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Q-Tips: Critical Cover Letter Tips
Key Letter Writing Advice #1
These job-search cover letter related tips -- writing with a dynamic style, tips for highlighting career accomplishments, and more -- have been gathered from numerous sources throughout Quintessential Careers and organized here for your convenience.
Your cover letter is a marketing document in which your goal is to
spark the interest of the potential employer. We are amazed at how
many cover letter "experts" advise people to waste their first
paragraphs -- which are the most important part of your cover letter.
In this first paragraph, aim to attract the interest of the
prospective employer, not simply state that you are applying for a
job. Visit the
Quintessential
Careers Cover Letter Tutorial for more information.
Go to the next tip.
The "boomerang letter" is a great way to answer a "help-wanted" ad,
according to author Jeffrey Fox. Fox explains the concept of the
"boomerang letter" in the
Q&A interview he did
with Quintessential Careers: "Companies spend lots of money and time
creating employment ads and running them in the media. Most
importantly, one or more persons in the hiring company wrote or
approved the ad copy. They have an emotional investment in that ad.
The job candidate who responds to the ad should send some of the
words and notions back to the advertiser. The copywriter will read
the candidate's letter and think, "this person really gets it,
understands what we want." Examples of actual ads and suggested
boomerang letters appear in Don't Send A Resume. (Read our
review of the book.)
People are flattered when their words are reiterated."
Go to the next tip.
The salutation in your cover letter should always avoid sexist
greetings -- and try to avoid stilted greetings, such as "Dear Madam
or Sir." If you don't know the name of your intended recipient (and
you should always at least TRY to find out):
- address the cover letter to "Dear Boxholder" -- a favorite of ours;
- address the cover letter to "Dear Hiring Manager for "XYZ" Position (where XYZ is replaced with the name of the position);
- address the cover letter to "Dear Friends" -- though some find that too informal;
- don't include a salutation; instead simply put "Re: Job XYZ" (where XYZ is replaced with the job listing code or name).
You can find other cover letter advice at our Cover Letter Do's and Don'ts and in the third edition of Dynamic Cover Letters (available in our Cover Letter Books Bookstore). The earlier editions of the book have helped more than a hundred thousand job-seekers with their cover letters.
Go to the next tip.
In the syndicated column she writes with Dale Dauten, Kate Wendleton
talks about how to cut down on frustration when responding to want
ads: "If you don't fit 80 percent to 90 percent of the requirements
listed, don't bother to apply. Instead, turn your attention to jobs
you really fit and are fit for." Wendleton also suggests deploying
your cover letter to "make yourself a logical choice for the 'Keep'
pile" by using two columns in the cover letter, with listed
requirements in Column A and your "fit" in Column B. "Make it easier
to include you than to exclude you," Wendleton writes. We give the
same advice in our cover-letter books, Dynamic Cover Letters and
Dynamic Cover Letters for New Graduates (available in our Cover
Letter Books Bookstore).
See a sample of such a two-column letter.
Go to the next tip.
Most corporate career centers give job-seekers explicit instructions
for how they want to receive cover letters and resumes. Some request
that you email the material, some request that you submit it via a
form from the company's Web site, some request that you fax it, and a
very small few ask you to mail it. Some will include the name of the
hiring manager, while others will simply ask you to respond with a
job number. Email cover letters are a bit different from regular
cover letters, though most of the same rules apply. While the 3rd
edition of Dynamic Cover Letters (available in our
Cover Letter Books Bookstore)
provides some good information and
sample email cover letters, we also have an article, titled
Tips for a
Dynamic Email Cover Letter.
Go to the next tip.
In their cover letters, those with very little experience may need to
deploy transferable skills from past jobs and education to show that
they indeed have the critical experience. Read:
Strategic
Portrayal of Transferable Skills is a Vital Job-search Technique.
Another solution is get the experience now through volunteering your relevant professional services to local non-profit organizations; you help a worthy organization and gain the experience you need to move to a better job.
Go to the next tip.
One of the biggest problems we see with cover letters is a lack of
specificity. There is NO such thing as a "general cover letter;"
well, there is, but we call it a BAD cover letter. Cover letters are
all about specifics -- about showcasing how you can make a difference
to the company. You really need to read: Cover
Letter Success is All About Specifics.
Go to the next tip.
Never, never -- never ever -- include any negative information in your
cover letter. Negative information immediately puts your cover letter
(and entire application) into the trash. Think of your cover letter
as a sales document. Thus, talk only of the great things about you
and how you are going to make a contribution to your future employer.
