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The guidelines here apply to both hard copy correspondence and e-mail.

Main differences between e-mail and hard copy correspondence:

Format: your signature block (address, etc.) goes below your name in e-mail, while it goes at the top of the page on hard copy.

E-mail requires a subject line logical to the recipient. E-mail subject lines can make or break whether your e-mail is opened and read. Hard copy can have a subject line too, but it’s on the letter (after recipient’s address block and before “Dear…,” and it’s seen after the letter is opened.

Signature: Of course you won’t have a handwritten signature on e-mail, but don’t forget this on hard copy.

All cover letters should:

Explain why you are sending a resume.
Don’t send a resume without a cover letter.
Don’t make the reader guess what you are asking for; be specific: Do you want a summer internship opportunity, or a permanent position at graduation; are you inquiring about future employment possibilities?

Tell specifically how you learned about the position or the organization — a flyer posted in your department, a web site, a family friend who works at the organization. It is appropriate to mention the name of someone who suggested that you write.

Convince the reader to look at your resume.
The cover letter will be seen first.
Therefore, it must be very well written and targeted to that employer.

Call attention to elements of your background — education, leadership, experience — that are relevant to a position you are seeking. Be as specific as possible, using examples.

Reflect your attitude, personality, motivation, enthusiasm, and communication skills.

Provide or refer to any information specifically requested in a job advertisement that might not be covered in your resume, such as availability date, or reference to an attached writing sample.

Indicate what you will do to follow-up.

In a letter of application — applying for an advertised opening — applicants often say something like “I look forward to hearing from you.” However, if you have further contact info (e.g. phone number) and if the employer hasn’t said “no phone calls,” it’s better to take the initiative to follow-up, saying something like, “I will contact you in the next two weeks to see if you require any additional information regarding my qualifications.”

In a letter of inquiry — asking about the possibility of an opening — don’t assume the employer will contact you. You should say something like, “I will contact you in two weeks to learn more about upcoming employment opportunities with (name of organization).”  Then mark your calendar to make the call.

Page margins, font style and size

For hard copy, left and right page margins of one to 1.5 inches generally look good. You can adjust your margins to balance how your document looks on the page.

Use a font style that is simple, clear and commonplace, such as Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri. Font SIZES from 10-12 points are generally in the ballpark of looking appropriate. Keep in mind that different font styles in the same point size are not the same size. A 12-point Arial is larger than a 12-point Times New Roman.

If you are having trouble fitting a document on one page, sometimes a slight margin and/or font adjustment can be the solution.

Serif or sans serif? Sans (without) serif fonts are those like Arial and Calibri that don’t have the small finishing strokes on the ends of each letter. There is a great deal of research and debate on the pros and cons of each. Short story: use what you like, within reason; note what employers use; generally sans serif fonts are used for on-monitor reading and serif fonts are used for lengthly print items (like books); serif fonts may be considered more formal. Test: ask someone to look at a document for five seconds; take away the document; ask the person what font was on the document; see if s/he even noticed the style. A too-small or too-large font gets noticed, as does a weird style.

Should your resume and cover letter font style and size match? It can be a nice touch to look polished. But it’s also possible to have polished documents that are not in matching fonts. A significant difference in style and size might be noticed. Remember that you can have your documents reviewed through advising, and that might be a fine-tuning question you ask.

Sample cover letter format guidelines:

Cover letters generally fall into one of two categories:

1. Letter of application: applying for a specific, advertised opening. See:

Sample 3.1:  letter of application following personal meeting, hard copy version

Sample 3.2: letter of application for advertised position, e-mail version

Sample 3.3: letter of application for advertised position, e-mail version

Sample 3.4: letter of application for advertised position, hard copy version

1. Letter of inquiry: expressing interest in an organization, but you are not certain if there are current openings. See:

Sample 3.5:  letter of inquiry about employment possibilities, e-mail version

Sample 3.6:  letter of inquiry about internship opportunities, hard copy version

Information-seeking letters and follow-up

To draft an effective cover letter, you need to indicate that you know something about the employing organization.  Sometimes, even with research efforts, you don’t have enough information to do this. In such a case it is appropriate to write requesting information.

See Sample 4.1:  Information seeking letter, hard copy version.

After you receive the desired information you can then draft a follow-up letter that:

Thanks the sender for the information;

Markets why you would be a good job candidate for that organization based on the information; and

Explains why you are sending your resume.

….which means it does what all cover letters should do, as explained at the start above!

See Sample 5.2:  Follow up letter to information seeking meeting.

