Every recruiter goes through numerous things while reading a candidate’s resume, but what’s the first thing that makes them shortlist you? It’s the career objective that remains at the top of a candidate’s resume. But the sad part is that no one is well aware of its importance and hardly anyone invests time preparing the career objective statement.

In fact, nine out of ten people simply copy a career objective statement and just focus on filling out other details in the resume. But that might be your biggest mistake!

You must have read the blogs that say you need to make the first impression right with a smile on your face!!!

I know, that sounds familiar, probably you’ve heard that in your class, on a YouTube video, and several generic mind-numbing blogs. Do you think that a smile will get you hired? Obviously not. It’ll help you though in getting some extra attitude point, but no, smile alone will not help you at all.

So, in this post, we are going to discuss what role does career objective plays in a resume and how powerful it is to convince a recruiter to hire a candidate.

Let’s get started!

You might be baffled how a simple career objective part of the resume will ensure your selection. I probably say, no, it’ll not ensure, but yes, it will ensure that you shortlist for an interview (If it is articulated in the right way and accurately!!!)

That is the catch!!!

Don’t be shy, but most of us simply copy-paste the career objective from the internet, and we don’t even bother to read it once (That is a hardcore fact of our lives, and it is better if we can simply accept it!!!)

So, let’s get forward and understand why this small section at the beginning of your resume is so crucial, and what are the ways you can nail it?
Welcome to the Career Objective 101 with Live Examples that you’ll love,

What Is A Career Objective?

Did you ever give a thought about what type of candidate a company might be looking for? If not, then listen very carefully; they want a candidate who is not only skill full but also passionate about what he does and how long he wants to do what he does. This may sound a bit TL; DR, but believe me, it is not.

Career objective caters to you the opportunity that helps you focus on the above lines and articulate exactly what they want to hear, i.e., your passion for your work. What is the point of hiring a person who just wants to grab a job and sit there for eternity? Every company wants an employee who can grow and take the company with him to the next level.

That is the importance of a career objective. This is how deep this concept dwell if you pull your thoughts towards it. Allow me to address exactly what it is (definitively), this may seem boring, but the importance is directly proportional to the boringness of the topic (Pun Intended!!!).

“A Career objective is a paragraph that consists of a combination of two to three sentences that provides the crux of your professional goal to the hiring authority of the company.” When you place this section at the top, the authority tries to understand why you want the job and believe it or not, your why is very important for them because they don’t want to waste their time in someone who is just doing it for the sake of a job.

It may sound a bit idealistic, but it is the real-case scenario. Now, just an FYI for you, don’t mix career objective with the resume objective. Just to make it clear for the freshers out there, since you guys don’t have enough experience, you might want to leverage the power of resume objective.
What makes it different from a career objective? Let me clear that cloud for you.

Difference between Resume Objective & Career Objective

A resume summary is more of like a personalized statement, specifically pointing out the needs of the employer and how your skills will help them in sorting out the work and meet the goals. On the other hand, a career objective is more of your self-vision, where you want to be in the path you’ve already taken in your career. Most of the time, a career objective is more common than the resume objective as a resume objective is personalized.

If you’re a fresher, a resume objective can be conducive to create an impressive first outlook of yours. It is also easy to articulate as you can take reference from the job description (That’s the best way to craft enticing resume objective).

So, I hope you’re now clear about the career and resume objective. Let’s move forward and understand when it is needed, where it needed, and what you should include in the resume/career objective.
When is an Objective statement in the resume needed?

Most of the career experts consider a career objective statement as outdated. But there are many times when objective statements prove to be very effective. Whenever a candidate wants to highlight that he is ambitious and is determined enough about what he wants from a career, or he has the right skill set for a specific job position, this is the ideal place where the objective statement comes in.
Framing a suitable objective statement can convey all the above qualities of a job seeker to the hiring staff and give them a clear cut idea that the candidate is qualified for that particular job position.

When should you use a career objective statement?

There are numerous people who wish to switch their profiles due to several reasons. And suppose a person who is a telecaller applies for a marketing profile, the HR would simply ignore that CV assuming that a telecaller’s CV accidentally came across that slot.

However, having a clear career objective statement can clarify this to the hiring staff that your CV is actually at the RIGHT PLACE. Framing the right career objective will help you clarify that you are making a switch and have the desired skill set for this profile.

