Look at some popular resume and CV templates, and you’ll find a section titled “Objective Statement,” a place to write a couple of lines about what your resume is hoping to achieve (in this case, of course, landing the coveted cabin crew job). The question is: should you actually include one?
A few years ago, an Objective Statement seemed like an essential part of a resume, and everyone seemed to have one. But airline recruiters follow trends just as much as the rest of us, and the trend right now is firmly against including an Objective Statement.
What’s So Wrong with an Objective Statement?
Write something like “I’m seeking a career as cabin crew” and you might be ruining your chances with the recruiter. In the cutthroat world of cabin crew recruitment, your resume needs to build a winning image; it matters as much as the outfit you wear to the Assessment Day or the body language you show up with at an Interview.
So what’s actually wrong with the Objective Statement?
- It’s out of fashion, recruiters don’t want to see it, and some actively find it irritating
- It tells the recruiter what you want from the job, not what you’ll bring to their company
- It doesn’t talk about your accomplishments or achievements
- It takes up valuable space you could use to talk about your skills and experience
What Do Recruiters Want to See?
Recruiters want a resume that clearly demonstrates you have the skills and experience to make a good flight attendant. With limited space and even less time, every sentence needs to work hard.
Including an Objective Statement, at best, takes up room that could be doing that work instead and becomes an unnecessary distraction. In most cases, just cut it entirely and put that effort into your Personal Summary, five to six sentences maximum, near the top of your resume, that summarises your skills and shows the recruiter why you’re the ideal candidate.
The One Exception
There’s one situation where an Objective Statement can genuinely help: if you’ve had a ten-year career in one field and are now making a significant change toward cabin crew, it can be useful to briefly explain why.
Your resume isn’t the place for the full story, but cleverly folding an objective into your Personal Summary can address any concern a recruiter might have about shortlisting you. The best approach is to wrap your objective around your strongest skills and experience. For example:
✅ “Seeking to utilise 10 years’ experience of providing excellent customer service to deliver an outstanding passenger experience in the role of cabin crew.”
That one sentence explains why you’re qualified and genuinely motivated, despite the career change. It reframes your maturity and experience as an asset the recruiter would be hard-pressed to ignore.
The ATS Bonus Points Angle
There’s one more potential benefit to folding an objective into your Personal Summary rather than cutting it outright. Some Applicant Tracking Systems award bonus points to resumes that include the exact job title and company name.
Worth knowing: Not every ATS is built the same way, so there’s no guarantee this specific tip will work for a given airline’s system. If you don’t already have cabin crew experience or a history with that airline, this is a reasonable place to include the job title and company name regardless, just don’t rely on it as a guaranteed boost.
Your Objective Statement Checklist
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Removed any standalone Objective Statement section from your resume
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Moved that space and effort into a stronger Personal Summary instead
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If you’re changing careers into cabin crew, wrapped your reason for the move around your strongest transferable skill
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Included the specific job title and airline name somewhere in your resume, especially if you’re a first-time applicant
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Read your Personal Summary back and confirmed it focuses on what you’ll bring, not what you’re hoping to get
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