Sample 3.1 — Letter of application, hard copy version

Sample 3.2  —  Letter of application, e-mail version

Sample 3.3 — Letter of application, e-mail version

Sample 3.4 — Letter of application, hard copy version

Sample 3.5 — Letter of inquiry about employment possibilities, e-mail version

Sample 3.6 — Letter of inquiry about internship opportunities, hard copy version

Sample 4.1 — Information seeking letter, hard copy version

Sample 5.2 — Follow-up letter to information seeking meeting, e-mail version

Article Reference: http://www.career.vt.edu/jobsearchguide/coverlettersamples.html

Nothing is more disheartening than seeing your resume thrown onto a mountain of job applications. You wonder, “Will I ever receive an interview? How could I possibly get a job?”

Here’s the answer: Write an effective resume cover letter.

A potential employer’s first impression of you is your cover letter. Your cover letter introduces you and your resume. The stark reality is your resume may never be read without its being accompanied by a professional cover letter. Without a resume cover letter, you might never receive a callback. Here are two things to remember:

• The purpose of a cover letter is to get your resume read.
• The purpose of a resume is to get an interview.
• The purpose of an interview is to get a job.

Cover letters carry more weight than resumes

Your resume cover letter is a sales letter. It sells your resume; therefore it sells you. A common mistake made by job hunters is either neglecting a cover letter with their resume or writing a poor cover letter.

Cover letter tips

Here are some basic things to know about and include in your cover letter:

• Write your cover letter on white bond paper.
• A resume cover letter should be only one page in length.
• Your cover letter heading should be identical to your resume heading. Headings should include your name and contact information.
• Use a business format for dating and addressing your cover letter to the appropriate person. List his/her correct position. “Mr. Ronald Jones, director of personnel.”
• Your cover letter salutation should be “Dear Mr. Jones:” or “Dear Mrs. Smith:”. If you do not know the marital status of a female interviewer, the safe salutation is “Dear Ms. Smith:”. Use a colon after the name and not a comma.
• A resume cover letter is a business letter. Use formal block (not indented) paragraphs with spaces in between.
• Your cover letter should consist of three paragraphs:
  

  1. Cover letter introduction paragraph

  State the position you are applying for.

  State why you are applying and how you learned about the position.

  If you can, drop a name. (Be sure you have permission.)

  Do a little research and say something about the company.

  Say that you are a strong candidate because of your qualifications, education, experience, interests, etc.

  2. Cover letter job-matching paragraph

  Now briefly expand on your qualifications, education, experience and interests, especially those that match the employer’s needs. You want to appear as the perfect applicant. Additionally, cover letters should call out other key parts of your resume that you want the employer to notice.

  3. Cover letter “close” paragraph

  Close your resume cover letter with a bold statement that you are a strong match for the job position.

  State that you are looking forward to meeting with him/her.

  Take the aggressive: Say that if you don’t hear from him/her in 7-10 days, you will follow up.

• End your cover letter with:Sincerely,(four returns-hit the “enter” key four times)(your name)

Reference:

http://www.writeexpress.com/CoverLettersImportant.html

Most people forget the very important fact that its excellent cover letters, not resumes that are the most beneficial to landing the almighty job interview. Well written cover letters for resumes will greatly increase your chances of being called for that “perfect” job interview or even that highly sought after position – the one that will pay the bills!

How does one write those cover letters for resumes that rise above the other competition vying for the same positions in the job market? It is crucial to understand you will be writing more than one depending on the number of jobs for which you apply. And each one should be unique to the position and company to which you are applying. Next, there are specific rules of thumb you will want to follow. A checklist of sorts on what to do and Not to do. Use it as your guide for any cover letters for resumes you send out.

What to do:

Visit the website of the company – investigate recent news, the company’s profile and name of the person you want to contact. Research and learn as much as you can about the position for which you want to apply. This critical step will put you way ahead on its own. Use the first paragraph to effectively sell your qualifications and why you are an excellent fit for their needs. Respond to the job requirements and the job listing accurately and clearly. Describe how you can contribute to the company’s bottom line (their goals or mission). Send the original letter, not a copy, and always sign your name in blue ink. Request an interview and let them know that you will contact the company to follow up.  http://www.careerberg.com Always use white standard “letter” sheet or A4 size paper. Always use direct, clear language in simple sentence structures and keep the letter to a single page. Provide a professional email address (i.e. – one that will not make a bad impression) and a daytime phone number that potential employers can readily reach you. You want to be ready when they are!

What Not to do:

Do not send a resume without a cover letter (obvious, I know, but you would be surprised). Never address the letter to some generic person or title – e.g. the “Manager” or “To Whom It May Concern.” Always put it to the attention of the individual name of a person or functional manager rather than Human Resources manager. Do not send a letter with punctuation, spelling and grammatical errors. Get someone else to edit your letter if necessary. Do not add “filler” to take extra space in your cover letters – keep it to the point. Do not send a generic letter to different employers. As I stated above, the letter must be tailored to a specific job and company. Avoid fancy styles or unorthodox formats. Write your letter using a professional and formal format with easy to read fonts and font sizes. Remember, this is not a creative writing contest, this is for a job. http://www.careerberg.com

Your resume should be like any good marketing plan — designed to sell! It needs to hook potential employers as soon as they see it, so they bypass the discard pile and take a second look. Creating a resume that accomplishes that can’t be done in just a few minutes because there’s much more to it than listing your work history and year of graduation. Try thinking of it as an art form, because it is. Great resumes get a second look and an interview, but bad ones don’t get a second thought.

