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You are here: Home / Archives for Cover Letter

by Mark Anthony Dyson 1 Comment

Cover Letter Strategies, and Don’t Trash Talk Your Employer

Cover Letter Strategies, and Don’t Trash Talk Your Employer
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Cover letters are an essential part of your job search arsenal. Without them, your story would be incomplete. Despite whether many recruiters and hiring managers don’t read them, if they are asked for or not, many expect cover letters to accompany the resume.

Debra Ann Matthews

Debra Ann Matthews (@LetMeWriteIt4U), is the founder of Let Me Write it 4 U at jobwinningresumes.net. She is affliliated member of the National Resume Writers Association and Career Thought Leaders Consortium. Her features in CareerBuilder, Monster, and the Chicago Tribune, displays her depth of knowledge of the career space, resumes, and cover letters.

In portions of our conversation, I play devil’s advocate to help contrast what people normally think about cover letters and the way that Debra Ann offers as an effective document.Here some of the highlights that Debra and I covered:

  • Cover letters are a small part of our story to pique the interest of an employer to read the resume
  • She has clients write 3-5 things of the career to help springboard the cover letter process
  • Debra Ann also states that the  cover letter must be focused and strategic, and help the hiring manager and the application tracking system to fill in the blanks that you understand the problems, and bring solutions to your industry
  • She explains using a cover letter writing strategy using the 3 C’s: The Carrot, The Corroboration, and The Close
  • Debra Ann emphasized that before writing the cover letter you must understand the needs of the workforce
  • She also that the cover letter speaks the language of the role, and demonstrate the evidence of practical success

In segment 2 of the show

    I offer reasons why no job seeker should negatively and publicly talk about their boss. I provide two scenarios that the person or a close friend could be an influential factor if you should be the one venting. Here are the scenarios:

My theatre professor was quite eccentric. He was very much into taking risks, and liked students to call him “Marvin.” I liked him, and gave me opportunity to do my thing in class, although I was the least talented actor. His introduction to us was acting like us, while sitting among us while the rest of speculated.

“He’s fifteen minutes late!”

“Who is this guy?”

“What does he look like?”

One person was more concern about the waste of money he was paying for the class (after all, the semester was only 16 weeks long).

Fortunately, none of us slandered him or said anything inappropriate but to think that the opportunity was there. Marvin bearded, long thin build, and looked like Kenny Loggins (add round spectacles and 20 pounds less).

In the next scenario, this is an excerpt from a note that a friend/client sent about how my point rings true:

“…talking about your old boss especially with people you don’t know will kill your job chances. Went out with friends, woman joined us and talked trash about her current boss. That trash talker had filled out an application for an opening we currently have at our company. Her application was great. Had planned to meet with her to actually offer her the job today! Emailed her last night and canceled the interview. She still doesn’t know I was in that group of ladies at the lunch.”

About Mark Anthony Dyson

My name is Mark Anthony Dyson, and I am the Founder of The Voice of Job Seekers. I am a career advice writer, but more importantly, I hack and re-imagine the job search process.. I've worked with hundreds of job seekers one-on-one helping them to construct a narrative and strategy that appeals to hiring managers and recruiters. I present at colleges and organizations, and facilitated many workshops including my volunteer effort through a Job Lab. I write and create useful job search content on this blog and write career and workplace advice for blogs such as Glassdoor, Payscale, Job-Hunt.org, Prezi and more. Media Feature highlights: Forbes, Business Insider, NBC News, Glassdoor, LinkedIn's #GetHired, and NPR Freelance writer and content contributor: Glassdoor, Payscale, job-hunt.org, The Financial Diet, RippleMatch.com and more. Contact me to contribute career, job search, or workplace advice for your site at markanthonydyson@gmail.com.

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Filed Under: Cover Letter Tagged With: Cover Letter, Employer

by Meghan Ivarsson 1 Comment

13 Keys to Write a Carefully Crafted Cover Letter

http://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2012/04/15/18/09/mail-34738_150.png

When crafting a cover letter one has to be perfect and to the point as what is reflected in your cover letter should get you the job you are applying for. Ensure the cover letter is clear, grammatically correct, concise and error free. Here are cover letters writing tips that will make you stand out from the crowd.

 

1) Attach a cover letter with each resume sent out

It’s always good to send a cover letter even if not requested by the employer. Your cover letter may make the difference between obtaining a job interview and having your resume ignored.

 

2) Target your cover letter

Check out the job posting and list the criteria the employer is looking for and make a comparison with the skills and experience you have. From there you are able to address your skills and qualifications that match the job description.

 

3) Provide quality evidence of your qualities

Pick out the top most qualities the employer is seeking in their job specification that you most likely posses and include in the resume.

 

4) Write a custom cover letter

Writing a custom cover letter at times can be time-consuming but in the end, the cover letter will show the hiring manager at a glance why you are the best person for the job as skills and experiences are included.

 

5) Start from a cover template

Use a cover letter template s a starting point which will help you create your own personalized cover letter a cover templates helps you take little details and fix them in your own personal letter.

 

6) Don’t rehash your resume

The cover letter should go hand-in-hand with your resume, therefore expand your resume the highlights of your background in relation to the job you are applying for should match.

 

7) Write simple and clearly

Make the first paragraph clear enough to sell you to the job. Write short and targeted letters that the employer can read and get what type of personality you have. Each letter should be one page or less and short paragraphs maintained. Finish the last paragraph with a call to action, request the hirers to contact you for an interview.

 

8) Relevant and brief

Ensure your cover letter draws the recruiter’s eye to relevant experience on attached resume and give him or her a positive picture of you. A brief and a straight to the point cover letter is an advantage as it will not take the managers much time knowing the type of person you are in just few words.

 

9) Personalize your letter

Write your cover letter and address it to the individual in charge of hiring. The individual is able to go through your cover letter and by reading it he/she will know what you really are targeting.

 

10) Use email for cover letters

Include cover letters in the mail and keep the message short. Send as attachment when the employer has requested for one. As sometimes cover letters are the ones preferred by the hirer.

 

11) Spell check and proofread

Ask someone to read your correspondence before sending it out. The other person can take note of important mistakes and correct you. It’s not always easy to note our own mistakes.

 

12) Sign the letter

Provide a signature at the bottom of your cover letter. This shows a strong signal for authenticity. The cover letter is the only paper needed to be signed.

 

13) Review cover letter samples

Take time to review cover letter samples that will enable you get ideas for formatting and content. Check to ensure that your letter explains how your skills relate to the criteria listed in the job posting. Reviewing other peoples cover letters will give you a guide on how to better  your cover letter.

What challenges you writing cover letters? Let us know in the comment section. 

image credit

About Meghan Ivarsson

Meghan is a recent graduate and a freelance writer for Scholar Advisor, an educational portal that contains useful tips on essay format and styles, essay samples and writing guides. She regularly contributes article on education and career advice. Meghan lives and studies in the USA.

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Filed Under: Cover Letter, Employer, Resume Tagged With: Cover Letter, Employer, Resume

Listen to my NPR podcast interview on “Jazzed About Work” with Beverly Jones from 8/13/2020!

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Watch this interview about today’s job search!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJNTym48NVo&t=68s
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