How to Write Your Career Objective

(Link to this from the Resume Organizer Checklist page, for help with writing a Career Objective.)

Even though most career experts today advise against putting objective statements on resumes today, due to the economy being an employers’ market, I still ask my clients to prepare an Objective Statement for themselves prior to their resume-writing appointment with me. It helps us focus!

I also include writing a Career Objective annually, as part of the year-end review and goal-setting exercise in my Career Story Journal. Even though employers may not be interested in your personal career objective — you still should be!

As we start to compose your resume, I like to put your Objective Statement up at the top, because it helps us zero in on what’s important. Once we have the resume nearly finished, we can then go back to your Objective Statement, and decide to use it or transform it into your “personal brand” or “platform” statement.

In other words: “Seeking mid-level management position with growth potential utilizing my marketing, writing, design, and training skills and experience,” can be transformed into: “Marketing, Writing & Creative Design Leader Extraordinaire.”

How to Write Your Career Objective

Writing your Career Objective is actually fairly simple. Just answer the questions: What job are you looking for? What do you want to be doing? What skills and knowledge do you have that you want to be using, and in what capacity? What do you do best?

There are basically two kinds of career objectives: Career Specific and Skill Related.

Career-Specific Objectives

Typically, the Career-Specific Objective addresses up to 5 areas:

1) the specific, functional career field (for example, graphic design, health care, counseling, research, sales, banking, customer service, information technology, etc.)
2) the type of organization (financial institution, printing company, advertising, government, retailing, etc.)
3) level of position (entry level, mid-level, senior executive level)
4) eventual goals (where would you like to be in 5 years?)
5) size and scope of the organization, if important to you (small, large, regional, local, international)

Sample Career-Specific Objectives

COLLECTION AGENT: Seeking a position with growth potential as an inspector or bill collector for a private or public firm, utilizing my persuasive communication skills and experience in corporate finance, sales, and accounts receivable.
TEACHER: Seeking an entry-level teaching position at a suburban elementary or middle school.
CHEF/COOK: Seeking full-time position as a chef or cook in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area while pursing my degree in Culinary Arts at Scottsdale Culinary Institute.
SALES: Seeking a challenging career in sales of intangible products and services, with maximum growth potential.
MANUFACTURING MANAGER: Seek a mid-level management position for a medium or large firm that utilizes my mechanical and interpersonal skills and experience.
ADVERTISING: Seeking entry-level position with career growth potential in a media or market research firm or department within a large agency. Eventual goal is personnel management.
POLICE OFFICER: Seeking position as a police officer in a growing suburban community, utilizing my exemplary military service experience and training in the United States Army.

Skills-Based Career Objectives

If you are open to a wider range of job possibilities, you might want to write your Career Objective to be more focused on your skills and abilities.

WRITING & RESEARCH SKILLS: Seeking position utilizing strong writing and research skills. Particular interest in public relations or publishing.

SUPERVISORY EXPERIENCE & ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS: Seeking position utilizing supervisory experience and strong organizational skills. Specific interest in management training program with a retailing firm.

PEOPLE SKILLS: Obtain a challenging and responsible position with growth potential that utilizes my abilities to communicate well with all kinds of people, verbally and in writing, motivate and lead teams to solve problems, organize systems, and conduct training in operational, design, and marketing departments.

HELPING SKILLS: Seek a fast-pasted, positive, upbeat work environment where I can provide my unique creative, organizational, and administrative talents to assist and support busy leaders achieve their goals and objectives in the most efficient and intelligent ways possible.

Many more sample career objectives can be found online by doing a search on “sample career objectives.” This site has over 200 samples