If you’re serious about scoring as many interviews as you can and for the jobs you really want, then learning how to market yourself with a resume that grabs attention should be one of your top priorities. This is the only way you’ll stand out from the crowd.

Know the Market
Advertising companies do market research before they put together an ad campaign. Why? Because they need to know who they’re selling to and what those people want. The same strategy should apply to your job search. You have to know what jobs are available to know how to market yourself to them. Scour the job boards and classifieds to see what’s out there, and know what kind of job you’re looking for — finding a job can be pretty tough if you have no goals or ideas about what you want to do.

Target Your Resume
Determine which jobs you’re interested in and target your resume to each one. Don’t submit the same version of it for every job you apply for — change words and move things around so your resume uses some of the same lingo as the job descriptions. Use keywords to highlight your experience and accomplishments that best match those sought for each job. Your goal should be to match the content of your resume as much as possible to the qualifications and duties described in each job notice.

Make It Stand Out
A visually appealing and easy-to-read resume gets attention. Skip the fancy fonts, long paragraphs, and flowered stationary. Use as few words as possible and make creative use of white space, bold letters, sectioning, and bullets. A potential employer should be able to scan over your resume quickly to determine if it deserves a longer look. You want them to notice what’s great about your resume, not the color of the paper.

Shift your Priorities
For each job you apply to, shift items around on your resume so that the first thing any potential employer sees is exactly what they’re looking for. If they’re specifically looking for someone who speaks Swahili, put it at or near the beginning of your resume (as long as you actually speak it, of course!) It’s a simple strategy — the things they want go first, the things that are less appealing or less important to the job go last.

Highlight what is Important
Yes, you are multi-talented and of course, your resume needs to sum up your skills and abilities. However, you don’t need to list everything. You just need to let them know what skills you have that are assets for the job.

As far as your education goes, unless you’re right out of school, your degree doesn’t need to be the first thing people see on your resume. If you’ve been working for five years or more, list your education last and focus on your skills and accomplishments. However, if you’re just starting out, it’s perfectly acceptable to list your degrees, as well as your GPA, courses relevant to your job search, and any awards or scholarships you’ve earned.

Any special training you’ve completed should be included, so long as it’s pertinent to the job at hand (so skip the blurb about Clown School if you’re applying for an accounting job).

Share Your Story
Job history is important, but to highlight your experience that best relates to the job, a chronological rundown may not always be the best approach. You may want to consider emphasizing what you know instead of what you’ve done, although in most cases, a job timeline is more than adequate.

Accomplishments you’ve made on the job could be included in your job history, or they could be highlighted separately on your resume, along with off-the-job accomplishments and any special skills you can bring to the table. Decide how you want to emphasize these aspects of yourself so employers will notice what’s most important to them. http://www.careerberg.com

Perfecting your resume can be tough, but it really does help to think of it as a marketing tool. Know your audience and tailor your resume to them each time. If you don’t, you may not appeal to the people who are reading it. With a little time and patience — and perhaps a little extra advice — you can put together a resume that’s sure to get you in the door for an interview. The rest is up to you!

When people are looking for a job, they tend to spend a lot of time writing and revising their resumes and preparing to answer job interview questions. However, even employers who accept resumes from applicants are going to ask job candidates to fill out an application prior to making an offer.

Unfortunately, many people overlook getting prepared to fill out a job application form. Too often, people with excellent skills, great resumes and professional interviewing techniques disqualify themselves from jobs because they do not fill out job applications correctly. Filling out job applications is an important part of getting a new job, and it is necessary to make sure that you are just as prepared to fill out these forms as you are to answer tough job interview questions.

One of the most common job application problems is leaving sections of the application blank, or only partially filled out. Keep in mind that each question on a job application is there for a particular reason. If the question is on the form, the employer wants it to be answered. If you provide incomplete information on a job application, the message you are sending the employer is that you cannot follow instructions. No one wants to hire an employee that can’t fill out a simple form.

One of the most common omissions on job applications is the last names of the individuals listed as references. This is a red flag to employers, who are really have to wonder about your suitability for employment if you don’ t know the last names of your references. How well can someone speak for you if you don’t know the person’s last name?

Another common problem with job applications comes in when applicants think that writing the phrase “see resume” is sufficient for the work history section. You should always fill out the work history section on an employment application in its entirety. Many companies have very specific hiring and reference checking procedures that are based solely on the application form.

