When I first graduated from college, I was applying to hundred of job ads. After awhile it became like more of an automated process and I sent out generic résumés with all my applications. Since I was only getting a handful of callbacks, I became frustrated. While I had a good education and adequate experience, I was receiving a poor response. I realized something was wrong. My career objective was too broad. It appeared that I didn’t put enough effort into my application, and that was true.

A résumé’s objective statement should be written from an employer’s point of view. Candidates are hired based on the skills they bring to the table and what they offer to a company. Do not state your working preferences; instead phrase the objective in a way that outlines exactly how you will benefit the company with your skills and experience.

To stand out, you must appear knowledgeable with a narrow and focused career plan statement. Create several résumés with specific objectives. Even consider writing a new objective statement for each job application. This will show that you are truly interested, motivated and dedicated to the future of your career while being aware of what it is that you are seeking.

Candidates that are just entering the workforce or changing careers should always rely on an objective statement to accurately inform the employer of their goals, experience etc. Other applicants who are established within their career paths can try a professional summary, which is an overview of their qualifications. Even a combination of the two will help clarify career goals in relation to the available position.

It is important to avoid certain phrases and words that will send your résumé right into the “reject” pile.

 Do NOT use:

 * “Seeking an opportunity for advancement.”

* “To obtain a position in which I can utilize my skills.”

 * “To work for a company where I can further my career.”

 Include:

 * Skills that will benefit the company. Example: “Seeking an accounting position where over 10 years experience will benefit company’s profit margin.”

 * Incorporate the language and some key words included in the original job ad.

 * Specify the job title in which you are interested.

A little extra effort and time will go a long way. Learn a lesson from me, don’t be lazy.

There’s been a fair amount of rhetoric in the past few years about the video resume. Currently, they aren’t held in too high of esteem by employers or recruiters, but the You Tube generation is chomping at the bit to use them. Based on a recent study of literacy amongst college graduates finds less than a quarter rate as proficient with the English language, I can understand why.

At my age, I’m sort of stuck between the two schools of thought. I’m more apt to watch a movie after work than curl up with a good book, but when I find a book I like I’ll do nothing else until I finish it. But I find that I prefer reading on the Internet rather than watching videos.

I was wasting time at work the other day on Digg.com, which I’m sure many of us are wont to do. An interesting headline caught my eye, which I clicked on — only to be terribly disappointed that it was a video rather than an article. In fact, I plugged the headline into Google to find a text article so I could read about it rather than watch it.

Reading is a unique experience because the audience gets to control the pace of the information being absorbed. A reader can skip ahead to catch only the important parts of the story if he or she desires. Which is precisely why paper resumes are still preferred. Video resumes require rapt attention, which may be what the applicant wants; but it’s for that very reason staffers are more likely to skip it altogether rather than be forced to spend more than double the time reviewing the one resume over the others.

The objective statement is the line or two of pompous fluff that goes at the top of your resume. Your objective is obviously to get the job you are applying for so why do you need to create some flowery description? The answer is: you don’t. An objective is wasting time and space on your precious one page resume.

According to you, you are a smart, hard working individual with great team work and communication skills. That doesn’t mean an employer has to believe you. You can write anything you want about yourself and your work skills in your objective but employers aren’t buying it anymore.

The only time you should use an objective statement is if you are unsure of where to send your resume or if you are sending your resume to a company and don’t know the specific job openings. In that case you can put something vague like “To obtain a television production position at MTV”. Short and sweet. Before taking the time to write a paragraph long objective think if it is necessary or just a waste of space.