Objectives: Is the Resume About What You Want or What the Employer Wants?

In my recent blog article, Five Signs Your Resume is Outdated, the use of an objective was #3.   To help you improve your resume and get it into shape for your 2011 job search here is some advice to update the old objective.

In the not so long ago past, an objective was a staple of the American resume.  Today however in the era of vast resume transitions, the career objective has gone the way of the spandex shorts and the television show, Saved By the Bell.  As a job seeker, you should avoid the resume objective as much as most people show avoid the spandex shorts - it isn't flattering and it probably doesn't highlight your best assets.

The traditional job objective that introduced the job seeker at the top of the resume outlined what the person seeking a job wanted.  Examples: "Obtain a position at XYZ Company where I can maximize my management skills, quality assurance, program development, and training experience" or "Marketing position that utilizes my writing skills and enables me to make a positive contribution to the organization."  These statements do help clarify the reason the employer is receiving the resume, however, who thinks the company really cares about what the job seeker wants?  Most businesses seek to positively impact their bottomline, not help us to improve our skills or climb our own career ladder.

Consider the difference in the above examples, and the following resume headlines:

• Business Management Professional with over 10 Years Experience in Financial Industry with Expertise in Quality Assurance, Program Development, and Training
• Marketing Executive with more than 10 Years Experience with Strong Skills in Transformational Management, Communication, Writing, and Driving Revenue

Using a clear and concise headline rather than an objective can help to catch the reader's attention and entice them to continue reading your resume.  Ultimately it's about what the company wants not what the applicants wants.  Thinking unselfishly about what the hiring manager is going to be seeking rather than what you - the job seeker - want out of your relationship with the company, can help you be more objective in the resume. Remember to use distinctive yet professional formatting to help make your headline stand out from the text on the page.

A well-written resume will capture the hiring manager's attention and spark interest.  The goal of your resume is to land an interview.  Make sure your experience and talent are well represented by a resume that garners the attention you and your career deserve.  If you don't feel your resume lives up to your level of expertise or if it isn't gaining you the attention and interviews you should bet getting, don't hesitate to contact a professional resume writer.  Most top executives know it benefits them more to leave it to the professionals than attempt to do it themselves.  Trust someone who writes resumes day in and day out to handle your resume for you.  It will be well worth the investment.

Want to talk to a professional resume writer?  Click HERE to email Ramsey Penegar.

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Ramsey Penegar is an executive resume consultant and is certified as a  professional resume writer by the Professional Association of Resume Writers.  She has developed more than 650 resumes for executives all over the United States and for international clients as well.  With more than 10 years experience in marketing and sales, she has the skills to build effective job search marketing campaigns and attention-getting resumes.

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Task versus Achievement-Based Resume

Let's see...what seems more interesting a laundry list of all the menial daily tasks and functions you preformed at each and every job OR well-written, action statements illustrating the impact of your accomplishments?  For example, a receptionist or executive assistant resume may state:

"I answered the phones" 

or 

"Monitored and managed more than 1,500 weekly telephone calls from customers, vendors, media, and contractors for 750 staff members for largest architectural firm in New Jersey"

An example for a sales manager may be:

"Hired, managed, and trained sales representatives"

or

"Recruited, hired, managed, mentored, and motivated more than 120 sales representatives to develop customer service and sales skills resulting in more than $1.5 million in sales revenue"

An interview-landing resume doesn’t just tell what you did or know how to do (task oriented) it illustrates how well you did those things (accomplishment oriented). Readers want to know and see hardcore facts, figures, numbers (#, $, %). You want this information to be indicative of your entire career not just job by job.

The hiring manager already has a general idea of the tasks and responsibilities involved in the jobs you have held.  What she wants to know is how your skills and experience and handling of those duties impacted the bottom line for the company. The recruiting manager wants to read what the job seeker has done to enhance operations, boost revenues, bolster profits, decrease operating costs, improve business processes, save time, increase productivity, and or advance technologies.

An accomplishment oriented resume is what sells the reader on your personal and professional value.  Rather than the old laundry list of duties, functions, and job responsibilities demonstrate, in writing, how your expertise in doing those tasks benefited the company.

An easy formula for this is AARQ ("Ark"): Action, Accomplishment, Result, Quantify.  What action did you take and / or accomplishment did you achieve?  What was the result of this action?  Quantify the resulting impact on the company.  Here's an example from a recent, real client:

• What action did you take?  Managed revenue budget.
• What was the result of this action?  Exceeded revenue goals and increased revenue.
• Can you quantify the action or result?  Managed $77 million revenue budget, exceeded revenue goals, increased revenue by 38%
• Final resume line item: Managed $77 million revenue budget for third party marketing products, continually exceeded revenue goals, and steered 38% revenue growth

It can be really easy to bolster your resume by turning your tasks into bottom line driven, powerful achievements that will catch the reader's attention.  A company is concerned with their bottom line, illustrate your experience in improving the bottom line.  Use your resume as a tool to convey your value to the prospective employing company and expect more interviews in the future.

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Ramsey Penegar is an executive resume consultant and is certified as a professional resume writer by the Professional Association of Resume Writers.  She has developed 1,000s of resumes for executives all over the United States and for international clients as well.  With more than 15 years experience in marketing and sales, she has the skills to build effective job search marketing campaigns and attention-getting resumes.

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