It is also important to think about how you are going to list your reasons for leaving your prior positions on job application forms. It is important to be truthful, but there are tactful ways to be truthful and there are ways to be truthful that can keep you from being considered for a new job. You might not have liked your last boss, but you certainly shouldn’t list that as your reason for leaving your last job.

Before you start applying for jobs, you should get a standard job application form and fill it out completely. Get someone that you know and trust to review the form to make sure that the form is complete and that the content is well written, spelled properly, and make sense as written. That way, every time you go on a job interview, you will have all of the information you are likely to need with you already.

1. The one-size-fits-all method. Hiring managers are extremely jealous. Although they are aware you are courting other companies, they want to know that you at least care enough to hide it. http://www.careerberg.com/

Solution: Avoid form letters. Instead, customize each letter with the hiring organization and the position in mind. Here’s an example.

“With over nine years of HRIS and human resources experience, I have had the opportunity to contribute strong, sustainable improvements within the HR functions, particularly in areas of systems development, implementation, and maintenance.

When I read the job description posted on your corporate website, I was immediately drawn to the similarity between your requirements and my experience. In particular, I meet your prerequisite for an HRIS Specialist who has the ability to train end users effectively in a variety of applications and processes. From my enclosed resume, you will note that I approach end-user training with a patient, diligent manner.”

2. I want, I need, I must have. Me, me, me. That is the approach many candidates take when writing their own cover letter. This self-centered approach, without a doubt, backfires every time.

Solution: Focus the letter on how you can benefit the hiring organization. Here’s an example.

“The following are examples from two different employers that illustrate my ability to integrate time- and cost-saving solutions for the HRIS infrastructure:

• For XYZ, I implemented an entirely new HRIS system that affected data and records for 25,000 team members, expediting processes by converting our applications to Lawson as the company grew at a breakneck pace.
• For ABC, I eliminated a slow-moving manual process and developed a system from the ground up that processed commissions for 700 people, leading to a reduction of three processing days per month.”

3. Taking a “pretty please” approach. No one wants to hire a desperate jobseeker.

Solution: The tone of the cover letter must be kept on a professional level. Here’s an example.

“In addition to technology and problem-solving skills, what I also offer is the ability to create and maintain data tables, structures, files, interface requirements, and data integrity protocols for ongoing administration.”

Cover Letters Can Win Job Interviews

Persuasive, targeted, and commercial-like cover letters fare well. And that is exactly what a cover letter is—a commercial, starring your experience. http://www.careerberg.com/

http://www.careerberg.com/

Your cover letter shows employers how well you express yourself. It can also demonstrate that you are savvy in the ways of marketing yourself and selling your best qualifications. A good cover letter can entice the recipient to review your resume. A bad cover letter, on the other hand, can nip your chances in the bud. Here are 10 mistakes that contribute to bad cover letters. To ensure that your cover letter is effective, avoid these mistakes:

1. Sending your resume without a cover letter.Sure, there are some employers that don’t read them or place much importance on them. But since you don’t know whether the employer you’re writing to reads and values cover letters or not, you must include a letter.

2. Failing to address the letter to the specific name of the recipient. Addressing the letter to “Dear Personnel Director/HR Director,” “To Whom It May Concern,” “Dear Sir or Madam” (or worse, “Dear Sirs”) instead of a named individual are all lazy approaches that show the employer that you were not concerned enough to find out the name of the person with the hiring power. It’s not always easy to find the name of the specific hiring manager, but try to do so if at all possible. Usually, you can just call the company and ask who the hiring manager is for a given position. Tap into your personal network to learn the names of hiring managers. Let’s say a company post an opening online. You know someone who works at the company. Ask your contact to find out the name of the person hiring for that position.

The worst-case scenario is that your letter will begin “Dear Hiring Manager for [name of position]:” It’s not the best approach, but if you absolutely cannot find a name, this salutation does at least provide some specificity.

3. Telling the employer what the company can do for you instead of what you can do for the company. This mistake is particularly common among new college graduates and other inexperienced job-seekers. In most cases, employers are in business to make a profit. They want to know what you can do for their bottom line, not what they can do to fulfill your career dreams. Tell the employer how you can meet his or her needs and contribute to the company.

4. Leaving the ball in the employer’s court. Too many cover letters end with a line like this: “I look forward to hearing from you.” Proactive cover letters, in which the job-seeker requests an interview and promises to follow up with a phone call, are far more effective. Don’t be vague about your desire to be interviewed. Come right out and ask for an interview. Then, take your specific action a step farther and tell the recipient that you will contact him or her in a specified period of time to arrange an interview appointment. Obviously, if you say you will follow up, you have to do so. If you take this proactive approach and follow up, you will be much more likely to get interviews than if you did not follow up. This follow-up aspect is another good reason to obtain the specific name of the hiring manager. Here’s a sample closing paragraph requesting specific action and describing the writer’s planned follow-up.

