The purpose of a resume - To use or not to use an objective...

To continue off of the last post, which objective should you use? If you don't remember, here is an excerpt from the last post. 

"Which one should you use?

Objective: To obtain a position where I can utilize my skills and experiences.

or

Objective: To obtain a position as a Personal Trainer with Pump Yourself Up Gym Corp."

If you are looking to get into the job market for the first time after college or graduate school, we recommend that you use an objective specific to the employer and the position in which you are applying to. An objective can't be as general as stating that you want to utilize your skills and experiences for growth in their field. When you send out your resume to the employer, it has to be personal to the employer. The objective is the first thing that the employer reads when they want to get to know a potential employee and find out what he or she truly seeking. If you haven't guessed yet,  Objective: To obtain a position as a Personal Trainer with Pump Yourself Up Gym Corp  is the correct answer. 

For those who already have some full time experience in the job market: Today, the objective is an optional and rarely used part of your resume. Why do we say that? Today's professional job market is looking for those employees that can do the job and then-some. As you continue to read, you will learn what to use in place of the objective.

The objective has been replaced by a Summary of Qualifications and Skills. What is a Summary of Qualifications and Skills? A Summary of Qualifications and Skills is a very short summary of your resume with a mix of your skills inserted. This eliminates the skills section of the resume because it's included in the summary. The summary is located at the top of you resume right under your name and contact information. 

What does a Summary of Qualifications and Skills look like on a resume?

It looks a little some like this:

Summary of Qualifications and Skills:

• 12 years of experience in banking. 
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and Powerpoint. 45 WPM
• Bilingual in English and Spanish
• Experience with diverse populations. 

Do you get the "jist" of what the Summary consists of? You are pretty much combining the most important parts of your resume and summarizing them into a quick view for the employer. This assists the employer in looking through 50 to 100 resumes at a time. 


Your resume should start looking something like this:

John Doe

123 Happy Street

New York, NY 12345

212-555-1234

john.doe@mymail.com

Summary of Qualifications and Skills:

• 12 years of experience in banking. 
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and Powerpoint. 45 WPM
• Bilingual in English and Spanish
• Experience with diverse populations. 

Now, it shouldn't be exactly like what is portrayed because it is your resume and it is under your discretion what you put in you summary but it should look really similar to it. 

Remember if you have any questions about anything that is posted, please feel free to leave comments. 

Up next: Work Experience...

NY1.com - Employment Report 10/17/2010

By. Asa Aarons

"A new program at Baruch College seeks to teach people how to create a job rather than find one. NY1's Asa Aarons filed the following report.

Can't find a job? Create one. That's one message coming from the Baruch College program "Assessing Opportunity: A Business Assistance Forum." It included classes on things like using social media to start or expand your business. The forum is one way the college is reaching out to both established and new members of the business community.

"Folks who are thinking about starting a business, folks who are in business, folks who are struggling, folks who are doing well. We have all services that will be important to your business," said Monica Dean of Baruch College.

Entrepreneurs draw their inspiration from everywhere. Take Peter Passante and his wife for instance. They started Positively Organic baby clothes after his wife gave a homemade gift at a baby shower.

"The woman who received the gift loved them and also all these other women at the baby shower loved them too and started asking her to make them either clothes for their baby or stuff to give at other baby showers," Passante said.

The clothes are made from pesticide-free cotton and other natural materials.

Jennifer Brown of the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership, which encourages growth and creativity to thousands of businesses in that area, says she is quite optimistic about what she is seeing.

"Entrepreneurial spirit is at its highest as it's ever been even with the economy. I think people, they look at people like the founder of Facebook, and some of these role models that they have that have been able to start their own businesses," Brown said.

Beyond techno knowledge, starting a business requires a rare combination of drive and creativity -- qualities that led Lida Orzeck to create Hanky Panky, a daring and extremely successful line of women's undergarments.

She says whether self-employed or on someone else's payroll, a work ethic will take you far.

"Being the very, very, very best, committed, open-minded worker you can be. You will be noticed and you will be promoted. That's almost a guarantee," said Orzeck.

To find out more about future seminars or some of the services at Baruch College, visitwww.baruch.cuny.edu."