The Voice of Job Seekers

Mark Anthony Dyson ★ Career Writer ★ Speaker ★ Thinker ★ Award-winning Blog & Podcast! ★ "The Job Scam Report" on Substack! ★ I hack and reimagine the modern job search!

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The Resume Objective Question: Useless or Use Less

The Resume Objective Question: Useless or Use Less

 

The resume objective section is useless unless your practicing to write one for a grade in your freshman year in college. A reader recently pointed to me an article that they read on NBC Universal Life Goes Strong blog on how we should blow up the objective statement on résumés. When you read the article, it aligns closely with what I believe:

Leslie Ayres (@JobSearchGuru), The Real Job Guru, wrote the article, “The Resume Objective is Dead, So Why Are You Still Using It?” makes 3 points that are very true:

1) Objective statements are completely about the candidate

2) Companies also ditched the candidate because of it was all about the candidate

3) The competitiveness of candidates who say much more than, “… hire me and I’ll be more focused!”

Three more articles Several more articles on résumé from respectable and knowledgeable career pros:

Resume Objective Statements That Kill Your Hiring Prospects by Jacob Share (@JacobShare)
Why Your Resume’s Objective Statement Doesn’t Work by Phil Rosenberg (@philreCareered)

Is Your Résumé Telling Your Story? by Daisy Wright (@CareerTips2Go)

IS YOUR RÉSUMÉ A CLUNKER? by Melissa Cooley (@TheJobQuest)

Simply, objective statements don’t compete anymore. They don’t say enough about the candidate, nor doesn’t grab the reviewer’s attention. So what should we do?

One suggestion is using the position headline:

(SEEKING PROFESSIONAL POSITION) SOFTWARE ENGINEER

A discussion that I had recently with another career pro is that the head is not appropriate when uploading to a site that the résumé will not scan. The headlines that are suggested:

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

SUMMARY

These are two different approaches contingent on whether if the first set of eyes will be human or not. Mind you, that there are college career centers that are still advising their students to write an objective statement.

Traditionally, an objective statement stated,

Objective: To use my excellent organization and discipline to advance my career in finance.

Yes, at one time it was OK to impress an employer with this statement. Now, a career summary or branding statement will compete against the vague “Objective” statement. My current client who gets it and although we are working on the length, she understands the gist:

Enthused developmental Math Subject Matter Expert actively engaged in instructional design programs geared towards diverse student learners. Offer and assert skills and experience as an instructor and a project manager obtained from seven years of teaching, and more than 12 years in Fortune 500 companies. Implement strategies for evaluation and assessment results of classroom instruction to address the needs of learners with a diversity of learning styles resulting in 100% participation and 80-90% passing compliance. Thrive and excel as a project manager who understands the breadth of challenges that require strategic tasking between planning, change management, coaching, mentoring, tutoring, and teaching.

Yes, it is too long, but once a vague summary is now a contribution statement. Once we edit, this branding statement will be lean and mean. Notice how the results are integrated into the statement. Numbers always catches the eye of a potential employer. The lesson here as well is to overwrite at first, then it is easier to truncate as a whole.

By now, the objective statement on your résumé is USELESS. Whether it’s called an “Objective” or “Summary,” think contribution when you write this statement. Even a little attitude would help in writing this statement when based on FACT.

Do you have an objective statement that says nothing? Are you guiltyof a vagueness on your résumé? Please, confess your crime below?

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3 More Resources to Help Proofread Your Resume

3 More Resources to Help Proofread Your Resume

Once again, I found additional resources to help anyone proofread his or her writing anything career related (or anything at all). Every communication leaves an impression these days and I hate to see people lose out on opportunities because spelling or grammar! So to help you proofread your resume, I scoured the web and found three more tools you can consider using.

Roadtogrammar.com

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This site provides 365 categories of quizzes. Some of the categories are slightly redundant but this tool provides simple quizzes to help you with weaknesses in grammar.

I took the adverb test and scored 14 of 15. Some are more challenging than others, and while it doesn’t do the grammar check for you, a good way of reviving some of the basics learned in school and proofread your resume and other documents in the first draft. There are games and additional challenges to at least help you make a step forward improving your grammar.

 

Gingersoftware.com

This site is a diamond in the ruff in the scope of Internet tools. It is F-R-E-E.