I would like to be considered for a sales position in which someone of my background could make a contribution. I will contact you soon to arrange for an interview. Should you require any additional information, I can be contacted at the phone numbers listed above.

5. Being boring and formulaic. Don’t waste your first paragraph by writing a boring introduction. Use the first paragraph to grab the employer’s attention. Tell the employer why you are writing and summarize the reasons you are qualified for the position, expanding on your qualifications in later paragraphs. Don’t use such cliches as “Enclosed please find my resume” or “As you can see on my resume enclosed herewith.” Employers can see that your resume is enclosed; they don’t need you to tell them. Such trite phrases just waste precious space. Write a letter that will make the employer want to get to know you better.

6. Allowing typos, misspellings, or incorrect grammar/punctuation into your letter. Your letter reflects your ability to write and communicate. Be sure your document is letter-perfect before sending it out. Proofread your letter. Put it down and proof it again a few hours later with a fresh eye. Then enlist a friend to review it for errors.

7. Rehashing your resume. You can use your cover letter to highlight the aspects of your resume that are relevant to the position, but you’re wasting precious space — and the potential employer’s time — if you simply repeat your resume.  http://www.careerberg.com/

8. Failing to specifically tailor your letter to the job you’re applying for. If you’re answering an ad or online job posting, the specifics of your cover letter should be tied as closely as possible to the actual wording of the ad you’re responding to. In his book, Don’t Send a Resume, Jeffrey Fox calls the best letters written in response to want ads “Boomerang letters” because they “fly the want ad words — the copy — back to the writer of the ad.” In employing what Fox calls “a compelling sales technique,” he advises letter writers to: “Flatter the person who wrote the ad with your response letter. Echo the author’s words and intent. Your letter should be a mirror of the ad.” Fox notes that when the recipient reads such a letter, the thought process will be: “This person seems to fit the description. This person gets it.”

A particularly effective way to deploy the specifics of a want ad to your advantage is to use a two-column format in which you quote in the left-hand column specific qualifications that come right from the employer’s want ad and in the right-hand column, your attributes that meet those qualifications. The two-column format is extremely effective when you possess all the qualifications for a job, but it can even sell you when you are lacking one or more qualification. The format so clearly demonstrates that you are qualified in so many areas that the employer may overlook the areas in which you lack the exact qualifications.

9. Rambling on too long and telling the story of your life/career.Keep your letter as brief as possible. Never, never more than one page. Keeping to four or five paragraphs of no more than three sentences each is a good guideline. Using bullet points in the letter is a good way to break up blocks of text and interest the reader. Some job-seekers tend to use their cover letters to provide a narrative of their life or career. That’s not what the letter is all about; it’s a marketing tool that should focus on the qualifications that will sell you to the employer. Your letter should answer the question that the employer will be asking while reading the words you’ve written: “Why should I hire this person?” Answer with your Unique Selling Proposition. Use simple language and uncomplicated sentence structure. Ruthlessly eliminate all unnecessary words.

10. Using wimpy language. Avoid such phrases as “I feel” and “I believe.” Your statements will be much stronger without them. It’s best to either leave off the qualifier or use a stronger qualifier, such as “I am confident,” I am convinced,” or “I am positive.”

http://www.careerberg.com/

http://www.careerberg.com/

The short answer is that, yes, cover letters are most definitely needed in today’s market. A cover letter is your opportunity to introduce yourself to a potential employer and get them excited about reading your resume. While a well-crafted resume describes your experience, education, skills, and accomplishments, a cover letter describes you: who you are, what you can bring to the table, and how eager you are to interview for the job. Cover letters should be approximately three paragraphs—never more than one page—so get the most out of your cover letter by incorporating these elements:

•Be specific. Start off with an actual person’s name, rather than a general title or, worse, a department. Instead of “Dear HR Department,” address it to “Ms. XYZ.” This may require a bit of research on your part, but it’s well worth it. Similarly, be sure to convey your interest in a specific job—not just a job anywhere in the company. Even if you’re sending a prospecting resume (for a job not currently open or advertised), the hiring manager needs to know where to keep your resume in case something opens up: in the IT file or the graphic design file.

•Build interest. Too many people make the mistake of simply recopying their resume into paragraph form and calling it a cover letter. Cover letters should complement, rather than regurgitate, your resume. Add in something that gives it a “wow” factor and compels employers to read the attached resume. Expound on an impressive fact in your resume by adding an interesting side note: not only did you accomplish XYZ (the fact on your resume), but you were the youngest person in your company’s history to do so.

•Tell them you’re qualified. Don’t assume that the company can figure out that you’re qualified for the job—tell them. If the company needs an experienced marketer, describe your 10 years as marketing director for a non-profit agency. If they need someone with a master’s degree, talk up your degree and one or two things you gleaned from your master’s program that you look forward to applying in your new role.

