A good objective includes a summary of past experience, as well as a statement of intent for future career choices. Objectives help a hiring authority understand at a glance what type of position you would be most suited for and most interested in.

The jury is still out on whether you should provide an objective — there are pros and cons to supplying one. Supplying an objective can help screen out opportunities that will not interest you, even if you are qualified for them. However, even the most carefully crafted objective statement can eliminate you from consideration for a great opportunity.

Consider the following example:

"I am a senior mainframe developer looking to work in a development environment where I will have exposure to new technology."

While this is a good objective statement, it does potentially narrow your offerings. What if an opportunity comes along which is 50% development and 50% maintenance but will train in client server development languages and segue into client server development in a year? Your stated objective has possibly ruled you out, even if you would have considered the job.

You must weigh your situation and determine how broad based your job search will be. If you want to get a general picture of what is available to you or you need to change jobs quickly, leave out an objective and only use a summary. Or, if you are satisfied with your current job, and are only interested in pursuing certain types of opportunities, include an objective.

Good objectives fall into one of these following frameworks:

Objective: I would like to use my skills as a ________ to work in an environment were I can ___________.

Objective: Experienced ________________ who seeks employment in ________________.

Remember, employers want to know what you will do for them in the future — not what you have done in your past. Keeping this in mind, your objective must line up with what the employer needs from you. Also, the body of the resume following your objective will need to be tailored to support the objective.

The alternative to an objective is a simple summary. Providing either an objective or a summary allows the burdened hiring authority to know your background quickly, and then, if interested, to concentrate on learning the details of your qualifications.

A good opening statement will implant an image of your background which should be supported by the text in the work experience section. The hiring authority might not bother to piece together your qualifications from your work experience without either a good summary or objective to set the stage.

When you are using an objective or a summary, include the following information:

Functional Title: Project Leader, Database Administrator, Entry Level
Technical Strength: C, UNIX, Sybase
Business Line: Trades Processing, Reinsurance, Risk Management, CMO's, Retail Banking, Equities

The resulting combination should look like one of these:

Objective: C, UNIX, Sybase senior developer with experience in fixed income looking to grow into a project leadership role in the front office.

Summary: C, UNIX, Sybase senior developer with experience in fixed income.

Remember to support your claims in this section with details and examples in the Professional Experience section. If you decide on using an objective, make sure that those details support not only your summarized experiences, but also the direction that you want to grow.

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