Do I Need a Mission Statement?

By Stacey Gleeson - Job Search & Interview Coach - Brisbane

A lot of people have mission statements on their resume but does it add value to your application?

I have seen an astronomical number of resumes and about 60% of them had a mission statement. Of all the mission statements I have seen, only two of them added any value to the candidates application. Two out of thousands of applications, it's pretty dismal.

What made those two stand out?

Both of them were extremely relevant to the role and clearly articulated what the candidate could achieve. Since it was such an anomaly, I asked these candidates about it. For every single role they applied for, they wrote a custom mission statement based on the role, company and their experience. When you think about it, that is a lot of work but if you have a mission statement on your resume, that is what it takes to make it stand out.

For those of you with a standard mission statement that is sent with all of your applications, take a moment to look at it and answer these questions:

• Does it clearly articulate what you value you can add to a role/company?
• Would it make an employer excited to meet with you?
• Is it worth the first 3 seconds of the 7 seconds a recruiter will spend initially screening your resume?

If you answered no to any of those questions, maybe it's time you removed it. If you are unsure about it, reach out to a recruiter that you have sent your resume to and ask for feedback, most are happy to help.

Mission statements appear at the top of your resume in prime real-estate. It is the first thing a recruiter will see. If it's there, it needs to excite someone to want to read more. Personally, I don't believe a mission statement is necessary. Use the time you would spend writing this to make sure you are highlighting relevant achievements from your experience that match the position you are applying for, these are much more likely to grab attention as they demonstrate what you have done and the value you could bring to this role.