Discuss what you can bring to the employer; discuss your key skills
and qualities.Take some time to go through our tutorial on cover
letters. Go to the Dynamic Cover
Letters Tutorial For Developing a Stunningly Effective Cover
Letter. You'll find more than 100 pages of advice, hints, and
samples to help you create successful cover letters.
You might also want to read: Cover Letter Success is All About Specifics and/or the 3rd edition of Dynamic Cover Letters (available in our Cover Letter Books Bookstore). The first two editions have helped more than 100,000 job-seekers create successful cover letters -- and the third edition is the best one yet.
Go to the next tip.
Applying to jobs online? When you are looking for a job, make
everything you do easy for the employer. If the employer has to spend
more time on your application than on others, guess what? He or she
won't; he or she will simply move on to the next applicant. Make
cover letters and resumes sent over the Internet as easy as possible
for employers so they'll consider your application. Always send your
cover letter and resume as unformatted text within the email message
as well as formatted as attachments. If you don't provide both
options, you risk not being considered. Why? Because some employers
only want text, while others request formatted attachments. Still
others don't open attachments for fear of viruses or other security
reasons, and some may not be able to open your attachments because of
software incompatibilities. For guidelines to follow on text-based
resumes, read our article,
Scannable Resume Fundamentals.
Go to the next tip.
What salutation should you use in a cover letter if you don't know
the identity of the hiring manager? Simple. You should make it a
point always to know the identity of the hiring manager and address
your letter specifically for that person. There should be very few
times in your job search correspondence that can't find out the name
of the person you are writing to. As long a want ad provides the name
of the hiring company, it is quite easy to call the firm and obtain
the name of the hiring manager. In fact, doing so often results in
your letter and resume getting more notice because it shows
initiative. On those rare times when you do not know the name or
gender of the person you are writing to (such as when respond to a
blind-box ad), try "Dear Boxholder," "Dear Friends," or just begin
the letter without a salutation (but with a reference to the job you
are applying for).
Go to the next tip.
The biggest trick to composing a dynamic cover letter is to begin it
in a way that will draw the reader in and make him or her want to
read more -- and ultimately read your resume and invite you for an
interview. And you may have as few as 20 seconds to grab that
person's attention. Let's look at it this way: A 1999 study funded by
Pitney-Bowes revealed that the average worker receives 190 messages a
day of all kinds -- faxes, e-mails, phone calls, letters, memos,
air-express deliveries, people just stopping by to chat. Most workers
have to actually stop their work to deal with messages at least three
times per hour, and 40 percent are interrupted six or more times an
hour. That means the busy hiring manager has very little time to
spend on each piece of communication crossing his or her desk, so
your letter needs to get attention in a hurry to be effective.
This Q Tip is an exclusive excerpt from the 3rd Edition of Dynamic Cover Letters.
Go to the next tip.
Although many employers who scan resumes electronically don't scan
cover letters, they often use cover letters to help them code the
source of resumes. They want to know whether you sent your resume in
response to a print ad, Internet ad, or whether you were referred to
the employer's company, or are simply making a cold contact. Your
cover letter provides that information, so if you know the company is
scanning resumes, don't omit the cover letter -- it provides
information your resume can't.
This Q Tip is an exclusive excerpt from the 3rd Edition of Dynamic Cover Letters.
Go to the next tip.
Here's a good tip from the Brian Krueger, author of the excellent
College Grad Job Hunter (available in our
College Graduate Career
Books Bookstore): Add a handwritten postscript (PS) to the
bottom of your cover letters. Let it highlight one of your best
qualifications. It will be the first thing employers notice.
Go to the next tip.
How should you send cover letters electronically? In our book,
Dynamic
Cover Letters for New Graduates,
we advise: "brevity is particularly important. For some readers, a
screen of email seems equivalent to a page of type."
Other guidelines for sending your cover letter via email are: keep it brief; even shorter than a standard cover letter; know the company guidelines, which can usually be found on each company's Web site (Check out our Directory of Company Career Centers; use limited formatting so that the letters can be more easily scanned (and because not everyone has email software that allows stylized text); make good use of keywords in your cover letter; and as always, proofread and edit your work, making sure there are no errors of any kind.
Go to the next tip.
