Should I Write A Cover Letter?

When you are mailing in a résumé, it is necessary to send a cover letter. The cover letter is your way of introducing yourself and your résumé. The cover letter should have your name, address and phone number on the top of the page. Then just like a business letter, you have the company’s information on the left margin. If in the classified ad it has a contact name out that was your greeting, if it said something like Human Resources address you letter to Sir or Madam. Try not to write To Whom It May Concern, it really isn’t necessary to do that. They did not address their ad that way so you don’t need to address their letter that way.

When writing your cover letter, mention the ad that you are responding to as well as your interest in applying for the job. Try to summarize your skills into one of two lines in the cover letter but do not recite your résumé, that’s why you attached it to the letter. Try to keep the letter short maybe a paragraph or two. Explain why in the cover letter that you make a good asset to their company. Try to show a little of your personality in your letter but keep it professional.

Depending on the ad, sometimes it will ask you for salary history and requirements. It is Ok to incorporate these into your letter. Make sure your sentences flow and that there are no grammatical errors. Do not hand write a cover letter, it shows a great lack of professionalism. Borrow a computer or typewriter from someone if you don’t have one. Here is a checklist to follow when writing your cover letter:

• Use the same type of paper you have used for your résumé.
  
• Make sure that all of your words and names are spelled correctly.
  
• Sell yourself a little; make them interested in you enough to give you an interview.
  
• Make sure you are sending an original and not a copy. Sign the original in blue or black ink.
  
• It is ok to request an interview, you can simple say, I am interested in possibly coming in for an interview and discussing my résumé further.
  
• If you wish to research the company’s background incorporate what they do and why you can be an asset to them.
  

How to write a resume

If you are looking for a job you need a résumé. Even if you are applying for a job in Burger King bring a résumé. Your résumé should have your name, address and phone number on it. Do not put cell phones on there because if a potential employer calls you on it and you don’t have the greatest reception, it is going to be a big turn off for them.
You don’t need to date the résumé, when you send a cover letter with it you can date that page.

The next thing you want to put on there is your objective, try to keep that to one or two lines. Keep it to the point. Try to make an objective where it will benefit the employer as well. You want to keep the entire résumé contained to one page, if you have to go to two keep it short. There is no interviewer who wants to read a multi page résumé.

Next thing to should have is your experience. Some résumés have education first, this can go either way but a potential employee wants to see what you can do and what you were doing before applying for the job. Don’t make them scan it; put it first where they could see it. List your last job first and so on. Tell them what they want to know in a couple of line. Put the company name and location, just the city will suffice. Then only put the years at the end of that line. Give a brief description of that job and list the important functions first.

Then is the education section, if you have been out of high school for more than 10 years, there is no need to write it. The same goes for job experience, don’t list jobs you had more than 6 years ago. They don’t want to see that far back. List the most recent school last and so on. If you did not go to college or are in the process of going, leave open the year to at the end. For example, XYZ University, Any town, USA 04 to .

Then you can list any achievements or special citations you have received pertaining to work. Then you can write down References available upon request. Make a list of 5 references; try to make them professional references.

Choosing the Perfect Resume

If you are preparing to write a résumé, you may be aware that are more than one style. There are 3 major styles of résumé writing, there is the Chronological résumé, the Functional résumé and the Combination résumé. We will go over each style and see if it will work for you. All a résumé is is a sheet of paper with all of your accomplishment in both education and work experience. An interviewer is looking for someone to hire who can get the job done and have the experience they are looking for.

The chronological résumé is formatted to show your employment experience and your education in time order. This can be done with the most current time or from oldest to newest. When an interviewer looks at a résumé he or she looks for the important information first. The will want to see what you did before or while you are applying for their job. They don’t really want to see what you did 10 years ago so try to use the most current jobs first, so they will look at what they need to know and not have to scan the entire document looking for simple information.

The functional résumé is a list of your work experience and skills that you posses and sort them out by job function or skill. This style résumé is not used that often. It works in the sense that the jobs are listed by job function. Interviewers want to see what you can do for them and if the job you were at before or still on is similar to what they need they want to see it. Interviews do not want to spend time reading a lot of information that is not pertinent to them, that is why it is recommended that you keep your résumé short and to the point.

The combination résumé is just that, a combination of a chronological and a functional résumé. You begin with a functional list of jobs and then a chronological list of employers. This style of résumé writing is not recommended. It comes off too confusing. If you send a résumé like that you may not get a chance to explain it, if an interviewer does not like your résumé they will just toss it aside.

Remember a résumé is a reflection of you. If you present a sloppy résumé, they will not give you a chance. A good résumé will guarantee you an interview.

How good is online resume posting

The newest and some say the greatest thing to happen to job searching in a long time is the online résumé posting. There are many companies out there that shall remain nameless who base an entire website on posting other people’s résumés. There are many people who do sign up for this service. Some services charge to use their site. The premise is that you post your résumé and then you wait for a company or employers to check it out and become interested in your posting and then they call you.

This service is great if you are looking elsewhere for work, if you are solely putting all of your eggs in one basket then you may be waiting for a long time. Sometimes it takes weeks to get a hit or a lead. Now, it would be a shame if you paid for a service and did not get one hit. You really have a better chance of looking through the newspaper and sending your resume out to 10 jobs. You will at least hear from 7 out of the ten jobs, unless it is not what you applied for.

