Q. During career day this week, a young agency representative gave me advice regarding my resume that was contrary to our college placement office. The agency rep said to drop the OBJECTIVE paragraph and go right to EXPERIENCE. Which is preferred?
A. You got good advice from the agency rep. The objective paragraph on most resumes is a distraction, and could cost you job consideration if your objective is different than the hiring manager’s objective. Let the interviewer fill in the blanks after reading about your experience. The only time an objective paragraph might help is when you have no relevant experience, and a simple objective sentence indicates you want to gain insights and hands-on experience in the field. Relevant experience, however, always trumps lofty objectives.
I recently signed up to a student resume network (nuResume) and built my free online resume there. Since I’m still at entry level, I should include an objective then, is that correct?
NuResume.com is an interesting turn-key process. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. If you have any previous experience in PR, I would avoid using Objective or nuResume’s suggested “Top Reasons To Hire Me.” The latter may be intriguing for some, but most hiring managers only want to see your education and and experience. Your cover note/letter can discuss your passion for the business.
Thank Ron. I always struggled with the objective. I mean, isn’t it kind of obvious? I want you to hire me, why else would I be applying? You just saved me 5 lines on my resume.
A brief and clear career objective certainly give the idea of your future career prospect. Write down what you want to be in 5 years time, or at least tell the hiring manager what you expect from him in terms of preferable working area, work environment, scope of desired organization. This would help the resume screening process become easier. Here is an example of resume objective:
“Like to obtain the position as a Key Account Manager where my skills and my knowledge can be utilized and developed. I will do my best to become a professional Key Account Manager whose skills will be most beneficial in meeting the need of the organization”
As a PR student in my final semester, I am currently working on my resume with hopes of landing an internship this summer. I’ve been advised that a professional objective statement is necessary, and should be found at the top of the page, prior to education and relevant experience. However, I have little to no experience in the industry, so my objective statement is as follows: A summer internship in the public relations field that could develop into a full-time position as a public relations specialist beginning this fall.
Is this enough for a basic internship request? Or am I way off in terms of a PR professional objective? NUResume is fantastic, thank you for the link.
I generally am not an advocate of the objective statement since most are lofty and not sufficiently specific. The objective should be woven into the cover letter/email. However, I like the simplicity and honesty of your proposed statement. Good luck.