I’ll confess that when I drafted my first résumé out of college (a mere decade or two ago), I, too, was guilty of such compositional sins. How many of you can relate to the following objective?

OBJECTIVE

Challenging position with a dynamic, growth-oriented company that will lead to advancement opportunities.

Cringe! This ancient objective would definitely flunk the AIDA test today! (Recall the advertising formula from Techniques to Get an Interview: Attention, Interest, Desire, and call to Action.) There’s nothing in the preceding objective statement that will grab the reader’s Attention and capture the reader’s Interest. It offers nothing to create Desire in the reader, nor will it cause any Action by the reader (except perhaps a yawn).

Today, regardless of what job you’re going for, your focus should be the employer’s needs. Answering those needs will create desire and interest in you. Yes, you can still define what sort of position you want. Yes, you can still convey your qualifications. And, yes, you can still use the term Objective if you prefer. The difference is in the perspective-don’t write from what you want out of the employment relationship. Rather, direct your writing toward what your employer wants and how you can give it to them. I can’t emphasize this enough:

Focus on the employer’s needs!

This explains the use of the word Focus in place of Objective. Rhetorically, I prefer to use Focus because it conveys more energy and concentration. Arguably, it’s a matter of semantics. You can use a number of terms, as long as you weave the employer’s needs into your statement. Here’s an alphabetical list of some alternative headings you can use for this section:

Many of these terms can be mixed and matched, such as Focus & Qualifications or Specialization & Qualifications. Or you can add terms such as Career, Professional, or Vocational in front of several words in the list. For instance, Career Target, Professional Plan, and Vocational Trade can each work as a heading. You’ll also note some nontraditional words, such as forte, which I’ve included to expand your thinking. These words are best used when woven into a cover letter to describe your strengths or vocational goals. Use such words only if they fit your style of speech.

Your Focus statement will be brief—one or two sentences at most. It can stand alone or be used in combination with a Qualifications Summary (the next section covers that). You are a good candidate for a stand-alone Focus statement if your situation is aligned with any of these four scenarios:

+ You specialize in a particular position and want to have that same position in your next job. Note that Expertise implies a number of years of experience at your craft. Don’t use this term if you’re just starting out. Study this example.

EXPERTISE

Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 12-year record of creating award-winning social service programs, accessing “hidden” funding and grant money, and delivering services to medically underserved populations.

+ You’re a recent graduate with limited paid experience.

FOCUS

Management Training Program—BBA graduate with 4.0 GPA from one of the nation’s top business schools. Well grounded in simulated corporate scenarios that required solutions to complex manufacturing, distribution, and marketing issues.

+ You’re applying for entry-level, line, or support positions.

INTENT

To support management in a secretarial role where my technical skills, initiative, and understanding of client-driven organizations will be of value.

You’re transitioning from one career to another.

To parlay 15 years of legal experience as a top-notch business litigator into a career as a consultant, motivational speaker, and business coach.

Some Newsletter Formats That Worked

Just a moment ago I cautioned you against using a newsletter format for management positions. Nonetheless, the following example (see Résumé below) of a two-column newsletter format worked well for this loss-prevention manager because it “buried” his current employment (in an industry unrelated to his career goal) at the bottom left of the page and accented his strongest selling points at the visual center of the page (his position as vice president of safety management).

The résumé of Jennifer (below), a new graduate, illustrates a three-column format. Note the dotted line under category headings to help set off new sections.

Maude Marvalla’s résumé (see below) uses the double-column layout to showcase some impressive excerpts from letters of appreciation.

Point

Visually appealing. Reflects a creative mindset. Distinguishes you from the dozens/hundreds of other candidates applying for the same job.

Pitfalls

• Not well received in traditionally conservative settings (such as government, public accounting, or legal).
• Until résumé-scanning software masters the recognition of columns, this format is akin to dropping paragraphs into a food processor. Your keyword phrases may come out as alphabet soup.