How Important is Having an "Objective" on Your Resume?

One should never, ever have an objective section on one's resume.

It's tacky and pointless.

I had an interview for a job .. turns out I forgot to update the objective I had, it was 100% irrelevant to the job I was interviewing for. Didn't get the job, and had a good nervous laugh during the interview.

Will definitely look at getting rid of it.

The objective is to get the job you're applying for (in other words, don't list one on your resume). I imagine it would be hard to actually list an objective without implying one of two things: under qualified, or that you only intend to stay in the position you're applying for for a short amount of time before advancing. If your objective contains too many "want to learns," you'll sound under qualified. If it's too ambitious it will sound as though you won't be happy staying in the position for as long as they'd probably like you to.

It makes more sense if you're like spamming a resume right after college, but it's useless and if you're more experienced it's embarrassing.

Isn't the objective to get the job? It's a waste of space and something a College freshman would consider.

I'm going to say that it depends. If someone is recruiting you I think it's useless. If you're applying for a specific job I think a short statement of, "To get this job" type thing is a good idea. The main reason I think this is that places are often making multiple hires so it just makes sure you are getting considered for the job you feel best matches you.

About as important and valuable as someone of your level listing their high school.

^ not always true. i have had recruiters tell me when they're scanning resumes if they see an independent school (there are about 10 of them in my city) the resume immediately gets put in the 'interview' pile.
And objectives are meant for the cover letter, which of course should be included for any job you apply to (at least in my industry).

How old are you? OP is an executive-level professional.

23. point taken. figured that a question like this would be from someone around my age.

A cover letter should render the objective statement useless.