Wondering how to address a cover letter in response to a blind ad in
which no contact person, address, or business/organization name is
listed? As we write in our book,
Dynamic Cover Letters
(Ten Speed Press), sometimes employers, for various reasons, place
blind classified ads that do not identify the company. But some blind
ads are more blind than others. Some may use the initials for the
company's name sent to a post office box. In these cases, you may be
able to discover the name of the company. The most common blind ad,
however, uses only a box number at the publication carrying the ad,
and in these cases, there is virtually no way to uncover the name of
the company.
So, how do you address your cover letter? Our favorite for blind-box ads is "Dear Boxholder." We've also often used "Dear Friends" or "Dear Hiring Manager for [name of position]." Avoid at all costs "To Whom it May Concern," or worse, a sexist salutation such as "Gentlemen." Finally, it is also acceptable when responding to a blind-box ad to omit the salutation and begin with the body of the letter.
Go to the next tip.
Sending out dozens -- or even hundreds -- of resumes and getting no
replies? First, be sure you have sent out cover letters with your
resumes and have followed appropriate cover-letter techniques:
writing to a named individual, requesting an interview, and promising
action. Now, list all your recipients in a spreadsheet and start
contacting them right away. Never expect employers to respond to
your inquiries; as you may have discovered, very few do so. Follow up
your resume/cover letter after about a week to 10 days later with a
phone call. Read more about cover letters and job-hunting at
Quintessential Careers: Cover Letter Resources,
which includes a link to our
Cover Letter Tutorial.
Go to the next tip.
The cover letter is a crucial marketing document that must be
directed to a named individual and create enough interest on the part
of the potential employer to inspire him or her to then look at your
resume. You must create interest while quantifying your
qualifications for the position you seek. You must also demonstrate
some knowledge of the company and stress what you can do for the
company. Finally, you must request action -- an interview. Visit
Quintessential
Careers: Cover Letter Resources, which includes a link to the
cover letter tutorial, a list of cover letters do's and don'ts, a
cover-letter formula, and much more.
Go to the next tip.
Writers get writer's block and sometimes job-hunters get job-hunter's
block, especially when they are new to job-hunting. The key is
getting focused on what you want to accomplish, which should motivate
you to get you on the right path to finding that ideal opportunity
for you. A step-by-step plan for job-hunting can help keep you on
course. Identify key companies in the geographic areas that interest
you. A number of reference books in your local library or university
library that list corporations and divisions by location. You could
also contact the area chambers of commerce to get that kind of
information -- or even track down the phone books.
Check out our Quintessential Directory of Company Career Centers. Once you've identified the companies, contact each company to get a name of a person to whom to send your cover letter and resume. Next, write dynamic cover letters to these people; look here to find some great sample cover letters. Then do the required follow-up. Call the people you wrote to about 10 days later and request an interview. Be prepared for some rejection. While the cold-contact method is much more successful than responding to want ads and job listings, you will still get numerous rejections.
Go to the next tip.
One of the secrets of writing great cover letters that get you
results is writing to a named individual. Rather than writing to a
title or human resources, it makes much more sense to contact all the
prospective employers on your targeted list and obtain the names of
hiring managers for the type of position you seek. Address your
letters to a named individual rather than just a title. Lots more
tips and suggestions can be found on our our cover letter resources
section, including
Cover Letter Do's and Don'ts.
Go to the next tip.
Should you include a cover letter when you send your resume via
e-mail or via fax? Unless an employer specifically states no cover
letters, you should always include a cover letter. You wouldn't want
to eliminate a key selling tool in your job-search portfolio. The
whole point of a cover letter is to draw interest in you and motivate
the employer to look over your resume. For some great tips on writing
a dynamic cover letter, visit our
cover letter resources page,
which includes some great
links, such as to a cover letter tutorial (for those who need a lot
of help with writing cover letters) and a cover letter formula. When
sending a fax, of course, send a normal cover letter. Email is a
little trickier. Send your cover letter both as part of the email.
You need to make a quick sale in your email, so why not take advantage of the possibility
of including a short cover letter?
Go to the next tip.
According to Phil Hey, professor of English and writing at Briar
Cliff College, the most common mistake students make on their resumes
and cover letters is a failure to give evidence of achievement --
proof that their actions had positive, recognized results. In the
Q&A
interview Hey did with Quintessential Careers, he noted, "Employers don't want
a dead history of education and job descriptions; they want some
outcomes that show that the applicant really can produce on the job."
Find even more cover letter writing tips in Critical Cover Letter Tips: Key Letter Writing Advice #2.
Check out all of our Quick and Quintessential Critical Cover Letter Tips.
Review all our Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search and Work Life.
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