The NCRW Corner: Why Having a Resume Objective is Essential
By Norine Dagliano, NCRW, Grader and Writing Excellence Instructor

Picture this: You grab your car keys, start the engine, open your GPS, and tap “Go.” After driving around aimlessly with no exact destination in mind, you run out of gas, and end the day certain that your GPS and car failed you.

That’s analogous to what happens every time you launch MS Word and begin composing a client’s resume without an objective.

“But wait,” you exclaim, “I thought it was obsolete to put an objective on a resume.”

Let’s look at the evolution of the resume objective.

In the beginning, it was a simple statement at the top of the resume that clearly stated the job seeker’s goal—Career Objective: Senior Widget Maker

Then it evolved to be a little more descript—Career Objective: Senior Widget Maker for a Maryland Manufacturer

But then job seekers started to get nervous, wondering if they were limiting their opportunities, and decided it was best to be “open.” So, objectives evolved into something like this—Career Objective: A challenging position with a successful company where I can learn new skills and advance in my career.

At this point, the professional resume-writing community pulled the plug, and the objective met its demise.

The NCRW Commission is not endorsing the return of the objective statement. We ARE endorsing the concept of having a clear goal in mind before we write a single word. This will ensure we properly position the client by knowing what to include in the resume, what to leave out, and how to spin the content.

It begins with the client’s answer to a simple question:

What types of positions are you targeting? (job titles or occupational clusters and industries)

It is essential that the client – and you – both have a clear answer to this question. In your eagerness to book a client and earn an income, don’t make the mistake of attempting to write a resume for a client who is “open,” unsure, or believes that “something generic” will do. You need a clear destination – an objective – or you and your client are destined to run out of gas and the resume to fail.