- The Resume Was the Easy Part
- No Getting Around It
- What is a
cover letter ? - So, How Long Should a
Cover Letter Be? - Dear "Generic Thing Here"
- Don't Talk Like a Robot Butler
- Formatting Your
Cover Letter - What Should Be Included
- Honestly is the Best Policy
- Don’t Make Them Guess
- Double, Triple, Quadruple Check
- Sexy Kitty 4 You
- First Impressions Matter
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While most of us know what goes into a good resume, cover letters are more mysterious. Cover letter writing may seem like a necessary evil when you are looking for work, but it’s just as important as preparing your resume. Crafting an awesome cover letter will help get your foot in the door and land that job. But what makes a good
It’s no longer good enough to have an impressive resume; you need a good
Likewise, you need to ensure that you plan your schedule for creating your job search plan and interview schedule. Using an editable calendar will help you with scheduling everything related to your
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The Resume Was the Easy Part
Writing the perfect
Far too often job seekers focus all of their attention on creating the perfect resume leaving the
No Getting Around It
There is no getting around it. A
Creating the perfect
What it comes down to is making a compelling case for why you’d be awesome at the job, without repeating your resume.
See how your resume stacks up! Our resume review will include three sections: (a) strengths of your resume, (b) areas to improve, and (c) the results of an ATS scan.
What is a cover letter ?
At its core, a cover letter is just a document that introduces a job candidate to the hiring manager and makes a case for why the candidate is the right person for the job. It’s your first impression.
But it’s so much trickier than that. A
So, How Long Should a Cover Letter Be?
It should be longer than a couple of lines but do not waste your time writing a novel either. 70% of hiring managers said the shorter the better. Somewhere between 250 and 400-word count is a good amount. However, you should focus more on the content than on how many lines on the page you are taking up.
Confused about cover letter length? It's not just about word count; it's about impact! Discover how to write a cover letter that captivates and lands interviews. Forget generic advice; start getting job offers now! #CoverLetter #JobSearch #CareerAdviceClick To TweetBe sure your paragraphs are short and to the point, no more than three or four sentences long. Leave an extra line of white space between the paragraphs. It makes the letter easier to read.
Far too often job seekers focus all of their attention on creating (what they perceive to be) the
Dear “Generic Thing Here”
It should not be hard to find the name of the hiring manager who will be reading your resume. You can find that information on Linkedin, from news articles about the company or the company’s annual report. If all those fail, call the company and ask for the name.
Don’t use a generic “Dear Sir or Madam” or “To whom it May Concern“. Cover letters addressed that way don’t get much attention which means
Research the company and the particular job you are applying for, this helps you customize your
It takes some time and effort to do that kind of research when you’re applying for a lot of jobs at once but it shows a hiring manager that you are interested in their specific job and that will set you apart from other applicants with more generic letters.
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Don’t Talk Like a Robot Butler
You want the tone of your cover letter to be respectful and somewhat formal, this isn’t a text to your best friend, but you don’t want it to be so formal that you don’t sound human or sound like a time traveler from the Edwardian age. “I do so most earnestly desire to secure a position with your most esteemed place of business kind sir or lady.”
No one wants to work with that weirdo.
On the other hand, you might want to ban the buzzwords. Don’t use phrases that have been so often overused that they no longer have meaning; stuff as “team player,” “thinks outside the box,” or “detail-oriented.”
Hiring managers have seen those cliches ad nauseam and they will show that you have not put any original thought into your cover letter.
Formatting Your Cover Letter
Treat your
Use a basic block-style format that is easy to follow and always looks professional. Once you’ve got the basics, you must include an explanation (why are you writing it), who are you, and why they should look at your resume. How long should your
Use a basic block-style format that is easy to follow. Take a look at some examples. Don’t use fancy fonts or excessive highlighting, bolding, or underlining. Arial, Calibri, and Times New Roman are classics for a reason.
When it comes to finding a job, your cover letter can be just as important as your resume. It’s your chance to showcase your personality, highlight your skills and accomplishments, and explain why you’re the best candidate for the job.
What Should Be Included
Introduction: Why you are applying for the job.
Fit: Why you are the exact candidate the hiring manager is looking for. No one wants to read what you have done; they want to understand what you have achieved. It’s also important to show that you will fit in with the company’s culture.
Read through the company’s website and press releases to see how they present themselves. Keywords will jump out at you, include some of those words in your
Skills and Experience: Unique qualities that you will bring to the job. This is the place to stress the value you can provide regarding experience and the successes you have had from past experiences and how that can be leveraged for future success.
Be very specific and use numbers and statistics that, are more tangible than words, ie “managed to increase market share by 20% in a very depressed market-moving my company from 4th to 2nd position in 18 months.”
The hiring manager is searching for someone who can increase company earnings, streamline processes, or save money. While your
End your
Honestly is the Best Policy
It might be tempting to exaggerate your qualifications and experience but it is not worth the risk. Don’t put anything in your
If the employer finds out that you lied, you’re finished even before you have a chance to be interviewed. You can even be fired if the company finds out that you lied on your application after you land the job, so be very careful when you are presenting yourself to an employer.
This book provides tips on how to stretch the truth on your resume without getting caught.
Don’t Make Them Guess
This advice probably seems obvious to some of you, but you would be surprised! Hiring managers see hundreds, possibly thousands of cover letters and resumes.
Don’t make the person guess which job you would like to be considered for when you apply.
If you are responding to a job posting, use the exact job title in your response so the hiring manager can match your
Some companies use computer software to sort cover letters and resumes. If you don’t use the right keywords, it can be overlooked.
Summarize your qualifications in your
Tell the reader why you would be a stellar candidate for the position, without rehashing the contents of your resume. The
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Double, Triple, Quadruple Check
Do you want to ensure that you will not be interviewed for a job? Submit a
It can be hard to spot your own mistakes because you’ve read the documents over and over. Those mistakes will jump out at a first-time reader though. If your documents have these types of errors, it won’t matter how sterling the contents are.
This is your chance to make a good impression. It won’t matter whether you have excellent skills or the right educational background if there are grammatical or spelling errors your resume will not be considered.
Forgetting to include your contact information is another detail that you may overlook. If you are emailing it or applying via a website, make sure you put your name at the bottom of your correspondence along with your cell phone number and email address. If you are mailing the letter, put pen to paper, and sign it.
Sexy Kitty 4 You
Please don’t use an inappropriate email address in your contact information. I used the sexykitty4you example, not as a joke but because I once received a
Did I throw it away immediately? No, I showed it, mouth agape, disbelieving, to everyone in my office and then threw it away.
The only thing worse than using an inappropriate email address is failing to include any contact information at all. If you are mailing your documents the old-fashioned way, sign your
If you are emailing them or applying through an online portal, be sure to put your name at the bottom of your correspondence along with your phone number and email address. Print your
Email everything to yourself to make sure the formatting has come outright. Then upload and send it to the company. Indicate in your
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First Impressions Matter
A great
Spend time on your
Keep it short, specific, clean-looking, and honest, and you will have hiring managers beating down your door!
Stand out from all the rest by crafting letters and resumes that will blow people away. This career reference guide provides a simple, compelling and foolproof way to create both cover letters and resumes that are uniquely powerful and, most importantly, virtually guarantees you the high value job interviews and career you really want.
