Special Feature: Optimizing Your Cold-Contact Cover Letter
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
What's New on Quintessential Careers: Latest Additions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
In this electronic age, it's natural to wonder if cover letters have become obsolete -- as one
of our Career Doctor's "patients" queries about in this issue. It's true that about a third of employers
don't put much stock in cover letters, but to the majority, these letters are an important element in evaluating
candidates.
In our continuing quest to help job-seekers compose great cover letters, we offer in this
issue an article by new contributor Elizabeth Freedman with two terrific cover-letter suggestions.
And Teena Rose analyzes the cold-contact letter, an effective and often overlooked form of cover letter.
Here are some interesting statistics. In 2005, Quintessential Careers had 31.5 million page impressions
from 10.2 million unique visitors -- both massive increases from 2004.... and January set a new
record in terms of impressions at more than 4.2 million! Thanks to all our readers and visitors!!
--Katharine Hansen, Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Master,
Certified Electronic Career Coach, and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Cover Letters That Count
by Elizabeth Freedman, MBA
Ever had a wince-worthy moment? A moment that you wish you could do over? One of mine came during a job
search several years ago. I had learned about a hot job opportunity through a friend, and, convinced I had discovered
my "dream job," I quickly dashed off a cover letter and resume. I still cringe today when I think about the hiring manager's
parting words upon viewing my materials: "Well, Liz, we actually liked your qualifications, but your cover letter contained
about 10 spelling mistakes. You even misspelled the name of our company." The most upsetting thing about this experience
is that if I had simply taken the time to carefully review my cover letter, I could have avoided this wince-worthy
occurrence altogether.
As the saying goes, we get only one chance to make a first impression. In a competitive job market where human
resources departments are flooded with applicants, a first impression may be your only opportunity to make an impact. When trying to
land a first job or internship, a strong, succinct cover letter is one of the best tools you can use to get noticed. And unlike other first
impressions, the cover letter puts the opportunity to succeed largely in your hands. To avoid wince-worthy moments and
create a terrific first impression, read our full article
for a couple of winning cover-letter suggestions.
Special Feature: Cold-Contact Cover Letters
Optimizing Your Cold-Contact Cover Letter
by Teena Rose
A cover letter sent to a company that may not have publicly
advertised positions is called a cold-contact letter. You're
contacting the employer to introduce yourself with the hope
that it may spark an interest and result in a warm lead (also
known as an interview). For obvious reasons, a cold-contact
letter will generate the fewest leads, so paying special attention
to the content and adding a couple unique elements will increase
your return rate.
This gateway offers current job search and career news
informational sources from around the Web. The site includes
links to career news feeds, job-hunting newsletters, career advice
columns, and job-search blogs. It's a job-seeker's one-stop source
for career and job resources.
Ad: Start Your Job-Search Right with a New Resume!
Quintessential Resumes & Cover Letters is now providing solutions
with unmatched quality in the areas of career planning, professional resume writing, and interviewing, having
successfully helped tens of thousands of clients, from executives through individuals beginning a career,
succeed in their career goals.
Tanya writes: "I saw your web site while searching for advice on cover letters. Someone told me that
cover letters are really obsolete, yet I find a lot of stuff written about them. So, what's your advice?
Should job-seekers like me really still be concerned with writing cover letters?"
Melissa writes: "I have just completed a series of interviews and wondered what
your opinion is of sending thank-you letters electronically. Must one
mail thank-you letters via snail-mail or is it okay to email a thank-you letter?"
Nicole writes: "I am writing to ask you for your advice if a business minor is good to have along with a speech
communications major. I am interested in the public relations/advertising field. I am not big into politics
and government, so I am staying away from that area.
However, I have only taken one econ class, which was
in high school. Do you think that a business minor would be to my advantage or an English or journalism minor?
I enjoy writing as well. I would really appreciate it if you could let me know your opinion."
Amber writes: "Sometimes people at my office come into work on days when they are very sick. One recent incident in particular
involves a woman I work for. She has been walking around for the past week or so hacking and coughing all over things,
including paperwork for me to do. She never misses work! How can I ensure my health around a person like this?
Should I wear a mask or something?"
California Job Journal --
a great Northern California job site, where job-seekers can search job listings (by keywords, category,
and region). Also includes many other useful career information and resources, including career
fair and career event listings. No cost to job-seekers.
EstateJobs.com --
where job-seekers searching for domestic jobs worldwide -- estate managers, butlers, drivers,
domestic couples, executive housekeepers, high-end nannies, and more -- can search job listings
and post your profile. Registration required to search site. No cost to job-seekers.
PharmaOpportunities --
a great job site for the pharmaceutical, biotech, life science, healthcare industries, where job-seekers can
search for job listings (by keyword, location, industry), post your resume, review company profiles, and create
job alerts. Also includes links to a wide variety of career tools. No cost to job-seekers.
SalesAnimals --
a top site for sales professionals seeking new jobs, where job-seekers can search job
listings (by keywords, location), post your resume (with confidential option), register for job alerts,
find career advice, and review sales resources. No cost to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Robin Ryan, author of Winning Cover Letters, reports that a top result that came out of her national survey of 600
hiring managers and human resources personnel was best summarized by Melanie Prinsen, a vice president of human
resources, who said: "Applicants must use a cover letter!"
"Cover Letters are very influential," says Jim, a Cingular human resource manager, "and a well written letter can
grab an interview just on its own merit. It's too bad most job hunters are so lazy they don't write one."
Deb Walker (Alpha Advantage)
offers advice on avoiding one of the top cover-letter mistakes:
"A cover letter that begins nearly every sentence with 'I' is as
boring as a conversation with someone who only talks
about himself. That kind of person one avoids at all costs.
Is that the way you want your reader to see you?
Focusing all the attention on yourself may seem like a
good way to sell your skills. But it can also reflect lack
of interest in the company, in the job, and in making
a real contribution to that workplace. There's a good
balance to be drawn between selling yourself and selling
what you can do for the company.
Creating variety in the sentences of your cover letter
is an easy way to show your interest without being
self-centered. By shifting the emphasis to the
recipient/company -- and away from yourself --
you can prove that your main interest is not just in
winning the job but also in doing it effectively. Try to
rewrite sentences that start with 'I,' 'me,' or 'my,' to start with
'You,' or 'Your.' Show how you can make a difference for them."
One of the many advantages of sending a cover letter is its flexibility. You can do more than just sell an employer
on interviewing you, says Teena Rose of Resume to Referral.
You can, for example, use a cover letter for:
Articulating relocation choice or willingness to travel;
Stating salary requirement, if requested by company;
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* The Value of Mock/Rehearsed/Videotaped Interviews
* Closing the Sale and Overcoming Objections in the Job Interview
* A Writing-to-Learn Approach to Interview Preparation
* Roundup of Recent Grade Job-hunting Experiences
* College Grad Hiring from the Recruiter's Perspective
* 6-Figure Jobs
* Deploying Intuition to Find Your Ideal Career
* GLBT Job-search Issues
* The Demand for Good Writing Skills
* Annual College Admissions Panel
* Alternatives to College
* Storytelling that Propels Careers
* Annual Career Doctor Compendium
* The Value of Internships Abroad and Study Abroad
* Top 10 Fears of Job-seekers
* For Job-hunting Success, Develop a Detailed Job-Search Plan
* How to Build a Personal Advisory Board
* Keep Your Career Dreams Alive
* MBA Career Portfolios
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Noncompete Clauses
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-seekers
* Are You Sabotaging Your Job-Search/Career?
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Hours
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more... including Quintessential Careers' 10th Anniversary!
