Links I mentioned in this episode:
46. Why I hate resume objectives- Transcript
[00:00:00] This episode is brought to you by my brand new membership Win at Work. Imagine having your favourite career coach in your pocket for less than $10 a month, except that you don’t need to imagine it. The Win At Work membership is designed to support you in feeling more fulfilled by your career. It includes a private podcast where I’ll be answering all of your burning career questions as well as a library of resources that I am updating and improving every single week. When at work is the place to be, if you’re a heart-centered human who wants to wake up feeling pumped up for the day ahead. Get into your web browser and go to PopYourCareer.com/waw for more information and to sign up. Are you ready to win at work?
[00:00:52] Hi, there I’m Bec McFarland the host of the Pop Your Career [00:01:00]Podcast. As a career coach, I’m most passionate about helping my clients to discover their own personal flavour of career fulfillment. In this podcast, we are going to be exploring ways that you too can feel more fulfilled by your work. So strap yourself in, get ready for the ride. The tips around here are fast and in abundance.
[00:01:21] Hello. Hello. It’s Bec McFarland here, helping you do better and be better. And today I am talking to you about one of my pet hates when it comes to resumes, and that is the objective section. Pretty weird thing to have as a pet hate or something that rubs you out the wrong way, but that’s okay. As someone who has read thousands of resumes throughout my career, I feel like I am in the perfect place to have a really strong opinion on this.
[00:01:56] So why do I hate the resume objective? Well, [00:02:00] because most time it’s rubbish. Most of the time people are really clutching at straws and scraping the bottom of the barrel to get something to put in this resume objective section and most of the time it tends to be a bit of an embellishment or a little bit of fluff.
[00:02:21] You know, like my objective is to secure a role in the Australian public sector where I’m able to contribute to the betterment of the Australian people. Wah wah wah. It’s terrible. It’s absolutely terrible. It just comes across as being so fake and brown nosing. In my opinion, most people’s objective is the same thing, right? We’re all trying to get the job. My objective is to get this damn job that I’m putting in so much effort to apply for. [00:03:00]That is one of the reasons that I absolutely hate it. I just think it’s so fluffy and just rubbish and garbage.
[00:03:08] But the other reason that I really hate resume objectives is that I feel like the people who do need them don’t use them very well. So who are the people who need a resume objective? Well, the only people that I would suggest should include a resume objective are people who are undergoing some kind of transformation. So this could be, for example, if you are making a career change. It could be that perhaps you’ve had a bit of time off work and now you are returning to the workforce.
[00:03:41] It could be that perhaps you are moving, maybe you’re moving interstate or overseas. This is an opportunity for you to tell a little bit more about your story, to give a bit more of an insight into your personality, to tell them why you are applying for this job. Right?
[00:03:57] We all know we’ve spoken about unconscious [00:04:00] bias before. That is episode 27, if you wanna check it out. We also know that employers are going to put two and two together and they’re gonna end up with five. So they may see that you’ve had a gap in your career and make that mean something that it doesn’t. Right? You can definitely use the objective section in your resume to give more insight and context, and when you do this well, it can really, really work in your favour.
[00:04:28] The thing is this kind of information, you could actually include it in your professional profile section if it makes sense, but I think having it separated into an objective section can really, really do well for you if you are one of these people who is, got some change happening, there is some kind of transformation and there’s something that you might want to explain.
[00:04:50] So how would you write it? What would you say? How would you do it? Right. What I would say is just be honest, so you can use your objective section to [00:05:00] say, for example, you know, I’m currently located in Canberra. But I am in the process of relocating my family to the Gold Coast. I will be at the Gold Coast from X, Y, Z date and available for in-person interviews. However, if you would like to meet me via Zoom, in the meantime, I would welcome the opportunity to chat with you about my application and how my experience may be of value to you in this role.
[00:05:26] Right? That would be a really great way of explaining that, because otherwise maybe they will jump on your LinkedIn profile and see that you’re based in Canberra and be like, oh, why is this chick applying for a role on the Gold Coast that, you know, makes things a lot harder for us.
[00:05:42] Now, again, that is totally a bias and employers shouldn’t think like that, but should, and would and could they will, right? So we wanna make things a lot easier for them and give them the information they need so that they’re not going to fall prey to their own biases. [00:06:00]
[00:06:00] Another thing could be that maybe if you’ve had a little bit of time off work, they could be thinking like, What? You couldn’t get a job? Oh, you haven’t been employed for the last six months. Is that because you were trying to get a job but nobody wanted you? When in fact, maybe you were traveling overseas or maybe you were off having a baby, or maybe you were looking after a sick relative. In your objective section, you can go ahead and say that.
[00:06:25] You know, as you’ll note in my resume, I have been unemployed for the last six months due to the fact that I have been backpacking through Asia. Whatever, you know, I have been, uh, supporting a sick relative. I have been having a baby. You can then use this opportunity though to reassure the employer that now that you’ve had that time off your head is back in the game and that we are excited about returning to the workforce and continuing where you left off.
[00:06:58] As you can see, it [00:07:00] is a lot of storytelling, which is what your resume is all about, right? It’s an opportunity for you to tell your story and give them all of the information that they need in order to understand that you in fact, may just be the most suitable candidate for the role. I hope this has been some food for thought for you.
[00:07:19] If you are not going through some kind of change, get that objective off your resume. Stop wasting valuable real estate and use it for something that might actually help you get the job. I’ll see you next time.
[00:07:31] Thanks so much for listening to the Pop Your Career podcast. I hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s tips and that you found value in what I’ve shared with you. If you like your career advice quick and entertaining, I would love for you to subscribe. Also leave me a rating and a review. If you wanna continue the conversation, come and join me over on social media. You can find me everywhere at Pop Your Career. I’ll see you soon.