•Say thank you. Everyone is busy, so don’t forget to thank readers for taking their precious time to review your cover letter and resume.

•Describe your next steps. In the last paragraph, tell potential employers that you’ll call within a week to make sure they received your resume and that they have everything they need to fully consider your candidacy. Then do it! http://www.careerberg.com/

There are a few occasions when cover letters typically aren’t necessary. Feel free to skip them when:

•A potential employer asks for your resume directly. If you’re in an interview, for example, and are asked for a copy of your resume, a cover letter isn’t necessary.

•You’re at a job fair. You’ll be handing your resume out to many people that likely cover a variety of industries, and it’s difficult to craft an effective cover letter in that situation. However, if you want to stand out from the hundreds of resumes that employers will receive, you may want to think about a cover letter that provides a general introduction.

•You’re meeting with a recruiter. They need the nuts and bolts of a resume to determine whether you’re a good fit for jobs that they’ve been hired to fill. You can use the interview process to fill in any softer areas that a cover letter might touch on.

•A company tells you to. Rarely, a company will specifically make a “no cover letter” request. Take them at their word.

http://www.careerberg.com/

Here’s a newsflash: Cover letters work, plain and simple. This is why I’m intrigued by the fact that a) jobseekers rarely submit them and b) hiring managers seldom read them. As a result, I started asking questions. Specifically, “What’s your problem with cover letters?” Here’s what I found out.

Jobseekers claim all the pertinent information is included in the resume. Translation: “I don’t know how to write an effective cover letter so I just scrap it.” Hiring managers say cover letters serve no purpose. Translation: “Jobseekers don’t know how to write an effective cover letter so I’d just as soon not be bothered.”

Top 3 Reasons Most Cover Letters Don’t Work

1. The one-size-fits-all method. Hiring managers are extremely jealous. Although they are aware you are courting other companies, they want to know that you at least care enough to hide it.

Solution: Avoid form letters. Instead, customize each letter with the hiring organization and the position in mind. Here’s an example.

“With over nine years of HRIS and human resources experience, I have had the opportunity to contribute strong, sustainable improvements within the HR functions, particularly in areas of systems development, implementation, and maintenance.

When I read the job description posted on your corporate website, I was immediately drawn to the similarity between your requirements and my experience. In particular, I meet your prerequisite for an HRIS Specialist who has the ability to train end users effectively in a variety of applications and processes. From my enclosed resume, you will note that I approach end-user training with a patient, diligent manner.”

2. I want, I need, I must have. Me, me, me. That is the approach many candidates take when writing their own cover letter. This self-centered approach, without a doubt, backfires every time.

Solution: Focus the letter on how you can benefit the hiring organization. Here’s an example.

“The following are examples from two different employers that illustrate my ability to integrate time- and cost-saving solutions for the HRIS infrastructure:

• For XYZ, I implemented an entirely new HRIS system that affected data and records for 25,000 team members, expediting processes by converting our applications to Lawson as the company grew at a breakneck pace.
• For ABC, I eliminated a slow-moving manual process and developed a system from the ground up that processed commissions for 700 people, leading to a reduction of three processing days per month.”

3. Taking a “pretty please” approach. No one wants to hire a desperate jobseeker.

Solution: The tone of the cover letter must be kept on a professional level. Here’s an example.

“In addition to technology and problem-solving skills, what I also offer is the ability to create and maintain data tables, structures, files, interface requirements, and data integrity protocols for ongoing administration.” http://www.careerberg.com/

http://www.careerberg.com

OK, you’re graduating from college soon. Time to give your resume and cover letter a checkup to ensure they are as powerful as they can be. Powerful new grad resumes and cover letters have several things in common, so you can kill a number of birds with one stone with this checkup.

1. Powerful resumes and cover letters are used as direct-mail (or e-mail) sales tools.

It’s important to remember the purpose of a resume and cover letter. They don’t have to perform the task of getting you a job since very few people are hired sight unseen. All they have to do is get you an interview. So the primary mission of a resume and cover letter is arouse the reader’s interest and sell yourself enough so that you get asked to meet with the employer.

The lesson here is to keep your documents concise and to the point. You don’t have to include everything about yourself, and you should not include anything that’s not relevant. You don’t have write your autobiography. Now, granted, some college students have the opposite problem. Instead of limiting the information they list on their resumes, they worry about not having enough. Others are tempted to list every class they’ve taken, every award, and every extracurricular activity. Many of these items may be worthy resume components, but for every item you’re considering inserting into your resume, ask yourself, is it relevant to the kind of job I’m seeking?

Course work usually isn’t necessary unless it’s unusual or you have very little else to list in your resume. Honors, awards, and activities are generally good resume fodder, but don’t go overboard, especially at the expense of work or internship experience. I knew one new grad who had an impressive list of honors and awards. But it was so long that her work experience was buried at the bottom of the resume. Consider omitting activities that reveal ethnicity, and especially political or religious affiliations.

