How to Write a Career Objective – 15+ Resume Objective Examples

Your resume objective (or ‘career objective’) sets the tone for your entire resume. Job seekers from all walks of life use this introduction to great effect, and you can too – but first you need to learn how.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Writing Resume Objective Statements
2. General Resume Objective Examples & Writing Guide for Professionals
3. Entry-level Resume Objective Examples & Guide for College Students
4. Career Objective Examples & Writing Guide for High School Students
5. Looking for a Great Career Objective Resume Template?

Introduction to Writing Resume Objective Statements

Writing a resume objective statement is a smart way to capture the attention of the hiring manager, if written correctly. Unfortunately, most people misunderstand what a resume objective is supposed to say.

If you follow that one rule, your career objective will naturally be strong. However, you should read this guide to get concrete ideas about how to write yours.

General Resume Objective Examples & Writing Guide for Professionals

(2-3+ years of work experience in an entry-level job)

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As a professional with years of experience under your belt, you are probably writing a resume in order to move to a better working environment, transfer jobs, earn more money, or attain a managerial role. Your career objective will need to reflect your wishes, and make a strong argument for why you’d be a strong candidate.

A successful professional’s resume objective can be broken down into these sentences:

• 1^st: Mentions number of years of work experience in chosen industry, and the types of duties you filled
• 2^nd. Mention the qualities that make you a strong candidate for a SPECIFIC job role — ensure that they are RELEVANT to the job you’re applying for
• 3^rd. Note what kind of degree you hold, and any relevant licenses or certificates you’ve earned

Here’s an example of a professional customer service resume objective, which has been color coded according to the above bullet points.

Customer Service Representative with 4+ years of experience of telephone and face-to-face sales, hotel bookings and account administration. Aiming to use my proven customer service, sales, and communication skills to effectively fill the managerial role in your company. Possess a BA in Communications.

What Makes This a Good Resume Objective?

This career objective successfully (and quickly) makes the argument that this candidate would succeed in a managerial role.  The hiring manager would immediately be interested in a candidate with 4+ years of experience learning relevant skills of telephone/face-to-face sales, hotel bookings, and account administration. The hiring manager would be even more interested in the fact that this candidate has proven to be masterful in previous job roles, specifically in sales and communication skills.

When the candidate writes that he/she has “proven” skills, this is because the Professional Experience section of the resume will expand upon the experience and achievements that prove he/she has those skills. For instance, this candidate might consistently meet or exceed sales targets, which would provide sufficient proof that the candidate is skilled at his/her job, and could potentially fill a managerial role.

Entry-level Resume Objective Examples & Guide for College Students

(Some or no professional experience)

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As a college student or recent graduate, you are likely looking for entry-level work or an internship. Your career objective will need to emphasize your personal character traits as viewed through the lens of your education. We suggest dividing your resume objective statement into these sentences:

• 1^st: Mention your degree and how many years of work experience you have (if you have any)
• 2^nd: Describe your strongest PROVABLE traits, and the role you’d like to apply them to in the company
• 3^rd: Emphasize that you are hard working and reliable, and that you are focused on achieving company goals

Here’s an example of a complete resume objective paragraph, which has been color coded according to the bullet points above.

Recent college graduate with a BA in English Literature and six months of international internship experience. Seeking to leverage acquired academic knowledge and work experience to effectively fill your office clerk position. A dedicated worker aiming to help achieve company goals and take on more responsibility as quickly as possible.

This student does have some internship experience, which is extremely valuable and should be included in the first sentence of the resume objective.

If you have no work experience, you’ll need to demonstrate traits that make you a strong candidate based on your achievements as a college student. We have a comprehensive guide for how to describe extracurricular activities in your resume that will help you write an effective resume objective.

Career Objective Examples & Writing Guide for High School Students

View this resume objective example:

If you do not have professional experience or a college degree, you may be hoping to land an entry-level job, apprenticeship, or internship.

In your resume objective, you’ll need to emphasize general traits about your character, personality, and work ethic that would make you a valuable employee.

You can do that by splitting the objective for a resume into three sentences:

1^st: Self introduction via mentioning your strongest (provable) traits

2^nd: Telling the hiring manager which role you want to fill

3^rd: Emphasizing that you are reliable, and have company goals in mind

Here’s an example of a career objective for a high school resume. (Each section is color coded according to the bullet points above.)

Hard-working student (3.5/4.0 GPA) with proven leadership and organizational skills, and minute attention to detail. Seeking to apply my abilities to fill the internship role in your company. I am a dedicated team player who can be relied upon to help your company achieve its goals.

This student claims to have leadership and organizational skills as his/her main traits, as well as a strong GPA.

Each of these will need to be PROVEN later in the resume – perhaps he/she is an elected student official, or helped organize school dances. That information would be contained within the resume.

Two Rules of Thumb

Don’t just make up nice sounding words to describe yourself

Make sure that the traits you claim to have are actually reflected in the bullet points on your resume. You’ll need to think about what personality traits and strengths you exhibit in the activities you participate in at school.

Here’s a short list of school activities and their associated character traits you can get some resume objective ideas from:

School Activity:	Associated Character Traits:
Student Government:	Leadership, Management, Organization
Sports:	Team Player, Disciplined, Strategic
Theater Arts:	Public Speaking, Presentation Skills, Interpersonal Skills
Various Clubs:	Engaged, Active, Friendly, Enthusiastic
Academics:	Analytical, Hard Working, Fast Learner

 

Target the career objective at the role that you’re applying for

A hiring manager for an internship role in finance might be less interested in your public speaking ability, and more interested in your analytical ability. However, a restaurant manager might be more interested in your interpersonal skills than your analytical ability.

Looking for a Great Career Objective Resume Template?

Check out our gallery of HR-approved, battle-tested resume objective templates. They are free to download, and will help you land interviews faster:

If these aren’t a perfect match, we have a whole host of other free resume templates ready to be customized with a resume objective.

Alternatively, our easy-to-use resume builder will create a resume that’s flawless from start to finish in only a few minutes.