Why Resume Headlines Are Better Than Objectives

Sell Your Best Qualities, Don't Tell Employers Your Needs

"What have you done for me lately?" asked Janet Jackson on her 1986 hit song of the same name. This is exactly the kind of question employers are asking job seekers. It's not just about what you want from a job, a company or a career. It's about what you have to offer. And that's why topping your resume with a headline instead of an objective is a better way of selling yourself to potential employers.

Why Objectives Don't Work

Here's the thing about objectives, if you try and make them generic - "seeking a growth opportunity in a supportive environment where I can utilize my background and experience to its fullest" - in order to make them fit with every job you apply for, you risk making them so general and empty that you render them useless.

On the other hand, if you attempt to make them more substantial - "seeking an entry-level general accountant position in a non-profit environment" - you limit where you can send your resume, so you wind up needing different objectives for different jobs, which is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, many resume specialists subscribe to the idea that your resume should be adjusted according to the job posting.

However, very often job seekers will write one resume with one objective that is too specific and send it out to jobs that don't even fit the objective. And while objectives rarely cause a person to lose out on an opportunity, it will probably cause the recruiter to scratch his head and wonder if you are lazy or not smart enough to know better.

Instead of filling your objective up with "Twinkie" words (see Don't Use "Twinkie" Words in Your Resume) that really lack substance, write a headline that characterizes your best qualities and helps the employer see what you have to offer them in the way of skills, abilities and knowledge.

Headlines Sell Newspapers and Resumes

If you've ever picked up a newspaper and seen a bold headline splashed across the front, you know the impact that those words can have on people. The same is true for a resume headline. Not with quite the same ferocity, mind you, but with a similar amount of interest.