Let go of high-school activities and honors unless they are truly exceptional or demonstrate an early interest in your chosen career. Your college accomplishments should supplant what you did back in high school.

2. Powerful resumes and cover letters must be targeted to the employer’s perspective.

When constructing your resume and cover letter, put yourself in the mind-set of the employer. Ask not what the employer can do for you but what you can do for the employer. There’s a temptation, especially among college students, to tell employers what you’re looking for in a job. We frequently see that tendency in Objective statements. The old chestnut about “Seeking challenging position with growth potential,” is so overused that it is meaningless to employers.

Employers want to know what you can do for them, how you will benefit their companies, how you will impact their bottom lines. While they’re not totally oblivious to your career hopes and dreams, your aspirations are not their primary concern.

3. Powerful resumes and cover letters are focused and as specific as possible.

The sad truth is that resumes and cover letters are read for between 2.5 and 20 seconds. So you have only the briefest moment to catch the employer’s interest. The employer wants to know as quickly as possible: What do you want to do and what are you good at? He or she doesn’t have time to wade through lots of text to find out.

So how can you sharpen the focus of your resume and cover letter?http://www.careerberg.com

• Consider an Objective Statement  to sharpen a resume’s focus. The objective statement can be as simple and straightforward as the title of the position you’re applying for, which can be adjusted for every job you apply for. Or you can embellish the Objective statement with language telling how you’ll benefit the employer. Something like:

Objective: To contribute strong ________ skills and experience to your firm in a _________ capacity.

In this day of being able to manage our own computer files, you could have several versions of your resume that are exactly the same except for the objective. A specific objective is always better than a vague or general one.

• Include a Professional Profile. A profile section, also known as a “Summary of Qualifications,” can help sharpen your resume’s focus by presenting 4-5 bullet points that encapsulate your best qualifications and selling points. It’s often a good idea to list relevant computer and foreign-language skills in this section instead of burying them at the bottom of your resume, as many job-seekers do.

• Tailor cover letters to specific jobs. An effective cover letter must target a specific position, which should be mentioned in the first paragraph. Don’t list several possible positions or say that you’re willing to consider any position. If you do, the employer will see you as unfocused or even desperate.

• Also consider specific tailoring for resumes. According to a new study by Career Masters Institute, employers want resumes to show a clear match between the applicant and a particular job’s requirements. A “general” resume that is not focused on a specific job’s requirements is seen as not competitive. Now it may not be realistic or practical to change your resume for every job you apply for, but you can change certain elements, such as the aforementioned Objective statement and the Professional Profile section. Another alternative is to have more than one version of your resume. Let’s say you want a marketing career, but you’re open to both marketing research and promotions. You could craft a version of your resume for each niche.

• Consider adding a graphic. This suggestion is pretty radical, and it’s not for everyone, but a very small, tasteful graphic on your resume and/or cover letter could sharpen your focus. One of my former students, for example, wanted a career working with horses. She placed a tiny horse graphic at the top of her resume. Her career focus was instantly apparent. Another student pursuing a law career used a tasteful scales of justice graphic; another interested in international business had a small world map graphic.

4. Powerful resumes and cover letters make the most of your college experience.

Too many college students miss the opportunity to exploit valuable experience on their resumes and cover letter because they overlook unpaid experience. Experience is experience. It doesn’t have to be paid. Anything you’ve done that has enabled you to develop skills that are relevant to the kind of job you seek is worth consideration for resume and cover letter mention. That’s especially true if you don’t have much paid experience. The key, as noted in #1, is relevance. Consider the following in evaluating what experience and skills you’ve gained that are relevant to what you want to do when you graduate:

• Internships
• Summer Jobs
• Campus jobs (work-study)
• Sports
• Entrepreneurial/self-employed jobs
• Temporary work
• Volunteer work: school, church, club, not-for-profit organizations
• Research papers/projects
• Campus activity positions
• Fraternity/sorority/social club positions
• Extracurricular or sports leadership positions

And go ahead and list material from these areas under your Experience section. Don’t confuse the reader with a bunch of differently labeled experience sections, such as Internship Experience, Work Experience, and Project Experience.

5. Powerful resumes and cover letters portray your skills as transferable and applicable to what you want to do.

You may think what you’ve done is not relevant to your future career, but you can probably spin the experience so that it demonstrates the transferable and applicable skills that most employers want:

• Teamwork
• Leadership
• Communications
• Interpersonal
• Computer

The value of transferable skills is a major reason I urge students to list sports in the Experience sections of their resumes — because athletics so often provide the teamwork, leadership experience, and competitive drive that employers seek.

6. Powerful resumes and cover letters focus on ACCOMPLISHMENTS, NOT job duties and responsibilities.

In the recent study by Career Masters Institute, content elements that propelled employers to immediately discard resumes included a focus on duties instead of accomplishments, while documented achievements were highly ranked among content elements that employers look for.

