Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Resumes & Job Objectives

I've been reviewing a lot of resume's lately.  Please tell me, what is the purpose stating your "Job Objective"?  Isn't it implied that your objective is to find a new job, specifically my job? I assume you're dynamic and technical and your vast expertise will help my company conquer the world.

Also, what is the purpose of summarizing your experience on the first page and then giving me eight more pages of the stuff you just summarized?  Seriously, doesn't resume mean summary?

I've been at this for 20+ years, my resume is 2 pages.  I don't need to know you did export/import at every one of your jobs for the last 12 years.

Back to the stack...

4 comments:

Tim... said...

Hi.

Although I agree in principal, the trouble is what you want and what others want can be very different. Some people will never get past the first page. Others will read 10 pages and say, "it's a bit lite on your role in company X".

When I was contracting I always sent a CV with a first page summary, then some meat for those that require it. Seems like the best compromise to me.

Cheers

Tim...

Jeff Hunter said...

I agree, it's different for somebody seeking a contracting position and somebody seeking a permanent position. Also, different parts of the world use CVs and some use Resume's. But I have a permanent position in the US, the application materials should be tailored as such.

Pradip said...

Hello,

Many people want to know what companies you worked for how long. That is the reason they give the details of the summary after the summary.

So thats the thought. Some people don't write big blogs or are oracle aces or have followers that talk for them

Joel Garry said...

I hear ya. But if you google job objective, the answer is clear: It is to let the person with a huge pile of resume's to know right off the bat not to reject yours. There is an implication too if it is not there - that you are too clueless to google how to write a resume. Why should you be assuming anything?

Think about how long you take to reject some resumes. The 7 second test? It makes sense to summarize at the beginning.

Of course, I haven't updated my resume in years, and it was always crappy, because I used it mostly to remember what I've done, so it's too long, leading to uncomfortable pauses while the unprepared interviewer is trying to decipher stuff he's never heard of from decades ago. Then they say "if you're so great, how come I've never heard of you?" Sheesh. I can't even think of the last time I got a job after sending in a resume. Oh wait, yeah, last century. It's been more common to be dragged in by someone I know.

word: butavive
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