5 Resume Objective Writing Tips (With Examples)

By Reid - January 3, 2023

Resume Objective Examples

When you’re applying for jobs, especially for the positions that pay well and offer a sense of fulfillment, you’ll have to write a resume. This document is essentially how you highlight your skills and prove to the employer that you’re the right match for the job.

However, this is also the part of job hunting with which many people have the most trouble. Resumes can be fairly complex, and your word choice can potentially make or break your chances of landing the job.

Today, we want to cover how to properly write the objective section - one of the most crucial parts of any resume. Let’s start with what a resume objective is, some fundamentals about its use, and some tips to improve yours.

What is a Resume Objective?

You can look at a resume objective as an intro of sorts. It’s the first part of your resume that looks to frame you as the ideal candidate for a job position.

With that being said, it’s also very personal. A resume objective focuses heavily on your goals, skills, and educational history in a way that online generators and other automated methods can’t properly perform. You will have to write it by hand and pay close attention to exactly what you’re putting in it.

Fundamentals of a Resume Objective

Before we get into the specific tips, keep in mind that your resumes objective "objective" is to tie your experiences and goals in with the position you’re applying for. As such, you should focus on three main areas.

Career goals
Educational history
Formal and informal skills

However, it's not enough to say, "I want this position. I went to Oxford. I can do the job." You need to highlight your history and skills in a way that convinces the employer you can handle the job requirements.

For your goals, you should tie the position into a specific place in your planned career path to show you have well-thought-out motives for trying to join the employer's team.

How My Resume Looks Meme

Writing Tips for Resume Objectives

Finally, we want to leave you with a series of tips that can help you write a better resume objective and land your dream job with a bit of hard work and luck.

1. Tailor the Objective to the Position and the Company

First and foremost, we know you’re probably not applying to just one job. That’s not a good way to get into a position and start earning money nowadays. It’s common for people to find several, if not dozens, of companies offering similar classes to apply for.

However, your resume objective should be extremely personalized. It’s not like the rest of your resume, where each bit of information can be passed off to a new potential employer.

As such, you should custom-tailor the resume objective for each application. Take into account what the job position is, the general culture of the company, and how your life experience ties into those things.

2. Be Concise

This one is crucial. The hiring manager in charge of reading through applications will not spend extra time reading through resumes and applications that don’t get to the point. They might have hundreds or even thousands, of resumes on their desk at any given time.

As such, you must ensure that you’re keeping it short and still achieving the best results. To do this, you need to be concise with your wording.

You don’t “know how to type quickly and accurately.” You’re an excellent typist. You don’t “have extraordinary people skills and find it easy to speak to customers.” You’re an excellent communicator. Summarize and shorter what you are trying to say.

Often, it's not what you're saying that can get your resume tossed in the bin. It's how you're wording your points and whether or not the hiring manager can determine your qualifications as a candidate without wasting their time.

It also makes you look more professional, gets your point across in far fewer words, and shows your grasp of linguistics.

3. Market Yourself

Your resume is the equivalent of the advertisements companies use to sell products. Your goal is to use it to “advertise” yourself to potential employers and make you seem like the best choice possible.

To do this, you need to highlight your skills and the benefits you bring to the company as much as possible; again, remember to keep those points concise.

There is a gray area you need to remember with this, though. Embellishing or flat-out lying can cost you the job or get you into trouble later. So, that’s something to avoid. Also, you need to avoid being too flowery with your language.

This goes with conciseness, but even if you limit how many words you’re using, try not to use overly energetic words; it comes off as unprofessional and disingenuous, and at best, it makes you look like you’re full of yourself.

4. Length

Length can give a lot of job seekers problems.

Your resume objective is just a brief intro. It’s not supposed to give the hiring manager everything they need to know - instead, you can almost view it as your “hook.” It drags them in, so they want to spend time reading the rest of the application and your resume.

We recommend not making your resume objective longer than three to five sentences. That’s not easy considering how you’re supposed to highlight so much information, but we assure you it is possible.

5. Write, Read, and Rewrite

Finally, please don’t rush through it. You only have a handful of sentences to make yourself look like the ideal employee and convince the reader to go further into your resume. Every word needs to hit its mark.

As such, you should put some time and thought into it. Write out a resume objective, and then look for ways to improve it and get more information across with fewer words. Then, rewrite it. This will help you maximize its potential.

When you are done, have someone else proofread it and get their thoughts on improving it!

"Recruiters spend 5 to 7 seconds on average going over resumes. 76% of the resumes are rejected due to an unprofessional email address. 88% of the resumes are rejected due to a picture on the resume."

— Writrox

Related Content

Resume Objective Examples

Warehouse Worker Resume Objective

_“Retail worker searching for a warehouse role. Previous experience doing multiple retail jobs, including working as a stocker at (company). Skilled in stocking, package tracking, processing paperwork, and forklift certified.”
_

Accountant Resume Objective

_“Recent graduate with an Accounting and Finance degree seeking the position of an Accountant for a Fortune 500 company. Was the top student in my most recent classes of Intermediate Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Advanced Finance, and more.”
_

HR Coordinator Resume Objective

“Knowledgeable human resources coordinator with five years of experience seeking a new role as an HR manager with a company that values knowledge of the industry, the ability to implement new methodologies within a business, and has an exceptional work history.”

Wrapping Up | Resume Objective

Including an objective at the top of your resume is a great way to show off your skills that are also required to fill the position.

The rest of the content on your resume is technically way more important than the three to five lines used to hook the hiring manager. However, without those simple sentences being written to perfection, the hiring manager might not even look at the rest of your resume.

So, take your time, consider our tips, and hopefully, increase your chances of landing your dream job. Best of luck with the job search!

Title: 5 Resume Objective Writing Tips (With Examples)

Category: Resume

Tags: resume objective examples, resume objective resume objective statement, objective examples, career objective in resume, objective statement, What is a good objective on a resume

Author: Reid is a contributor for theJub. He's an employment and marketing enthusiast who studied business before taking on various recruiting, management, and marketing roles. More from the author. | Author Profile