Understanding the Resume Objective | What the Job?

Before you begin writing a resume, you should take some time to understand exactly what a resume is and what it is supposed to accomplish. The resume objective is to put you and your skills in the best light possible, and in this way to make someone interested in hiring you. The resume will probably not get you a job directly. Instead, the resume objective is to get your potential employer to pick up the phone and call you in for an interview. In order to get them to do this, you need to have several traits:

• Make it easy to contact you - Get your name, phone number, email address, address, and anything else you can think of on that resume so that you are easy to contact. Remember the resume objective is to get a call, but if it is too much of a hassle your potential employers won't bother.
• Show how you meet a need - Make it very apparent why you are different than other applicants, and how this difference is useful to the employer. Don't get caught up in listing all of your accomplishments when only one is really relevant to the employer. This doesn't just apply to content, though. You should try to not use too generic of a resume style as well, to prevent the reader from falling asleep before even reading. Your resume objective is to get them to pick you for the interview as opposed to your competition, so you need to distinguish yourself.
• Have a professional appearance - This is one of the most important traits that your resume can have. Avoid any spelling and grammatical errors, or your resume is immediately in the trash. In addition, you want to have a consistent formatting style that is appealing to the eye, and looks clean and organized. Furthermore, you need to consider how you are submitting the resume and determine the best way. For instance, when submitting a resume electronically, I would typically save it as a pdf file before sending, because it prevents any unwanted effects of microsoft word. This also helps to distinguish your resume from others, which is good, because the resume objective is to distinguish yourself.
• Match the job description - In this tough economy, there will almost certainly be multiple options for entry-level employers, so you need to exactly match or even exceed the job requirements. Think about these requirements before you even begin writing, and plan the overall resume structure around them. Make it blatantly obvious that you meet the requirements. Employers won't be looking at your resume for more than a few seconds initially, and you don't want to get overlooked.
  

One trend you should note in all of these traits is that they apply both to the content and to the structure and presentation. The resume is a ticket to the interview, and is a vital part of the process. Really, the problem with resumes is that they are just a sheet of paper, as opposed to a person, which makes it very difficult to determine the good candidates from the great ones. Paying attention to the details will allow you to meet the resume objective of getting an interview.

Later posts will go over how to put a resume together, but for now think about the resume objective, and how you can go about presenting yourself in the best light. Let me know of your favorite tips and tricks in the comments.