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What do hiring managers and recruiters think of objectives on resumes? Are they necessary? I read somewhere it should be left off because it dates the applicant.
Maybe I should leave it on my profile and take it off my resume. I am trying to get this thing down to 1 page.
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It can work for you or against you. As a hiring manager I want to hire someone that wants to work here. If someone list their objective in a "generic" way, such as "responsible position in accounting" it will not help them. It shows that they want a type of job anywhere that will take them. What does help is an objective specific to our organization. If you don't do that, it's just as well to leave it off. It's like the common interview question: "Why do you want this job?" It's your opportunity to show what you have learned about the company from your research, and give reasons that reflect specifics about being part of the company's future success.
What do hiring managers and recruiters think of objectives on resumes?
What are your thoughts?
your resume (education, work experience, progression) should offer plenty enough info
but! if you're changing focus to some new area of work then stating objectives is warranted.
So... objectives can make for a good late in the interview discussion
but until you're in that chair... keep them to yourself.
What do hiring managers and recruiters think of objectives on resumes? Are they necessary? I read somewhere it should be left off because it dates the applicant.
Maybe I should leave it on my profile and take it off my resume. I am trying to get this thing down to 1 page.
What are your thoughts?
GL36 ....
Objective paragraphs went the way of the Dodo Bird. Both are extinct.
I am slightly surprised to see this is still an issue but I guess with each new generation, this conversation is going to arise from the ashes...
Objective paragraphs are largely of no value since they describe how someone wants a job 'that is this and that so I can grow professionally and become a sterling member of society and the workforce in particular'.
Gag me with a spoon.
The 'Objective' paragraph has been replaced with the much more useful 'Profile' or 'Professional Profile' paragraph that is a succinct description of one's self that describes their professional identity and capacity to produce effectiveness, etc.
RR's/HA's/Recruiters, when reading a resume, want an immediate orientation as to 'who' and 'what' you are and some kind of 'reason why I should care'.
The days of saying you want a job that will enable you to 'grow' and etc. are gone inasmuch as employers want to know right off what is in it for them and don't want to hear (at least at the start of a resume) what you want. They are assuming you WANT A JOB and it is for that reason you have forwarded your resume.
What they want comes first. This is the reason you use a Profile paragraph; it is your Offer; you, as a professional Engineer, Teacher, Actuary, Nurse, Secretary and so on.
Valuable real estate can't be wasted by talking about your "wants" when instead you should be saying right off what it is you bring to the Game.
The Profile paragraph is also a pre-close. It gives RR's/HA's/Recruiters an immediate sense of why they should hire you.
Here:
"Nine years of global manufacturing experience in world-class companies like Honeywell, General Electric, and TRW. Proven leadership in turn around of under-performing companies and international start-up operations. BS and MS degrees in Industrial & Systems Engineering, and a Master of International Management degree."
So we have a manufacturing professional who indicates his years of experience, he name drops his name-brand employers to show you he worked for big shot companies and he gives a brief description of his competency and he describes his capacity to bring meaningful results to an employer.
Again:
"A refined and responsive Quality Professional with experience as a strategic member of plant leadership teams and proven performance by promotion. Strong ISO 9000, Six Sigma and quality system background developed through various positions in multiple industries. Able to easily establish rapport and credibility with diverse groups of people at various levels in the organization. Solution oriented and practical with a watchful eye toward bottom line results."
This is self-explanatory. He is telling the person screening resumes he would be a 'best choice' hire and why.
Again:
"Dynamic Call Center Director with over 16 years expertise in Telecommunications & Call Center Operations using Aspect Communications, Witness Systems, Symon Board Programming, Crystal Reporting and Voice Recognition with Speech Analytics. Project Management including Analyses and Redesign of Business Processes to strategically focus critical business functions. Strong organization and communication skills facilitate success in team-building and achieving target goals."
This person is telling the RR/HA/Recruiter s/he has a depth of experience within her/his field, knows the right technology and refers to her/his management acumen.
Another:
"Results oriented professional with 15 years of diversified operational experience in all facets of manufacturing operations and quality management. Demonstrated abilities in leading, developing, and motivating teams to maximize overall efficiency in daily operations. Exhibited strong organizational and problem solving skills which has enabled overall abilities to meet/exceed both short and long term plans. Experienced managing both union and non-union work teams. Greenbelt trained and certified."
