How to put together a killer cover letter for resumes, has been on my resume, lately. I went job hunting for a few months, a year or so ago. The reason I say its been on my resume so to speak, is that I ended up helping my siblings with their resume and cover letters. I know what a pain it can be to be looking for a job and I wanted to help them with what I picked up.
Myself, I didn't want to settle for just any job. I know the financial strain of job hunting and I didn't want to have to move back home. Yet I didn't really want to just take any other job. So I dove right in and researched and picked up information from where ever I could find it to open up my options.
I picked up many good points from programs here and there. The best was that custom is always better. I tried the generic resume and cover letter routine and although I did get calls, I seldom shined. You know the waiting area, with another five or six applicants can seem really long when there's only one spot to fill. Here's a little of what I did to separate myself from the group.
On the cover letter for my resumes, I made sure to address the person hiring or interviewing by name. This shows you've done some work. I avoided generic, weird phrases that very few individuals use. Those are a dead give away that you just copied and pasted. Of course no grammar or spelling mistakes.
I used to read over some of the filed resumes and cover letters at a previous job and for some reason, my manager always opted for new applicants. I guess that says a lot, without saying much.
The cover letter for resumes I submitted focused its attention on the knowledge I had of the company and how I saw myself contributing to the organization. I tried to put across my passion for the field they were in without making it to long.
For a moment I was tempted to use one of those, find a job services that you hear about. But after reading a short story about the experience a user had, that paid close to fifteen thousand dollars to have a resume and cover letter distributed to thousands of employers, with no results. I opted to go at it myself. After all, I didn't have fifteen thousand to invest in getting another job. Holding a fulfilling job in my chosen career was very important for me and I figured that nothing was going to be better than face to face.
In my experience, a good cover letter has made a difference between landing the interview and not. That's the first step, right? I catch the reader with the knowledge I have of their organization and a few other key tips I learned to incorporate into my letter. I've helped my sister and brothers with their letter and they've also landed the jobs.
By Casey Alexander, ezinearticles.com
15 years ago
