Writing an Effective Objective Statement for College Students and Recent Grads (2024)

Make your objective statement on your resume count. As I read through resumes on a daily basis, it seems that writing an effective objective statement is a secondary thought to many job seekers. As you may have heard (or read), a study by The Ladders revealed that recruiters and hiring managers spend an average scan time of 6.2 seconds per resume review.

• "To obtain a position that will enable me to use my strong organizational skills, educational background, and ability to work well with people."
• "To build a professional career by working with motivated and dedicated people in a very competitive and structured organizational environment."
• "Seeking a marketing or entry-level position where my education and experience will be fully utilized with the ability to grow with the company."

• "Experienced and accomplished sales associate with a background in microbiology and biochemistry eager to put my interpersonal skills and drive to make sales into action as a sales representative."
• "Highly motivated college graduate seeking a professional sales position utilizing strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills."
• "Radio intern, graduating senior and student leader interested in news or entertainment broadcasting opportunities in television or radio. Articulate, energetic, humorous, resilient and open to relocation."

These make me feel as if I have met the candidates. They tell me what they want, who they are, what they can do, and the candidates give qualities they believe make them attractive to employers. I have to admit, however, that Igot sneaky and wrote what my objective statement would look like if I could go back to my senior year of college for the third bullet.

With those examples in mind, here are some resume rules of the road to remember:
1. Brand yourself.Tell us about your abilities, accomplishments and/or experience. Obviously, success in the classroom is an automatic boost in your personal branding. You can also define and boost your brand by telling usabout your contributions in student organizations, part-time jobs, volunteering or work study. Activities outside of the classroom providegreat personal branding opportunities because theytell us how you develop important organizational skills such as communication, organization, leadership, problem solving and team work. Andtell us what you want! By doing so, you getbetter opportunities to find employers which are a fit for you.

5. Have someone proofread your resume.Hey, even we professionals make mistakes! In fact, my resume went to another level when I asked a couple of recruitment colleagues and my wife to look over it for me. I took the best parts of their feedback to create a resume that has caught more attention than ever. Remember, your resume is often your introduction to the employment communityso let someone help you make a great first impression.