| The Infamous Cover Letter |
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The Infamous Cover Letter By Mary Beth Marino You found the perfect job suitable for your skills and qualifications. Your resume is perfecto, having slaved over it for hours on end. It is both modern and up-to-date. It does NOT have your main objective on the top, since that is passe; meaning, old, or a great analogy might best describe it as "a suit of rather antique appearance". No one put's the objective in any more. You objective is not to get hired so you can steal from the company. Your objective is not to be a secret conspirator for another company. You wouldn't admit it certainly, if it were. So obviously, the objective is to get the job. So your resume looks good. Spelling is correct; yes. Format is proper; yes. You did not tell any fibs that could someday have you fired, even if you get the job; no. It looks good whether you put it online or send it in the mail; yes. Great, then let's move on to the cover letter. Oh! No! The Writing Editor screams, continuing to peruse the cover letter and reads, and reads, and reads some more, shaking her head the entire time, as she reads even more! Get the idea? "I don't want all that information!" she sighs, as her shoulders droop in helpless abandoned. She tears the cover letter up, and tosses out the resume. "I don't have time to teach someone this again!" she mutters to herself. What she really means, is that the HR agent will do the same thing, toss aside, or tear up the cover letter and resume. Buried. Gone forever..and you did not even know it. What a waste! Here's the issue. You should NOT write a redundant cover letter. This means a cover letter that repeats everything your resume outlines. Human Resource people don't have time to read it AND your resume. The middle managers certainly won't have time to muddle through all the applicants, even if the resume makes it to them. And the final approval contact will never even see it. A resume tells hiring agents WHAT you do, and the experience you have. You also tell them about your education and the titles you have held in the job market. A cover letter tells people WHO you are. You are introducing yourself, and enticing them to read more about you, the person. It is written so well, they even want to know more about your work ethic and your background, so they will then continue reading and, yes, you got it, they will READ your resume! Now there are some differentiations among cover letters. You may write a different one applying for an internship, than you would for a College Graduate Cover Letter. There are also Referral Cover Letters; Cold Contact Cover Letters; Classified Ad Response Cover Letter, and an Email Cover Letter, and so on. Specify in that first paragraph what type of cover letter you are writing. For example, a referral cover letter might read; "Jeff Hewitt, your contributing columnist for The Herald Newspaper, and former colleague of mine, suggested I contact you regarding the copywriter position, available in the Home and Garden section of the newspaper. Another example; the new College Graduate who is looking for employment right out of school. This type of cover letter definitely has to portray you as the key person for the position. So you would immediately state your highly visible success in school. For instance, "As the Valedictorian of my graduating class at Mercer University, I feel my leadership abilities, coupled with my exemplary internship recommendations, prove me a viable candidate for the Public Relations position at Kelley Advertising." In that one introductory paragraph, you have already told them you were Valdictorian, (top student); a degreed student; possess leadership abilities and can provide internship experience in Public Relations. The Human Relations agent will see the best of you immediately, as a possible candidate for the position and will go on to read you resume to see what else you have to offer. Bottom line? The Writing Editor wants the WHO on the front page, and the WHAT on the second page. The Writing Editor wants YOU to get that job! Follow that lead and you will soon have the Where?, and When? on your resume as well! Happy Cover Letter Writing. Mary Beth Marino Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Beth_Marino |
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