How to Define Work Goals and What to Focus On?
Adam Smith
Certified Professional Career Coach
July 25, 2022, 2:05 pm

How to Define Work Goals and What to Focus On?

You must have often heard the advice: build an effective resume that supports your job goals. It seems easy and quite reasonable but yet very few people manage to craft a professional resume that indeed meets their work goals. People are so drowned in clichés, jargon, and complex language that some recruiters find it hard to get to the very essence of their resumes. Some of them do not even try. Thus, the main goal of your resume writing process should be giving it the right direction and strategic design, which make it easier to understand what you really want and can do. Your professional resume should be built properly (be eye-catching and easily readable), guided to its main destination (tailored to a specific job or general enough to see what you really stand for), and weighted with your accomplishments and competencies. Here is advice that will help you define your work goals in your resume:

Define the purpose of your resume

Your resume is a super powerful marketing tool and tailoring it properly means getting invited to the job interview. Resume writing helps you list your accomplishments and define them in numerical terms, and it also improves your self-esteem. You need to highlight your key “selling” points which will help you grow your confidence and define what you really want to get from the job you apply for. Having this in mind, you need to think about what you really want to come to serving in this position and doing this job.

Consider the intended destination of your resume

While resume objectives are no longer used in professional resume writing, it is still important to make a statement about your job goals. They must be clearly stated throughout your resume, including a professional summary, job descriptions, career highlights, etc. The U.S. best resume writers suggest asking yourself several important questions before you start writing your resume. They will give your resume the direction and work goals it needs to land the right job:

1) Who will read your resume?

Many companies regardless of their size use professional recruitment software. Therefore, your resume will not even get to the human recruiters’ table unless scanned by ATS. Your content should be full of keywords that would clear your way. After your resume is selected, it will be reviewed by recruiters. They are trained to find the one they need to fill the position with, and your work goals really matter in this case. Do not expect them to be specialists in your industry. Express your ideas in a simple yet professional way.

2) What position and industry are you targeting?

When the resume objective was used, it was very easy to highlight your targeted position and industry. Today, you should do that across your entire resume. Moreover, sometimes the title of the position may not even be mentioned. You need to tailor all your skills and competencies from your previous employment to the current job description at hand. Your resume should sound tailored to this particular position as if you did not even consider any other.

3) What results do you want to highlight and what do you want to achieve?

The core of your resume is your professional achievements as well as your work goals. You should make it clear what you can do in this specific position and what you can achieve for this particular employer. Hiring managers are keen on resumes that answer the main question: what does this professional bring to benefit the employer? If you can answer this question in your resume, consider this position yours. Before starting your resume writing process, think about what you want from this position, apart from money and social benefits, and how you can contribute to their mission and vision. These are the answers to the question of what your work goals are. Keep them in mind while writing and be honest with recruiters about everything you put in your document. Avoid clichés and let your recruiters see your uniqueness through your own words. This is how an ideal resume is born.

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