Don't Use the Word "Various" in Your Cover Letter

It's one of my pet peeves about cover letter writing: the word "various." Here's why I think that word makes a letter weaker, not stronger. And how you can replace it with something much better. Continue reading...

Need a Good Cover Letter Template?

I think a cover letter template is a job seeker's best friend. Breaks writer's block and keeps you on track. And a good letter template doesn't make your cover letters sound like form letters. Here's are free cover letter templates, sample letters created from letter templates, and info on how to download my Word cover letter templates. Continue reading...

The Coolest, Best Color Scheme for Your Resume

Oh, please don't say "grey on white" or "blue on white" is a good choice for your resume because it looks cool. I know everyone's writing documents with blue and grey text, but it just isn't the best color scheme for readers like me who have less-than-perfect eyesight. Continue reading...

2 Resume Mistakes. Are You Guilty of Using These Words?

Here's something that really turns me off: job seekers who try to make a bigger-than-life impression by using unnatural language in a cover letter or resume. Continue reading...

When Cover Notes Work Better than Cover Letters

"Good things, when short, are twice as good." - Baltasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom

Swamped with emails and phone calls, deadlines and program changes, staff issues and meetings, most managers these days are challenged more than ever to be efficient with their time. To them, reading a long cover letter that makes a detailed case for hiring a candidate may be as frustrating as a meeting that goes on without getting much accomplished, or a phone call with a client who just keeps talking. So when you send a carefully-crafted, succinct cover note, it can be like a breath of fresh air.

Why a Cover Note can be more Effective than a Cover Letter

• Slingshot response - If managers read long cover letters at all, they are likely to breeze through them to see if the name of the candidate or referrer is familiar, or to look for red flags like spelling errors or tone. They know that they get the information that is most useful to them from the resume itself. Later, if there is need for further consideration, they could refer to the cover letter but most likely would just ask the candidate questions in an interview. Therefore, wordiness can render a cover letter ineffective. A quick cover note, on the other hand, acts like a slingshot - a simple, effective tool that motivates the reader to go straight to the resume.
• Talking their language - Showing a manager that you know what it's like to be in their shoes demonstrates experience and inspires confidence. Because a cover note is short and to the point, an instant rapport is established by getting down to business. And you demonstrate that you are putting the employer first.
• Communicating respect - Acknowledging potential employers with respect is a great way to get them to read cover letters, but how respect is communicated is changing. In the past, if a letter wasn't sent on fancy paper with one-inch margins and formal language, it appeared as a lack of respect. But for more and more managers who are stretched thin, the traditional page-long cover letter that makes a case for hiring the candidate verges on overkill. If you provide a brief cover note on plain paper, you demonstrate respect for their time, and an overall mindset of time management and efficiency.
• Working within the rules - Because many managers already receive short cover notes with resumes sent by email or snail mail, sending a lengthy letter can appear as old school or antiquated. By using a cover note, you can show that you've taken the time to educate yourself on how the latest system works, and are willing to work within it.
• Economy of words - Concise writing shows that you have well-developed writing skills, and are able to condense your thoughts for expedient communication.
• Art of persuasion - A cover note puts marketing strategy to work. It is designed to persuade recipients to take immediate action to learn more about you. The message focuses on benefits you offer to the employer, reveals how you stand out as better than the rest, and prompts the reader to continue to the next step. The science of this can be lost in a lengthy cover letter.
• Less room for error - The shorter the letter, the fewer opportunities for typos or awkward grammar.

What to Include in a Cover Note

• Short subject line - When submitting a resume by email or online form, keep subject lines short. When possible, include a job reference number, job title, or the name of the person who authorized a referral. For example, "Inquiry regarding Job #6752-1 on JobSearch.com" or "Marketing Coordinator referred by Mitchell Camden."
• Be specific - Respond to a specific position and address the recipient by name whenever possible. Unsolicited resumes are less likely to be read.
• Purpose - The intention of the cover note should be made clear in the first paragraph, indicating what prompted the communication and referring to your resume. As an example, "I am sincerely interested in the position of Client Relations Manager (Reference #S563) posted on HireMeNow.com, and have attached a resume for your review." or "I had the pleasure of meeting Carol Hutchens at last week's HR symposium, and she suggested I contact you regarding job opportunities within your IT department. I have attached a resume for your consideration."
• Match skills to responsibilities - In the second paragraph, begin with a statement showing how your skills are well-matched to the position using the same kind of language used in the job description. For example, if one of the daily responsibilities of the job is "Conducts research on news items related to biopharmaceuticals and Acme, Inc. using the Internet and print resources, and documents news items in the public relations repository," you might write "Please note that I have two years experience conducting and documenting Internet research for an online publication, and was responsible for managing the news article archives."
• Benefits and differentiators - The second paragraph should also include a short statement identifying the best benefits you bring to the table and the attributes that set you apart from other qualified candidates. As an example, "After five years as a journalist in Baltimore, I have an extensive list of contacts that will prove beneficial to your public relations department, and because I wrote regularly for the society column of the newspaper, I am uniquely qualified to reach your target audience."
• All necessary details - In the optional third paragraph of the cover note, make sure all of the necessary details regarding special considerations are provided so there are no surprises later, like "I will be relocating to a neighborhood near your Cambridge facility on April 17" or "I am otherwise committed weekday mornings before noon, but available to work afternoon and evening shifts." If the employer asks for salary requirements to be included, this is the place to provide a general statement such as "I am seeking a salary in the area of $25,000 per year."
• Call to action - Inviting the recipient to follow up with you about your resume is as important as asking for the position in an interview. In a last paragraph, express interest in the opportunity and anticipation of further contact. For example, "I am sincerely interested in being part of your team, and hope you will consider me for the Claims Analyst position. I look forward to hearing from you." This not only clearly places the ball in their court, but prompts them to look further into your qualifications (i.e. reading your resume).
• Acknowledgement - Thanking the reader for their time not only demonstrates respect, but reinforces that their concerns are your first priority.

