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[Download:
Instant Cover Letters
using Jimmy Sweeney's Amazing Cover Letter Creator]
Cover Letter Tips
7 Secrets for Amazing Cover Letters, Jimmy Sweeney
5 Cover Letter Mistakes
Effective Fax Cover Letter Strategies
Fax Cover Letters w/Free Fax Service
Does a fax cover sheet replace a regular cover letter?
Junk Cover Letters Kill Good Resumes
Cold-contact Cover Letter
Follow-up Letter
Job-specific Cover Letter
Purpose of a Cover Letter
Types of Cover Letters
How to Write a Job-Winning Cover Letter
Write Winning Cover Letters; Tips That Can Help You Land an
Interview
Sending a thank you letter is as important as interview preparation.
How to Start Your Cover Letter Off With a BANG!
5 Ways to Improve Your Cover Letter
Business Plan Cover Letter Advice Example Business Plan
Cover Letter included
How to Make My Cover Letter Unique?
Article contains sample clauses and ideas for making your cover
letters different.
What Does "Attachment" Mean at the End of a Letter?
Individualized Cover Letters?
How Do I Properly Address the Letters?
How Do I Add Salary Requirements?
Adding salary requirements to your letter properly will help
the reader.
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5 Ways to Improve
Your Cover Letters
AT&T gets over a thousand
resumes everyday, so Jim, who is a human resource manager there,
shared this insight with us. "Today, so many people can't communicate
well. That's why a well-composed
cover letter
is influential. In fact, a well-written letter can grab an interview
just on its own merit. It's too bad many job hunters are so
lazy they don't write one."
That's a mistake no savvy job candidate wants to make.
In the Winning Cover Letters book we published
a survey of over 600 hiring managers, outlining the proven formula
for writing an effective cover letter [example
of an effective cover letter] and detailing key mistakes
to avoid. Here are five ways to get you started today on improving
your letter writing skills.
-
Don't lose them with your
first sentence. Typical opening sentences such as, "I'm
applying for the job I saw on your website." OR "I really
want to work for your company." are ineffective according
to our survey results. The cover letter and resume only
get a 15-second glance, so your first line either grabs
the reader's attention or loses it. Hiring managers overwhelmingly
report that you must use a powerful first sentence that
summarizes the top skills and experience you can bring to
the job. For example, Five years experience as project
manager, with a proven track record of being on time and
within budget, is the background I would bring to your position.
-
 Sell!
Sell! SELL! 97% of the hiring managers surveyed agreed
that they want to see SPECIFICS -- not generic form letters.
Mike, a vice-president of human resources, said, "Candidates
that stand out for us provide evidence of their past achievements
and their talents, and with concise sentences support the
kinds of contributions they would bring to our company.
To me, the cover letter is more influential than the resume,
because it is a truer sample of the candidate's communication
skills, assuming they most likely wrote it themselves."
When you write your cover letter, be sure to stress your
applicable background experience and highlight your accomplishments
in a few bullet points to capture the interviewer's interest
immediately.
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TELL them you CAN do it.
"Applicants who do not address the qualifications requested
in the job listing make a huge mistake. And it seems that
many don't address the employer's needs at all, they just
upload their standard cover letter [How
to Write an Amazing Cover Letter] and resume file and
hit SEND without thinking," said Kelly, a CFO with extensive
hiring experience. The better strategy is to address each
specific qualification and state the related experience
and skills you possess to perform that task or function
so the interviewer has no doubt that you can do the job.
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Format and layout matter.
Your letter must be easy to read -- that is essential! Microscopic
type is a bad choice -- small font sizes can make addresses,
phone numbers and emails illegible. Arial is a good font
choice, size 12-point, especially when faxing since the
type often is blurred in the faxing process. One human resource
specialist sent us a real cover letter that had no address
or phone number on it. She sarcastically wrote, "Don't you
just love this? We couldn't contact this person even if
we wanted to."
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Don't let careless errors
destroy your chances to land that dream job. Stephanie,
a human resource manager, who has hired over 500 people
revealed, "Once I see a typo I know that this is NOT a person
we want to hire into our organization. People can avoid
this fatal mistake if they very carefully proofread everything
before they send."
Copyright 2007
Robin Ryan. All rights
reserved. America's most popular career counselor, Robin Ryan,
is the author of four bestselling books: 60 Seconds & You're
Hired!, Winning Resume, Winning Cover Letters, and What to Do
with the Rest of Your Life. She's appeared on over a thousand
TV & radio shows including Oprah, Dr. Phil, and has been published
in most major newspapers and magazines including USA Today &
the Wall Street journal.
Sample
Letters
Example Cover Letter, Research & Development Professional
Example Cover Letter, Administrative/Accounting Professional
Example Cover Letter, Commercial Property
Example Cover Letter, Desktop Support and Network Admin Professional
Example Cover Letter, IT Director
Example Cover Letter, Insurance
Claims Professional
Example Cover Letter, Supervisor/
Management Position
Example Cover Letter, Project Leader
Example Cover Letter, Hospitality
Position
Related Articles
7 Secrets of a Highly Effective Resume Cover Letter written
by Jimmy Sweeney
How to Write a Job-Winning Cover Letter
Write Winning Cover Letters; Tips That Can Help You Land an
Interview
Sending a thank you letter is as important as interview preparation.
How to Start Your Cover Letter Off With a BANG!
Amazing Cover
Letters/Jimmy Sweeney Cover Letters
Learn to write a high-quality cover letter, and receive copies of his
award-winning
cover letter templates. View the Amazing Cover Letter Creator and
resources to help with your job-search; i.e. 10 secrets to acing your
job interview and salary negotiation tips.
Interview Questions & Strategies
Interview with these interview tips, career Q&A's, and resources.
How to Write: FREE Resume Service
Free resume service that helps you
layout, design, and
write your resume. Details include
style to use, how to write great content, experience to eliminate or
emphasize upon, along with before and after resume examples.
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