There might be many candidates, who are either new to the job search market or have very little work experience, dome might be changing the industry, and some of them are targeting to get a specific job in the desired industry segment. For all these candidates, building an appealing career objective statement will be very beneficial to crack a job and get hired.

For the ones who are in the middle of a career change or for the ones who are just about to begin their career, an effective career objective statement can help to define their goals to the employer, which other things might not be able to do.

All in all, a career objective is a better option than having nothing to show to the hiring people. After all, your ultimate goal is to grab the interviewer’s attention and convince him that you are suitable for your position.

What should you include in a career objective statement?

Every day a recruiter has to go through dozens of resumes and the first and only thing they notice is the career objective part. This area is going to decide whether the candidate is going to be hired or not because they don’t have sufficient time to read the complete resume of hundreds of candidates.
It becomes necessary that know certain things that are necessary to include in a career objective statement:

• Every hiring staff member is just concerned about what’s in it for them; so it’s important for a candidate to include what his expectations are. But it is also important to frame the objective in a way that it showcases something that the recruiter is looking for in an ideal candidate.
• You must keep the objective statement specific and straight forward. Trying keeping it short.
• You can’t afford to go with the same career objective statement for different job listings. Every segment has its own set of expectations and requirements, so don’t commit the mistake of keeping the statement the same.

Avoid these common mistakes while writing a career objective statement

Usually, job seekers skip writing the career objective part and jump to the other details; while others who try to write this section generally commit a few mistakes. So, in order to crack the desired job you have been preparing for, it’s necessary that you must be aware of the common mistakes that most of the job seekers commit.

• Same career objective statement for every job: A candidate needs to ensure that his objective statement completely resembles the skills and qualities the recruiter is expecting from an ideal candidate. So, you can’t expect that a ‘one size fits all’ statement will work to crack a job.
• It’s not all about only you: Most of the job seekers include only and only about themselves in the objective statement like ‘I am passionate about’ and so on to show off their interest in that job post. But this is not all a recruiter is looking for. You need to mention what you can do or contribute to a company’s betterment.
• Being too long: Another mistake that candidates commit is they just keep on writing and forget that this is a resume, not a textbook- nor the recruiter has spare time to go through the resume. Use appealing words and try to be concise and wrap the sentence in minimum possible words.
• A no value statement: The worst thing a job seeker can do is- write the career objective just for the sake of filling that space because they feel this section is not an important part. You need to present your skills and bring something effective to the table so that the recruiter can actually think of hiring you.

Career Objective Examples

A good career objective example for a candidate who is the middle of a career change:

1. Accomplished political campaign consultant with five years of experience seeking an extensive background in crisis management and mass communication into an HR assistant position in a reputable organization.
2. To leverage my 3+ years of experience in the marketing industry, building healthy relationships with global clients into a hiring manager in a leading company.
3. Nurse RN with 4+ years of experience in offering quality care to the patients. Possessing a Master’s qualification in Nursing, looking for a physician consultant role.
4. Business Consultant with 5+ years of experience in the financing industry. I possess an MBA in accounting, seeking to leverage my accounting experience as a Senior Business Analyst.

career objective example for a freshers candidate:-

1. Dedicated and enthusiastic business graduate looking for a quality assistant role in a software enterprise.
2. Hard-working medical graduate with proven leadership skillset seeking a position as a physician in a reputed healthcare center.
3. Seeking a position with an ecologically-conscious enterprise to implement my skills at the right pathway with dedication.
4. Highly motivated and hardworking engineering graduate looking for a technical support engineer position to enhance my technical skills and improve my skill set.

A career objective example for experienced candidate:

1. Seeking a position of Online Instructor where I can apply my knowledge, twelve years of experience as a fitness trainer and prove my skills to provide customers with fruitful outcomes.
2. An organized professional with a great teaching skill set, guidance, and counseling skills. Seeking a position of Teaching Assistant to contribute my knowledge and skills in a school that offers the right opportunities.
3. A system administrator with 6+ years of experience assembling hardware, software files, and managing the confidential files and data of clients. Looking to leverage my technical skillset into a role as Senior Technical Administrator.

A Bonus Tip!

Just don’t go for words that sound nice while describing your skills, focus on the relevancy and expectations a recruiter has from an ideal candidate’s resume. Keep other things aside, you just need to directly target the career objective for the position you are applying for. Furthermore, maintain an equivalent balance of showcasing your skills as well as presenting the things a recruiter is looking for. Building a flawless career objective statement will easily convince the interviewer to go further with your resume and gradually hire you.