Your résumé is spit shined, polished, lightly buffed and glistening in all its glory. You've run it through key word tests, tailored it to specific employers, focused on results you've achieved, and even printed it on coffee-scented paper stock (one can never be too prepared, right?).
But when it comes to that darn objective, you're never sure what to write. Will you sound too generic? If you get too creative, will it turn the employer off? Yet the truth is that objectives -- at least in the traditional sense -- are dead.
Ready to take its well-worn place is something far more important -- a stark assessment of who you are through the eyes of your potential employer. Maybe your past experience is solid, and the results speak for themselves -- but can employers truly relate to your experience in their world? Are you helping them see your potential through a lens they understand?
Potential is in the eyes of the beholder
Many job seekers get so focused on presenting themselves to a potential employer using the traditional "here's what I want to accomplish" objective, that they overlook another, more critical component -- the valuable skill set they already possess.
But why so important? Heck, it's results that count, right? Sure -- but only to a point. When faced with the choice of picking someone who blew past their sales targets but left a trail littered with upset co-workers and frustrated clients in their wake, and someone who can show equivalent results, demonstrating they delivered using a forward-thinking and (here's the important part) team-oriented approach -- you can likely guess which one a hiring manager will go for.
Yes, employers want to see results. But they also want to see how you achieved those results. An objective will give them an idea of how you'd go about it for their company ... so show them! Why waste your time, and theirs, with an objective that speaks nothing to this?
Understand your potential
Before you can hope to sell a future employer on your potential, you need to understand it yourself. Anyone can say they've got "tons of potential" or use phrases like "out of the box" or "dedicated" but how can you quantify and describe this to an employer in a way they can relate to? It's simple. You need to understand yourself.
Not in the vaguely new age kind of way, but in the brass tacks, nuts and bolts of knowing your own work styles and competencies kind of way.
And there's the problem. Most of the objective methods used in the past to help us understand ourselves and our natural competency potential are not an ideal way for illustrating this to an employer. Your hiring manager might get a kick out of it (they've probably had similar experiences), but it's not likely to help you win out against other candidates.
Instead, assess yourself using one of the many tools that employers use to identify competency potential. These assessments provide very accurate, objective, and useful measures of your natural styles and competencies in the workplace. They can help you put your past accomplishments into context -- and better yet, will help you explain how you achieved your results in language that employers can directly relate to.
(You'll also learn a thing or two about yourself along the way too, but don't let that stop you ... )
The end result will make a big difference in how you present yourself -- and how an employer will see you. For example:
Skilled sale professional with a 15-year track record of meeting/exceeding sales targets: two-year winner of top performer award, exceeded annual revenue targets by 50 percent or more in 2008 and 2009.
Turns into:
Skilled sales leader with a 15-year track record of exceeding sales goals using a highly adaptable and persuasive selling style. Exceeded annual revenue targets by 50 percent or more in 2008 and 2009 by building on strong organizational and goal-oriented skills.
An overly-simplified example perhaps, but this new version answers a number of questions an employer is bound to ask about how you accomplished all those things on your résumé.
Still stumped on where to begin? Visit sites such as http://www.onet.net/ or http://www.shldirect.com/ (free to use!) to assess yourself. Or use recruiters or outplacement firms like Teneo Talent (http://www.teneotalent.com/) that offer proven competency and motivation assessments. Added bonus? These firms can also connect you with a career coach to help you further identify and understand your potential.
Crafting a résumé certainly isn't a one-size-fits-all approach, but this much is clear: the old rules no longer apply. So throw out that objective, and replace it with something that matters -- a statement about your true potential.
By Nels Wroe an assessment and talent management expert for SHL (http://www.shl.com/), a global leader in workforce-related talent assessment solutions. Nels.Wroe@shlgroup.com
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Ditch the Résumé Objective Updated at :
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Tuesday, July 27, 2010
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