • Create a clear, concise career objective that is focused on prospective employer's needs. Omit "I-centered" or obvious statements, such as "where I can learn" or "which will enable me to advance." Prospective employers expect you to want to learn and advance. Boldly saying so simply starts your resume off with a "gimme" perspective and emphasizes not what you can offer but what you expect to gain.
  • Your objective should be as concrete as you can make it. Specify the position you'd like and perhaps the general atmosphere or geographical location you'd prefer.

Career Objective Examples:

A position in Production Supervision or in the support areas of manufacturing with emphasis on material or quality control.

Wish to join a market research firm or market research department as an analyst. Long term goal is a senior management position in research.

Desire position as copywriter for public relations firm, advertising agency or in-house advertising department.

Interested in executive development program, or entry level buying position with large department store, leading to management responsibilities.

Seeking an entry level buying position with large department store, leading to management responsibilities.