When to Use a Cover Note

Use your knowledge of the company, the industry, and the position to determine whether a cover letter or cover note is most suitable. The wording of a job description or company website can reveal how forward thinking an employer is - therefore how open they may be to a new way of doing things. Conservative, traditional companies should be approached with conservative, traditional cover letters. Industries who are most likely to respond well to cover notes are notably progressive ones like IT, journalism, marketing, and healthcare. Recruiting agencies also tend to prefer them.

Most importantly, use the cover note or cover letter that suits your personality best. This will help a potential employer determine whether you will be a good match for the team.

Guest post by Ellen Berry who writes about a variety of education and career topics for BrainTrack.com.

Is This Cover Letter a Gimmick or Smart Marketing?

When it comes to job search cover letters, there's a fine line between smart marketing and sales gimmicks. The "Guerrilla Cover Letter" writers in this video claim their letter got an interview very quickly, but do you think it's too gimmicky?




Here are the points in this video that I agree and disagree with: Continue reading...

The 12-Word Cover Letter That Grabs a Recruiter's Attention

Do recruiters read every word of your cover email or hardcopy letter? Not unless you rope them in with a few must-read words at the beginning. Continue reading...

An Easy Way to Give Your Cover Letter Zing!

As the saying goes: There are people who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who wonder what happened. Most employers want an employee who makes things happen. Your cover letter/email is a great place to say you do just that! Continue reading...

Excellent Email Example to a Job Search Network

This is worth checking out: A great "I'm looking for a job" email sent by a real job seeker to his job search network. The best part is that the email really worked! Continue reading...

6 Ways to Optimize Your Email Cover Letter

Email is the new cover letter... at least for most people's job search.

In today's job market, where a job seeker's resume is often sent as an attachment to an email, the email message serves as the cover letter. It plays the critical role of making a first impression and convincing the recruiter or manager to download and open the attached resume. Continue reading...

Best Format for Resume Attachment

Most employers prefer that you send your resume as an MS Word document because MS Word docs can can easily be input into recruiting database systems for keyword searches, storage, sorting, and distribution. Read more...

Quotes on Resume

What do you think of putting quotes from former supervisors on your resume? Short quotes on a resume can be very effective because they give the job seeker an opportunity to say good things about himself from another's perspective. This is especially helpful for the job seeker who has trouble... Continue reading

Job Seekers Slingin' Slang

Trash Talkin' A Turnoff to Clients; Prospects and Clients Leary of Loose Language
by Craig Harrison, Principal, Expressions of Excellence, 510/547-0664 (reprinted here with Craig's permission)

Despite attention to four-color brochures, meticulous grooming and letter-perfect newsletters, consultants constantly undermine their hire-ability and employees hurt their promotability through sloppy language skills and inappropriate word choices in their communication. What point is shined shoes and polished purses if you're constantly shooting yourself in the foot with your own words?

Slang is sloppy…precision preferred

Professionalism counts in the work world. Proper English shows good taste, good schooling and an understanding of professional protocols. Avoid slang. You're not a short-order cook! Slang is a shortcut that suggests excessive informality and lack of appreciation for the workplace setting and expectations.I wish I had a nickel for every consultant who told me he or she was gonna do something! Gonna is gutter. Replace all uses of "gonna" with "going to" and others will perceive you to be a professional with plans. Gonna is what an elementary school student will do when the recess bell rings. Going to is what dedicated and focused professionals intend to do, a part of a strategic plan, an act with intention.

• Sadly, very unique isn't. Unique, by definition, means one of a kind, unparalleled, without peer. Adding very in front of unique is as meaningless as doing something 110%, 115% or 150%. And you thought grade inflation was bad! OK, we get the point.
  
  
• Prove you're a graduate by knowing the difference between alumni, alumnus and alumna and alumnae. The first and last are plural, the second and third refer to a male or female graduate of their alma mater. Alumnae refers to women graduates. Alumni refers to coed graduates.
  
