I was in a class recently and he was talking about the objective statement. He explained that many employers do not like the objective statement because it does not give an employer a sense of what you, as a possible employee, can give to the company. I thought this made sense, but then I began to think about it. Something was not right about this statement. The word that I was getting caught-up on was not, employee or employer, but rather the word, “company.”
When I think about my future job outlook, I think about myself as working for a company, but this is not the case for everyone. Some people would rather work for a non-profit or a cooperative. Some people would like to be an entrepreneur and own their own business. Others are going on to further schooling to become a doctor or a professor.
The bottom line is, companies, non-profits, cooperatives, graduate schools, medical schools, etc. all want different things from a possible employee. This is what you need to bring out in your objective statement, or whatever you decide to call it. Here are some ideas for an alternative to an objective statement:
Personal Mission Statement: This could be used to tell people your personal goals. Whether these goals are to curb world hunger, help coffee cooperatives in South America or become an animal activist. This statement is used to tell your story and personal goals. You would use this when your personal mission may align with the mission of cooperatives, non-profits or any organization that is driven by making a difference in communities.
Professional Medical Outlook: When applying to a medical school, the application board is looking for one thing: Why you would be a good medical professional. They are looking for a complete student that will be able to make a difference in the medical community. Using this statement to explain what you would bring to the medical community would be a great alternative to your objective statement. This is the same for graduate school, but should be directed more towards what you could bring to academia.
Statement of Value: When applying to a for-profit company, they are very interested in learning how you can help them succeed, not what you want out of them. Differentiating yourself by focusing on what you can bring to their company is what they want to hear. Most of the opposition to objective statements are in this sector. Other titles for this include: Professional Statement and Career Outlook.
There are some other general things that apply to all of the types of objective statements. Your “objective statement” should resonate with your audience. Do not say you want to make a non-profit money, when they are not really interested in making money. You should make what you want to achieve match what they want to achieve. And finally, the most important thing to notice is that your resume, is YOUR resume. You can listen to whoever you want to. Do what makes sense to you because if you know who you are applying for the best, you would think about things the same way as they do. Trust your own judgement, and do not back down from that.
