Why You should Not Apply For Job Without a Cover Letter

Chances are you went through several drafts of your résumé before you submitted it to a prospective employer. You wrote and rewrote each line several times and had friends, family, even strangers proofread it. But if you send it off without enclosing a cover letter, your hard work may never be seen.

According to a CareerBuilder survey, 66 percent of hiring managers prefer a good cover letter attached to a résumé. Think of it as the first chance to stand out in a sea of applicants. Your cover letter, if done well, tells the hiring manager you are qualified for the job and a serious candidate. Perhaps more important is the opportunity to show your personality.

For this reason, many hiring managers discard any résumés that don’t have cover letters. Omitting a cover letter tells the employer that you can’t make the effort to sell yourself and to save him or her some time. Writing a cover letter is an easy way to keep yourself in the game.
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Here are some things to remember as you write your cover letter:

It’s your cover letter, not your memoir
Keep the cover letter to a few organized paragraphs that fit on one page. You want to give the reader a glimpse into your personality and your ability as an employee, but no one needs to know every little detail about your life.

Be yourself
Being yourself doesn’t mean being your Saturday-night self. It means putting a little personality into your writing. Recruiters aren’t looking for jokes, but they do want to know a real person is applying for the job. Just changing the “To” and “From” fields in a form letter will come across as lazy and generic. Use your own words and ideas.

Let the résumé speak for itself
Hiring managers read the cover letter before they (hopefully) flip the page to look at the résumé. They might decide they don’t want to read the résumé if your cover letter sounds like it’s restating the exact same information without offering anything new. Discuss a specific achievement or experience that shows your qualifications for the job. The cover letter and résumé combined give you their attention for only two pages, so don’t waste it repeating yourself.

Know your audience
If your boss greeted you each morning by saying, “Hello, employee,” you’d be irked she didn’t know your name. Cover letters beginning “Dear Sir or Madam” and “To Whom It May Concern” leave similar impressions. If the job posting does not specify who will receive the applications, find out. Look online or call the company’s main line to ask for the name of the corporate recruiter or hiring manager. Once you find out, use a formal title such as Mr., Ms. or Mrs. It adds a personal but professional touch that will be appreciated.

Why you want this job
Sure, a paycheck would be nice, but hopefully you want this job for another reason. The company’s history, accomplishments and culture probably played a role in your decision to apply. Let the hiring manager know. It tells him or her that you’ve done your homework and are serious about being a member of the team.

Your manners
Even though job hunts are increasingly taking place online, you still need to adhere to business etiquette. As you would on any professional correspondence, include your full contact information as well as the hiring manager’s name and company address. And of course, avoid any typos and grammatical errors, which include netspeak (k? thx).

Take your time
You already know how important a cover letter is, so don’t rush through it. Treat it with the same care you used for your résumé. Check your facts. Write several drafts, revise it and look it over again. Let your first impression be a good one.

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Cover Letters Writing Tips

A great cover letter is your opportunity to speak in your own voice, and set yourself apart. Here are several tips for cover letters writing that can help you get noticed, and get that important interview.

• Always address the cover letter to a specific person by name and title. Even if responding to a job that states "no phone calls," consider calling to politely ask the name of the hiring authority. If not possible, send the letter to the title of the hiring manager: e.g., "Production Manager," "Maintenance Supervisor," "Office Manager," etc. Never use the term, "To Whom It May Concern".
• Sign the cover letter in blue or black ink. This signiofies that the letter is original.
• Keep it brief, usually no more than three to five paragraphs on one page. This shows you understand the value of the reader's time.
• The paper and style of your cover letter should compliment your resume. Use the same paper stock for both your cover letter and resume.
• Whenever possible, research each employer's organization and then personalize the letter. When you indicate that you know something about the organization, it shows that you are seriously interested in the employer. This approach is much more effective than sending out hundreds of identical form letters.
• Highlight one or two of your most significant accomplishments or abilities. This draws immediate attention to your most impressive skills. It also demonstrates that you are an above average candidate, which increases your chances of being remembered.
• Don't just describe your background - your resume takes care of that. Be clear about your objectives and make the employer want to take a closer look at your resume.
• The cover letter should be written in a very clear and positive manner.
• Do not add details about yourself, your past experiences, or your education that may call attention to your weaknesses or raise questions about your confidence or ability to do the job.
• By using the active voice, you will grab the reader's interest and convey a sense of energy.
• Organize your information for the reader. Group similar items together in paragraphs and then organize the paragraphs so they relate to each other logically. Avoid writing that lumps together unrelated information without a strong topic sentence.
• Avoid jargon and cliches. It is tempting to use ready made phrases such as "self-starter," "proven leadership skills," "excellent interpersonal skills," but using today's buzzwords can suggest parroted formulas rather than original thought.

