Quintessential Careers Press:
Surefire Resumes for New Graduates and Other Entry-Level Candidates
Introduction: New-grad Resumes and Cover Letters as Marketing Tools
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The value of the referral letter is in its name-dropping. If you can grab the potential employer's attention by mentioning someone he knows and respects in the first line of the letter, you will have gained a terrific advantage over the competition. Some variations on the referral letter include approaches like these:
"John Ross of Technology Unlimited suggested you might have openings for systems analysts.""I met with Mary Jones last week, and she mentioned that you might have need for someone with a background in book marketing."
"My adviser, Claude Brachfeld, never misses an opportunity to tell me of your innovations in the superconductivity field."
It would be a rare employer who would fail to interview an applicant with such an edge.
Remember that a cover letter is perhaps the most important part of a direct-mail sales package. The product is you. As with any other sales letter, you are trying to motivate a specific action. You want that employer to call and invite you for an interview. A dynamic cover letter can attract the employer's attention and arouse interest.
Note: This chapter is partially adaped from the 3rd edition of Dynamic Cover Letters (Ten Speed Press).
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