Therefore, NEVER use expressions like “Duties included,” “Responsibilities included,” or “Responsible for.” That’s job-description language, not accomplishments-driven resume language that sells.

Instead, emphasize the special things you did to set yourself apart and do the job better than anyone else.

Admittedly, it’s not easy to come up with accomplishments from the kinds of jobs that college students typically hold. But it’s important to:

• Start tracking your accomplishments NOW.
• Start HAVING accomplishments NOW!

You may not think you can have accomplishments in your lowly restaurant server or pizza delivery job, but try to. Ask your boss what you can do to improve. Strive to win any awards (such as Employee of the Month) that your employer offers. Find ways to go above and beyond your job description.http://www.careerberg.com

7. Powerful resumes and cover letters use action verbs and KEYWORDS!

Action verbs in your resume and cover letters increase the strength of your writing and make you sound dynamic to employers.

Almost as important as using action verbs is avoiding weak verbs:

• Do. Try “conduct,” “perform,” or “orchestrate.”
• Forms of the verb “to be.” Instead of “was,” say “served,” “functioned,” “acted.”
• Work. Everyone works. Be more specific. Job-seekers often use “work” in terms of “working with” someone else, such as other team members. In that context, “collaborate(d)” is often a good substitute.
• Received. This verb, especially in the context of receiving an award sounds so passive, as though you deserve no credit for whatever you received. Always say you “earned” an award or honor rather than “received” it.

Threatening to overtake verbs in importance on resumes and cover letters are keywords. Employers are increasingly relying on digitizing job-seeker resumes, placing those resumes in keyword-searchable databases, and using software to search those databases for specific keywords — usually nouns — that relate to job vacancies. Most Fortune 1000 companies, in fact, and many smaller companies now use these technologies. Experts estimate that more than 80 percent of resumes are searched for job-specific keywords.

The bottom line is that if you apply for a job with a company that searches databases for keywords, and your resume doesn’t have the keywords the company seeks for the person who fills that job, you are pretty much dead in the water.

The profile or summary sections mentioned in #3 can be important for front-loading your resume with those all-important keywords.

8. Powerful resumes and cover letters contain NO typos or misspellings.

Remember that it’s not enough to spell-check your documents because you may have used a perfectly spelled word — but it wasn’t the word you wanted. For example, a word frequently seen on resumes and cover letter is “possess,” but some job-seekers accidentally spell it “posses,” which is the plural of “posse.”

Proofread your resume and cover letter. Put them down for a few hours, come back, and proofread again. Then get a friend or family member with a good eye to proof them for you.

9. Powerful resumes and cover letters are reader-friendly.

The Career Masters Institute study ranks easy readability highest of all resume characteristics in terms of first impressions. The employers surveyed ranked use of bullets second highest.

Use the following to make your documents reader-friendly:

• Bullets in resumes (and sometimes in cover letters)
• White space. Make sure your documents have reasonable margins. In my opinion, the default margins in Microsoft Word are wider than they need to be (1.25″ on the left and right and 1″ at the top and bottom). Margins can be as narrow as .75″ if needed. My partner uses the “thumb test.” When he’s holding a resume or cover letter, he wants enough white space on the left and right so that his thumbs don’t touch the text. Of course, he has big thumbs, so 1″ left and right margins suit him better. Also make sure you have a line of space between all the jobs listed on your resume and between all resume sections. For cover letters, equalize the white space at the top and bottom of the letter so that it is centered vertically on the page.
• Type large enough to read (no smaller than 10.5 point).

Now, about the one-page “rule.” Job-seekers, especially new grads, are often cautioned to keep resumes to one page. And it’s good advice. You should keep it to one page if at all possible. But if your experience is exceptional, don’t sacrifice readability just for the sake of keeping the resume to one page. I’ve seen job-seekers use nonexistent margins and tiny type just to squash their resumes onto a single page. At the same time, if your resume spills over to fill just a small part of a second page (less than half the page), it’s probably best to condense to one page by cutting content.

http://www.careerberg.com

10. Powerful resumes and cover letters include every possible way to reach you.

Powerful resumes and cover letters do no good if the employer can’t reach you. Most college students wisely list both their campus and home addresses and phone numbers on their resumes.. Don’t forget your cell phone number, if you have one. In fact, don’t overlook any way an employer could reach you, including fax and pager numbers, if available.

When you’re in job-hunting mode, make sure the outgoing message on your residence-hall answering machine or voice-mail sounds professional. I’ve called many students in their dorms and gotten some pretty outrageous messages that would likely turn off employers.

A good way to ensure you have all relevant contact information on both your resume and cover letter (remember that the two could get separated) is to use the same “letterhead” on both documents, which also makes for an attractive package. It also never hurts to repeat your most important contact information in the last paragraph of your cover letter.