Again, self-explanatory. A brief description in a nut shell that clearly shows just what this person's professional persona is about and what he brings to the table.
(Now, don't freak out. From your question it would seem you are at the beginning of your career path so I am not suggesting you need to 'be' these people. You are you and they are them. I show you these so you 'get it' as to what a Profile paragraph is about and why it is a compelling tool to leverage yourself in the eye of the RR/HA/Recruiter.)
In each case, the Profile paragraph shows, immediately and right off why each of these professionals should be considered a 'best choice hire'.
This is a much more effective way to start a resume as opposed to talking about 'what you want' and 'what you want to do'.
Again, a Profile paragraph gives the RR/HA/Recruiter an immediate sense of WHO YOU ARE and WHAT, PROFESSIONALLY YOU ARE and WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE.
Those 'Objective' paragraphs don't address what is uppermost in the mind of anyone reading your resume- 'what is in it for me/my company', 'why should I hire you?'
.............
Who you are, professionally, and how you are going to make what you've been doing sound compelling is your homework.
And don't forget that for each job for which you are applying, your Profile paragraph and resume need to be tailored to the specifics of each.
If you are an accomplished professional, your Profile paragraph and resume need less adjustment but in all other cases, your resume needs to tailored to reflect successes that can be reasonably seen as parallel to the requirements of each job for which you are applying.
Hiring managers and recruiters are a bunch of jokes. Heck I'm a recruiter and I'm dissing myself. The problem is that HR doesn't give a crap and neither do the recruiters. If you were getting paid 40k to read through 200 resumes daily do you think you would do a thorough and careful job? The problem is that HR people and recruiters are poorly paid. So by the time it goes through us to the hiring manager, unfortunately good candidates get missed somewhere in the pile.
Hiring managers and recruiters are a bunch of jokes. Heck I'm a recruiter and I'm dissing myself. The problem is that HR doesn't give a crap and neither do the recruiters. If you were getting paid 40k to read through 200 resumes daily do you think you would do a thorough and careful job? The problem is that HR people and recruiters are poorly paid. So by the time it goes through us to the hiring manager, unfortunately good candidates get missed somewhere in the pile.
You are a recruiter and speaking for yourself.
Lets get back to answering the OP's question.
Yes OP, Objectives are outdated and you would be dating yourself. If you're applying with a standard professional resume format than "summary" works best.
Hiring managers and recruiters are a bunch of jokes. Heck I'm a recruiter and I'm dissing myself. The problem is that HR doesn't give a crap and neither do the recruiters. If you were getting paid 40k to read through 200 resumes daily do you think you would do a thorough and careful job? The problem is that HR people and recruiters are poorly paid. So by the time it goes through us to the hiring manager, unfortunately good candidates get missed somewhere in the pile.
You seem to be new here.
You need to re-think your strategy- there are a number of "Hiring managers" who post here regularly.
Most have mature experience from their end of the recruitment business and because of this, I need not be here regularly since they largely carry the ball satisfactorily.
Telling 'Hemlock 140' he is a "joke" is not going to win you any friends here.
As it is, this forum rates recruiters as equal to the paramecium.
And your broadcasting that you are, as a 'recruiter', neither "thorough" nor "careful" does not serve you or our profession. Not here, anyway.
So if you must throw dirt on yourself and the profession, perhaps you might consider taking it outside.
Try not to add to the problem any more than necessary. Unless you're practicing to be a Buddhist.
It's all I can do here to emphasize the value we bring to the HR equation.
Which is hard to do, being a one-celled organism....
Thank You,
Paul.....
...
Last edited by HeadhunterPaul; 08-17-2017 at 06:45 PM..
Reason: text addition.
It can work for you or against you. As a hiring manager I want to hire someone that wants to work here. If someone list their objective in a "generic" way, such as "responsible position in accounting" it will not help them. It shows that they want a type of job anywhere that will take them. What does help is an objective specific to our organization. If you don't do that, it's just as well to leave it off. It's like the common interview question: "Why do you want this job?" It's your opportunity to show what you have learned about the company from your research, and give reasons that reflect specifics about being part of the company's future success.
I appreciate your insight.
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Objective Para's Are Obsolete
