Resume Objective

The most boring part of most resumes is the “objective”. A complete lack of imagination leads to cookie cutter statements such as “To excel in software development” or “secure position in a dynamic company engaged in cutting edge development“. These objectives can come of as being redundant or a recruiter will skim through it and put it on auto-ignore. Since the objective is usually at the top of the resume, it has to earn that spot. A good way to identify your objective is to reflect your underlying belief system – what you stand for and where you want to be – . An objective has to succinct and clear. There are three simple steps to creating clear objectives

1. Write down your belief statement(who you are and where you want to be)

2. Filter it out and remove redundant language. Filter it further.

3. Give it clear focus.

Some examples of clear objectives can be

News Editor position with a focus on economic affairs. Open to relocation.

Ruby on Rails developer position with a startup in Bangalore

Sales executive position in the automobile industry. Open to travel/relocation.

Resume 101’s

Anand Jain has written an insightful piece here on the do’s and dont’s of resume building. A resume is not something to be slapped together listing all the great things about yourself. Think of yourself as a company and imagine how you would like to represent yourself to the outside world. Every word has to be carefully constructed to make an overall impact with the resume. The most effective way to create your resume is online – think about it, you will be able to capture your thoughts, make corrections or even save it and come back later.(Shameless plug here – CampusChai will let you create your resume within seconds and even breaks it down to the three main areas – contact information, accomplishments and project/work history). Another common mistake is to make a resume resemble a PhD thesis. In a world of information overload, Most employers will not even go past the first page. Whatever you do, do not ever use a resume writing service. A lot of their resumes are standard templates and if a employer figures it out, it may actually work against you.