It is all a hit and miss idea. Unless you have a spectacular résumé where you have exactly what people are looking for. You could be waiting a very long time. What makes this worse is that you may be paying for it by the week or by the month. If you have your heart set on doing this then try to find a service that will post your résumé for free. Then you have nothing to lose except time.

Technology is great and the concept of posting your résumé online is great. It does not guarantee job and some do not claim to do that but for people who need work and are constantly looking then maybe this service is not for you. At least if you do this, look in the newspapers or in penny savers or even on the online classified in your local paper. Just do not let this be your only means of looking for a job.

Some people have had great success with this service and that is great for them but there are just as many if not more that have no success and they only thing they do have is less money for the cost of the service.

E-mailing your resume

Another great breakthrough in technology is the e-mail. Potential employers have thought of yet another way to avoid a pile of paper on their desk. The will advertise for an employee and instead of a fax number or mailing address it will have an e-mail address. This can be good and bad for different reasons. The good is that if your résumé is already stored on your computer then all you have to do is put it in a folder and sent it as an attachment, with your cover letter being your e-mail page. There are no busy numbers for fax machines and you don’t have to leave the house.

The bad is that you don’t know if they received it or even read it. Some computers can’t read certain files. If you saved it on a word document from 2001 windows, a new computer may not be able to open it. Even with upgraded machines, some computers can’t read or open certain files. Then your next thought is I will send a did you get my résumé e-mail and then you don’t look so professional. You look paranoid that they did not get it.

So now what to do you do. If there is no other way to get your résumé to these potential employers then do the e-mail, try save it as best you can. But in the body of the e-mail make a note saying, you are attaching a file of my résumé with this e-mail. If you have any trouble opening it please contact me by phone and leave your number which should also be on your résumé or please send me an e-mail and I will resend it.

Another way would be to call the company; there is sometimes a phone number or the name of the company as well. Call to follow up with the human resources department and if they confirm they had trouble opening your file ask them for a fax number or an address because you really want to apply for that job.

E-mailing is great and more and more people are doing it. So make sure you have an upgraded computer save it to the file as best as you can. Then if you want follow up with an e-mail but wait at 2 days. If you don’t hear something first then call and find out what happened.

Do’s and Don’ts for Job Searching

There are many things while looking for a job that you should do and there are some things that are don’ts here are some key important factors you will need to know.

Things you should do
• Create a nice clean and concise résumé
• Include a cover letter with your résumé,
• Proof read your résumé over and over again
• Proof read your cover letter
• List any important job functions that you have that pertain to the ad
• Keep your résumé a minimum of 2 pages, one is preferred.
• Take a copy of your résumé when you interview, even though you already sent one
• Dress to impress your interviewer
• Relax while interviewing

Things you should not do
• embellish information on your résumé
• apply for jobs you are not qualifies for
• bring up the subject of pay in an interview
• be late or reschedule
• include your cell number on your résumé,
• make a book out of your résumé,
• brag or sound arrogant about your skill

If you follow these rules and some simple advice you will have a successful interview. These things are very important when looking for a job and there are plenty of other do’s and do not’s but these are the most basic and the most important. All of these tips exist for a reason, if you want a successful interview keep them in mind, you may not get the job all the time and we are not saying if you do these things you will get the job either.

By a successful interview we mean that you did things you should have and did not do things you should not have. If you followed these rules then you will see that you have a clear and correct résumé, you have perfect interview clothes and you are relaxed in the interview and not too uptight. With the job market as it is, you have to fight for every job and that means doing the process better than everyone else.

If your experience fits the job and you have a great personality and you can show the interviewer how you can help their company as well as fit in with the staff. Then you have a real good shot of getting that job. Keep yourself true and don’t come off as someone you are not.

Do you need recommendations in interview?

When you are applying for a job, most résumé’s will have on the bottom “References available upon request”. A good percentage of the time a potential employer will not ask for them but there a few that do. The problem with these recommendations is that it is hard to get a recommendation from a former employer. The reason for you not working there can only be for 3 reasons.

The first reason is you quit and why would an employer who you just left write you a glowing letter of recommendation. Not too likely to happen.

The second reason is that you got fired, it doesn’t matter what the reason is. If you get fired then there really is no way of ever getting a great letter of recommendation. So why even try to go that way.

The third reason and possibly the best way is if you got laid off. Most employers in that situation will feel bad for letting you go and they will offer a letter. Take them up on it right away. It could be a general letter; you could make copies if you wish. A boss of a former employee does not write letters or recommendation.

If you go to college, you may want to get a letter or two from a professor. This can show your attendance in class as well as your grades if you wish. It shows you come to class as you would to work and with the grades or progress it will show the interviewer how hard you work.

What is not a great idea is having friends or family write letters because they basically carry no weight with an employer. Why? Because they are your friends and family members. Why would they not have something great to say about you?

Recommendation or references can be tricky and most employers know that because they may be in the safe position that is why they need to hire someone. But there are some stuffy employers who want to see them just to see if you can get them. Your work ethic should stand alone and he is looking at you, so they are getting a feel for what you are like, so why need recommendations.

Some employment applications ask for three at the bottom, they ask for 2 personal and one professional. You may be able to get by with personal reference. The employer never calls any way.