  
• Figuratively vs. Literally. When you say you could eat a horse, you are speaking figuratively. Only the Donner party meant it literally. One consultant told his client "he literally killed to get a past job." Really? Who wants to hire a murderer?
  
  
• Degrees are important. So is understanding the degree to which you are in favor or opposed to something. Don’t get a third degree burn! When you tell people you are 360° opposed to something, they won't hire you since you obviously failed geometry. 180° denotes complete opposition. Once you've rotated 360° you've come full circle and are back where you started from. (Do not pass go, Blockhead. It's back to square one!)
  
  
• More Than vs. Over: Over is a preposition and generally refers to spatial relationships: "The plane flew over Sacramento." Use "more than": Silicon Valley has more than 10,000 programming jobs.
  
  
• Myriad vs. A myriad Of: Myriad means "many." Not "a myriad of" problems. That would like saying, "he has many of problems," which would be wrong. We would say, "he has many problems."
  
  
• Don't bother asking about renumeration. You're ineligible, because you won't be retained. The correct word is Remunerate, to give someone money or to be paid, which you will be, when you use the correct word.
  
  
• Irregardless. There is no such word. Regardless of what you've heard, the correct word is "regardless."
  
  
• Interred vs. interned. If you worked without pay, you interned. Ironically, it can also refer to serving behind bars, as in a prison. As bad as that is, when you say you interred, it suggests you were buried! You'll never get ahead if you're already six feet under. Unless you're born again, stick with interned.
  
  
• Presidents and Olympians are forever so. Everyone wants respect but nobody gives it anymore. When you speak of a United States president such as Bill Clinton, George Herbert Walker Bush or Jimmy Carter, they're still President Clinton, Bush, or Carterre respectively. (Note that President Jimmy Carter is now a Nobel laureate too!) When you refer to Olympians Mary Lou Retton, Billy Mills or Peggy Fleming, they're Olympians (not past or former Olympians). Just like recent medalists Apolo Anton Ohno, Sasha Cohen, Shani Davis or Chad Hedrick, Even ones who didn't medal, like Bode Miller will forever remain Olympians.

Pronouncements on Pronunciation

Just so you know, although shift happens, paradigm is and always has been pronounced pair-ah-DIME, not para-DIG 'EM.

Yet these days alternate pronunciations are plentiful: harassment, nuclear (nucular is also acceptable until 2008), and database (pronounced dah-ta-base or DAY-ta-base).

By the way,

• The singular of data is datum
• The plural of stadium is stadia
• Media is plural for medium. TV is a medium. Radio, too. Print (a.k.a. newspaper) is another. TV, radio and newspapers together are forms of media.

It is a fact that customers do business with those they know, like and trust. Speaking well builds trust with clients. It reflects a shared value, the proper use of language. Speaking well is a sign of your professionalism, suggesting you will adhere to other standards of good business: honesty, fairness and service.

When you speak well the world respects you and wants to do business with you. Can ya dig it?

e-Etiquette for Emails

In e-Etiquette: Writing Tactful Emails, Cara Scharf summarizes her interview with me about how to write an effective job search email, including:

• Use appropriate subject lines and filenames.
• Maintain letter-writing conventions such as a formal salutation, easy-to-scan body, and sign off.
• Be brief, but not curt.
• Don’t use abbreves, kthx.

When to Make Letters Capped

Here's a topic that throws a lot of letter writers for a loop: capitalization. Knowing what words always start with a capital letter and what circumstances require a normally lowercase word to be capitalized can make a big difference in how effectively you communicate. Continue reading...

7 Email Tips for Your Job Search

Your email to a recruiter or prospective employer could be the most critical marketing piece of your job search. A good one will convince him to download and open your attached resume. A not-so-good one could get tossed in the recycle bin. The following email Q&A will help put you in the running for your next job. Continue reading...

Job Search Email Guidelines

Email is essential to the success of your job search. You'll be emailing recruiters, hiring managers, and folks in your network, most of whom are busy multi-taskers trying to keep a gazillion emails straight. Continue reading...

Cover Letter to Job Hunt Network

Question
My husband lost his job in October. His friends and family asked that he send them his resume so they could send it to people they know. What kind of cover letter do you use in this situation when you don't know what type of job someone might have available for you? Continue reading...

Cover Letter Basics

All the basics of a good cover letter, presented in this pretty amusing video by Howcast.

The Point of Sample Cover Letters

Question
What's the point of reading lots of sample cover letters when we don't know if those cover letters were successful?

Answer
Most people experience writer's block when they sit down to write a cover letter. By reading sample cover letters, you can break the silence in your head as to what to put on that blank document on your computer screen. Sample cover letters shouldn't be copied word-for-word. They're best used as inspiration for:
- How to grab the reader's attention without being gimmicky
- How to format your letter so it looks quick and easy to read
- How to make your points concisely in prose form
- How to show personality through your writing style
- How to ask for an interview or motivate the recruiter or employer to call you

So read lots of sample cover letters and make notes of good ideas you find. Then incorporate those ideas in your letters, using your own style.