Resume Objective Examples
5 resume objective examples to give you some inspiration for writing your own resume objective.
Your job objective or professional profile is the first thing employers will read when they review your resume, so no matter which option you choose, you need to ensure it makes a strong first impression.
While objectives and profiles are slightly different and ideally used in different circumstances, both of these resume sections provide a quick summary of the type of work you're seeking and help to bring focus to your resume.
Is a Resume Objective Statement Necessary?
Some people will tell you an objective is not necessary on a resume.
I disagree.
In my opinion, a resume should begin with either a job objective or a professional profile.
Anyone who has ever had to review piles of resumes knows it's easy to lose focus and attention. A well-written objective or profile that indicates you are seeking and qualified for exactly the type of job the employer needs to fill can help pull attention and focus back to your resume.
You don't have to include a job objective on your resume, but I do suggest you should include either:
- a job objective
- or a professional profile
Choose one or the other. You don't need both on your resume.
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When should you use a professional profile on your resume?
A professional profile is a two or three sentence statement that summarizes your most essential professional skills, experience, and training. It provides an excellent quick summary that shows the employer, at a glance, what you can offer the company.
A professional profile is the best option if you have experience in your field of work because it is focused on what you can do for the employer. For most job seekers, a professional profile will be a better choice than a job objective.
When should you use an objective statement on your resume?
If a profile is the best option for most job seekers, when is it smart to use a job objective?
Job seekers who have no or limited experience can choose to use an objective statement instead of a profile. A profile will typically seem stilted or overblown for a job seeker with limited experience.
A job objective is a simple statement of the type of work you are seeking and is a better fit in this case.
Resume Objective Examples
1. Seeking a position as a sales manager trainee at XYZ company.
This resume objective example would be used if you were applying to a specific job at a specific company. If you know exactly the title of the position you are seeking and the company where you would like to work, it is perfectly reasonable to be very specific in your job objective, noting the exact job tile and the company name.
2. To obtain a part time position as a retail sales associate.
If you are specifically looking for part time work, say so in your objective statement.
Employers who are hiring part time staff often worry the person they hire will leave as soon as they find full time work, and all of the time they invested in hiring and training that person will be wasted. Therefore, if you really want part time work, say so. You'll communicate to the employer that you will not treat their part time job as a temporary position.
3. To obtain a position at ABC company where I can support clients using my counseling and group facilitation skills and experience.
This type of resume job objective works well in a situation where you would like to target a specific company, but you don't know what type of jobs are available at that company.
You specify the company name, so your objective is not too generic, then you mention a couple of key skills that you could contribute to the company. In this case, the job seeker is indicating that he or she would fit well in a frontline job working with clients, perhaps as a counselor, teacher or workshop facilitator.
4. Seeking a full time position as an administrative assistant in the publishing industry.
If you are seeking a type of job that can be found in many different industries, consider noting a specific industry in your job objective.
When your job fits into many different industries (such as administrative assistant), by noting the industry that is of interest to you, you communicate to the employer that you are not just any administrative assistant, you are an administrative assistant who already has a genuine interest in that company's industry.
5. To obtain employment with an organization that will benefit from my exceptional customer service, problem solving, planning and organizational skills.
This job objective is not optimal!
It doesn't specify a type of job, an industry, or a specific company that that job seeker is targeting, so it is just too generic.
I'm only including this resume objective example because people often ask what type of objective statement they should write when they really don't know what type of job they are seeking. Ideally, your objective should be more specific than this last example.
Do be sure to avoid extremely general statements.
Often, job seekers who don't know what type of work they'd like to do will want to write a generic objective like, "To obtain a position that will utilize my skills and experience."
That is not a good job objective and should be avoided. It doesn't provide the employer with any useful information at all and just shows employers that you lack focus.
Although example number 5 above is still fairly generic, at least it details some specific skills that the job seeker can bring to the organization.
Ideally, you should include a type of job, or company name, or industry in your objective, but if you absolutely cannot do that, at least mention some of your most marketable skills in your objective.
