Resume Objective Can Be Your Tipping Point

Have you ever wondered what the Sam hell is going on in HR departments? Who are these people who have been given this life or death decision making power? And why do they reject your resume or never contact you at all? Are they sitting behind their desks chuckling while taking great pleasure in marking big red Xs of rejection on resumes? Looking for missed periods, typos, or spelling errors just to wield the power of their permanent markers?

Actually many HR employees are working frantically reviewing hundreds of resumes daily. Their job depends on selecting the best qualified candidates for interviews for an open position. If they choose a candidate that turns out to be a dud later, they look bad and their job is on the line. Contrary to popular belief, they are not having a good time or looking for every little error. However, any little error can be the tipping point that gets your resume rejected.

HR employees have to make some tough choices. They might be allowed to pick only ten candidates for interviews out of hundreds of qualified applicants. Many times the HR person’s boss or someone else higher up on the ladder will be conducting the interview. Every candidate chosen to interview will reflect on the sometimes lowly feeling HR person.

The HR employee might have several dozen resumes with seemingly equivalent experience and education. Many competing job candidates’ often have fairly equal qualifications, however, all resume objectives are not equal. A resume objective gets top billing on the page and sets the tone for your resume and who you are. An outstanding well written resume objective can be the tipping point that gives you just enough of an edge to get you in.

What kind of resume objective impresses the HR person? Envision yourself reading the same type of resume objective for a position over and over again hundreds of times in one day. Something to the effect of:

Objective:Seeking a position that provides an opportunity to demonstrate my skills blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada…

That’s similar to what most candidates will submit. In order to catch the attention of HR and set a tone that inspires them there are specific tactics and words of great power. There are also words that can eliminate you from consideration. When HR is deciding who to interview between equivalent candidates things can be so equal a resume objective or even one word in a resume objective can be the tipping point that gets you chosen or tossed out of the running. Here are two powerful techniques for writing a resume objective that can be your tipping point that inspires, intrigues, persuades, or arouses an HR person just enough to choose you for an interview.

A successful method I devised years ago is the ‘knowledge based resume objective.’ This one is written and submitted to the employer after the interview. First you create something similar to this on your resume:

Objective: To assume anyone could possibly fully comprehend your company goals and expectations for this position without first meeting with you to learn about your needs would make any resume objective self-serving and artificial. Please allow me to reserve submitting an objective to you until after obtaining such information should I have the opportunity to meet with you.

This will certainly get the attention of an HR resume reviewer and cause the intrigue that makes them want to choose you for an interview. After your interview you create a detailed resume objective in a few paragraphs that directly addresses the needs of the company and provides solutions based on what you learned. Then you include that in a thank you note.

The “mirror method” is another tactic I formulated that has had great success using language familiar to the corporate culture of the target employer. To do this you study the mission statement, website, and blogs of the target company and include the same vocabulary in your writing. For example here is the mission statement for Advance Auto Parts, Inc. and two examples following:

Mission Statement

It is the Mission of Advance Auto Parts to provide personal vehicle owners and enthusiasts with the vehicle related products and knowledge that fulfill their wants and needs at the right price. Our friendly, knowledgeable and professional staff will help inspire, educate and problem-solve for our customers.

Position: Accountant

Resume Objective: Seeking a position as a cost conscientious accountant to contribute to fulfilling the wants and needs of people with friendly service and products at the right price.

Position: Administrative Support

Resume Objective: To make my mark as a knowledgeable and enthusiastic employee who contributes to a professional staff that inspires, educates, and solves problems for customers.