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I downloaded the software which works well with Word, Firefox, Chrome, and Outlook. I tried it with Word (I use 2010, but works with 2003) by entering part of this post. The Ginger box has a small box that appears at the top of the page that says F2 in green, which instructs you to highlight the sentence, paragraph, or complete paper and press F2. I chose a paragraph and Voila! The above graphic appears offering a corrected sentence.

This app does not detect the passive voice phrases. For casual notes, it wouldn’t matter, but for your résumé, too much passive voice makes you sound as if you avoid responsibility (Heeehe!). Just kidding. It’s not a good look.

For you bloggers out there using Windows Live…Sorry! It doesn’t work there but it will work with your Outlook. So if you are writing business letters or letters to employers, this will check your spelling and grammar. This is one of the best free proofreading tools I’ve tried so far.+ Add New Category

 

 

Interested in what I reviewed last fall? Here are the two articles I previously written you can check out:

Five Resources to Help Correct Resume Grammar Errors

Three More Resources to Help Correct Resume Grammar Errors Part 2

 

Spellboy.com

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This site, unlike the others that I have reviewed, is strictly a spell check site with a couple of unique features. On the right, it has several sections that the first will check your blog (if you have one) for spelling errors. Of course, I had to try THIS BLOG and the search found 16 errors. Words like uncategorized, javascript, and jobseeker (which I purposely spell the way I do at times). Once I spelled attributes, a-t-r-r-i-b-u-t-e-s, but it does not say which article. I have 97 articles before today, no sleep loss tonight.

The other two interesting boxes feature that the app can be present on your iGoogle page or Chrome extension (by the way, all three apps mentioned today have Chrome extensions). The other suggests that it has a mobile app. I checked my Android phone, no luck.

Please let us know if it is on the iPhone in the comment section.

There is no excuse now to not proofread any written material you author. This will improve your personal brand, and hopefully, produce quality documents. Is this helpful information? What grammar or spelling challenges do you hope to overcome?

Please share in the comment section.

 

 

 

 

 

ZWRYVVCRBCEZ

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Job Seeker, Are You Memorable?

Job Seeker, Are You Memorable?

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Job seekers, it is about the work you do and the value others experience. This story is a powerful reminder of how you make people feel resonates the most. Years ago, I had an older friend named Gina who was a quite woman, modest dresser, and very dedicated to her family and friends. She cared about everyone in her life, and served them to no end. The children on her street respected Gina and her children. They looked up to her.

It wasn’t that Gina was a vocal person. In fact, you would never know who she was from any other mature woman. There were young men who flaunted bravado with their friends but became like children when they passed her by. I always wondered what made her tick.

I was friends with Gina’s daughter as well who had very high regards for her mother. So I know it wasn’t a show that Gina received the respect of a titan in her neighborhood.

Years later, when Gina passed away, something very unusual happened at her funeral. First, there were a lot of young people in attendance. Particularly teens, and young adult men and women.

They were all very late. Remember that.

The funeral started late as well. Although the service was long, it was compelling. Many people in attendance shared about Gina. The preacher was very passionate in his words. But then, an older woman came up and introduced herself as Gina’s boss. For some reason, the audience was very quite as she shared about Gina’s work.

1) Gina was never late in 20 years for work, and never called in sick

2) She was respectful and kind to everyone

3) There were times that she was told to go on vacation. She was very dedicated to her job and did it with 100% proficiency

4) Gina never lied or mask an error. Gina was the most trusted employee in the company

Gina’s boss also said something else that was stirring and memorable to the audience. She said (paraphrased),

“To all of the young people in attendance, I want to say that many of you have love for Gina and so much disrespect for yourselves. Gina loved you as she loved he daughters. She was your hero who left you an example for you to follow and emulate. You would have disappointed her as she taught you the value of time and loyalty.”

When Gina’s boss was finished, the crowd erupted. Who knew that Gina was a superstar at work?

Job seekers, will you be remembered like Gina?

Are you on time? Do others say you’re dedicated? Respectful? How are you remembered? Is there anyone tooting your horn for you?

If you have truly left a positive career mark, others will evangelize your personal brand for you. That is better than your résumé. To have others brag about you.

You might have that reputation where others would rave about you! Do you think having people rave about you would help your job search? Why? Why not? Please, comment below. Testify!