No, I’m not talking about objectives again.

Resume writing, like everything else you do in life, should be focused towards a specific purpose. And most jobseekers do have a specific goal.

Whether you’re looking to transition into another field, leverage your skills and experience into a higher paying position, increase your work/life balance, or get a job at a bigger/smaller/more flexible/more structured company, you probably have already identified your next move.

The challenge is to be sure you keep your resume on track. Here’s some quick ideas to help you stay focused while you’re writing your resume. 

1) Write it down and look at it often. My first boss told me to write my goal on a post-it and stick it to my computer screen. While it may seem silly, one of the biggest contributors to memory and achievement are repetition. So keep your goals tangible and visible, and reference them often.

2) Say it out loud. Ok, maybe not the best activity for public transportation, but spoken affirmations help you personalize and really take control of your objectives.

3) Carefully review each line of your resume and make sure that it’s not fluff. Does this specific skill or accomplishment help position you for your next step? If not, it’s probably irrelevant and should be tossed.

4) Leverage postings and company culture pieces to target your resume. Do your research! Find postings for your dream job and corporate bio pieces written by the HR department. That’s the language your dream job/employer are looking for and should absolutely be reflected in your resume.

A professional resume writer is an expert at focusing, but if you decide to go it alone, try to be objective. If you worked for dream company and were hiring, would you want to interview the candidate with this resume?