Don’t “Objectify” Yourself

No matter how long a person works in the Recruitment & HR Industry or the multitude of resumes they will have reviewed, we still find it cringe-worthy when we read something like to the above or worse! It still shocks me to see how easily people talk themselves out of a position without even opening their mouths!

From the moment your resume is read by a recruiter or potential hiring manager, you are trying to put your best foot forward, show that you have the skills that they want now WHILST having the ability to grow within the position and firm. In the short term, you want to get a call from them to ask you for an interview! But what people fail to consider is the alignment between what you say you are after versus how the company/hiring manager perceive their business. This disconnect is where the proverbial wheels come off the wagon.

My favourite is when job seekers include adjectives about the ideal company that they would like to work for, such as “large”, ‘well known”, an “employer of choice”  or “working on — challenging site supervisor role” (as the above person stated). Rarely do these words reflect how the hiring managers/owners of those companies probably perceive their businesses and the vacancies. It is even worse when people apply for a role via a recruitment agency and the applicant has absolutely no idea who the end company is!

Very generic and shows no hint of personalisation to the job submission

If a job seeker is not going to actually personalise their “Career Objectives” the same way that they would tailor their cover letter, the chances are they will give the impression that 1) their application is generic, 2) the applicant has failed to take any time to research about the company, and 3) is more likely to talk about what they want rather than what they can offer. If you can honestly answer yes to one of the above about your “Career Objective” statement, then you can consider your application rejected!

By “Objectifying”, you are also closing the doors on opportunities that you may have never considered, which may in fact turn out to be even better than those that you had thought you were after. Let me explain: if you had written that you are after a large growing company, who is to say that joining a small firm would not grow at a better rate than a larger one. Or that the smaller one may in fact give you greater benefits and professional growth than being offered by the larger firm. But you will never know if you have already dis-aligned yourself from the resume reviewer.

The next time you are resume writing, stop to consider what you would think of this section if you were the hiring manager. More likely than not you will think it is all a load of bollocks. So it begs the question: “why objectify yourself?” Simply put — you shouldn’t.

Your resume is about stating the facts (it is a historical document) unlike the cover letter, which is where you really try to align yourself and your experience to the job application and the company in order to get through the first stage: the resume cull!

To read more helpful tips at the SummitResumes Blog or send me an email at graeme@summitresumes.com.au if you would like to know more.