What’s the Difference? Career Summaries and Objectives for Résumés

Depending upon what résumé expert or website you consult, there are as many opinions on the subject of résumés as there are job seekers. Some of the more popular opinions are centered on whether you should use a career objective, summary or profile at the beginning of your résumé.

Not sure about what the differences are between a career summary/profile and a career objective? You’re not alone. The following explanations and examples should give you a running head start when drafting your résumé:

Career Summary or Profile
Summaries are used when you have some experience you particularly want to bring to the attention of an employer.

Example 1:
Accomplished sales professional known for delivering strong revenue and profit gains in highly competitive markets, seeking a Regional Sales Manager position. Bring 15 years of solid experience and select strengths that encompasses sales territory management and key account development. Equally effective at relationship building, program development, and team leadership.

Example 2:
Accomplished sales professional known for delivering strong profit gains in highly competitive markets, seeking a Regional Sales Manager position. Strengths encompass:

Capital Sales & Marketing Team Building/Leadership

Key Account Development Client/Vendor Relations

Financial Analysis & Reporting Program Development

Example 3:
Known for delivering strong and sustainable revenue and profit gains in highly competitive markets. Bring 15 years of solid experience and select strengths that encompasses sales territory management, key account development, staff training, team leadership, presentations, and closings.

A career summary is meant to be a concise summary of your professional and industry experience, not a forum for highlighting personal traits. For example if the position being advertised cites that the employer is seeking a “team player” don’t make claims about your ability to be a “team player” in the career summary. Save this for the body of your résumé where you can supply evidence to back up your claims. Remember the object of this section is to be concise not to pad your résumé.

Career Objectives
Objectives are used to clearly indicate what you position you are seeking or your field of interest. They are uniquely personal and can include information about a career field you want to pursue, position titles, the type of organization/company you may want to work for, an area or department, or if you want to use a specific set of skills. You may want to use a career objective if you are trying to break into a new industry field, apply for a different type of sales or management position or focus exploiting a particular skill set.

If you choose to use an objective, it should be specific enough that the employer can figure out what position you are applying for, even if your cover letter gets lost.

Example 1: Focusing on a Career
As a sales representative you may want to specify a broad area you are interested in without limiting you to specific titles. While you may be interested in more than one career field, for purposes of the career objective, it is better to limit yourself to one.

“ To assume a challenging position in pharmaceutical sales as a business development specialist.”

Example 2: Focus on a Sales Position or Role
Sales position titles and roles can vary in an organization. Some organizations may have their own sales titles that are attached to a specific client or market segment (e.g. client advisor, affinity market development rep etc). Listing a position title on your career objective is appropriate if you know you will be applying basically for a specific position either in many different organizations or targeted for one organization.

“To obtain a position of Sales Manager with a consumer products organization and advance to a senior sales executive role.”

To secure a sales management where my ten years experience as a key account manager will assist a sales team to reach its sale targets.

Example 3:  Focus on a Function
Many large organizations are differentiated into various departments, each responsible for completion of specific tasks or functions. The larger the organization, the more differentiated it usually is, that is, the more specific the functions. Smaller organizations may have the same department handling several functions. Identifying a functional area in a career objective specifies which part of the organization would be of interest to you without narrowing yourself to a specific industry group or organizational category.

“To obtain an entry level sales position within a Fortune 500 organization.”

“To secure a sales management position in a high growth company with considerable advancement opportunities, ideally in a business development capacity with an emphasis on strategic planning.”

Example 4: Focus on Skills
Skills describe your ability to perform various functions or tasks. Skills identify actions you exhibit and can be either general or specific. Some skills might be used, or transferred, to several different occupations without limiting you to a specific career field or organizational category. Most sales positions require a combination of interpersonal, organization and development skills.

“To secure a long-term position where my existing strengths in customer service and administration can be utilized by a progressive and innovative company.”

“To secure a position where my exceptional time management and rapport building skills can be used to develop client relationships.”

Employers who are screening résumés only spend between 10-15 seconds scanning a résumé. Remember to make every word count when using any one or a combination of these headings to communicate the type of position you are applying for, and the value you will bring to the hiring company at a glance.

©Sales Resource Centre, Canadian Professional Sales Association, 2005.