Click here for more tips on how to write a cover letter.

Five Strategies to Create A Killer Cover Letter

A cover letter is the first impression you make on the employer and shows how well you communicate in writing. Use these five strategies to create cover letters that will earn you a spot in the "Yes! Call for a Job Interview" pile.

1. First of all, spend a bit of time researching the company. Figure out WHY you want to work with them and most importantly, why hiring you will benefit them. Are you a great team-player? Did you increase sales at your last company? Tell them, SPECIFICALLY, how you will help their organization and why you think you're a great match.
2. Be personal. Make sure to address your letter to a real, live person. If you can avoid it, DO NOT send your letter and resume to the "Hiring Manager." If you don't have a name or contact, CALL the company and ask who's in charge of reviewing applications for the position you want.
3. Be concise. An ideal cover letter consists of 4-5 short paragraphs. Use one paragraph to tell a story of a past success, but don't ramble.
4. Read the job description, paying particular attention to industry lingo and buzzwords. Use the same language in your letter. Hiring managers take time to write accurate job descriptions because they know what they need. Make sure your cover letter (and resume) tells them how you'll fill that need.
5. Finally, make sure your resume and cover letter work together. Use your cover letter to highlight the most important elements in your resume...but do so in a personal, this-is-who-I-am-and-how-I-can-help-you manner.

Be careful! most painfully typical resume and cover letter samples can kill your job hunt, Jimmy Sweeney's cover letter book teaches you how to write a professional letter. Jimmy Sweeney is the president of CareerJimmy and author of the new, "Amazing Cover Letter Creator."

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Writing Your Resume Cover Letter

A cover letter is said to be the most important part of a resume when you're applying for a job. Having a good one can make or break your job application. The resume cover letter is your opportunity to personalize your resume and target your skills. If your cover letter and resume don’t make the grade, they will quickly land in the “not interested” pile, and you don’t want that to happen.

If you have been sending in cover letters and resumes to several companies and you are qualified for the positions for which you are applying, yet you are not being contacted for interviews, the reason may be that your resume cover letter and resume are not standing out from the sea of others that the hiring managers are getting. Remember that just about every position vacancy announcement out there generates dozens or even hundreds of responses, so if you hope to get that much coveted interview, you need to have a cover letter that makes a lasting, positive impression.

Although resumes provide personal information, their basic structure is rather impersonal, so the resume cover letter can be a great place to let a little bit of your personality shine through and can add a touch of pizzazz to your resume. It is perfectly acceptable to be yourself in your cover letter, as long as you are the self that is in a business suit rather than a pair of board shorts and t-shirt with the rolling stones tongue and lips. In other words, stick to the professional side of your personality when writing your resume cover letter.

The structure of your resume cover letter should match, or coordinate with, your resume’s structure so it is obvious that the two go together. The perfect way to achieve this balance is to use one of the many resume software programs available as downloads or at your local office or computer store. Most of the resume software packages are reasonably priced and well worth the small investment you make.

In your cover letter, you should be sure to announce what position you are seeking, why you are the perfect candidate for that position, and how you can be contacted. If you are missing any of this basic information, the cover letter is not really doing its job, so be sure to include all the necessary details. You should also use the resume cover letter as your opportunity to point out the things you think the employer would find most valuable, just to be sure they don’t get overlooked. Whatever you do, don’t write a boring cover letter, and don’t forget to do what your mom taught you when you were little – say “thank you.”

Creating Different Resume Styles is Easier than Ever

Resumes are written in different purposes. There are so many examples like Student Resume, Management resume, Executive Resume, Sales& Marketing resume, Information Technology resume, Education resume, Teacher & Teaching resume, Finance-Banking- Accounting resume, Legal-Lawyer& Attorney resume etc.There are so many sites for free resume cover letter examples.

The student resume is generally used in schools & colleges. This type of resume is used for entry-level aspects without job experience. This type of resume is very simple & there it does not need to write down detail information.

In the case of management resume, it should contain the required skills & experiences. Here we use job title for the specifications of job. Job title is very much important in this resume.

Executive resumes are written for high-level management fields like CEO, Director etc. It contains overall experiences. So this type of resume is written in very detailed manner.

In Sales and Marketing resume, job title will be Marketing Manager, Sales Representative, and Marketing Analyst etc. Here we have to discuss about our past experiences & the products & services we delivered in that company.

Information Technology resume should contain computer & Scientific Research field oriented information. Here we have to discuss our technical knowledge like programming languages(c, java, vb etc), operating system etc.

The Teacher's resume is simple. Here we have to focus the specialization and destination , whether that will be pre-school or kindergarten, elementary school, middle school or high school. This should also be a field of study like mathematics, science or special education.To make a good resume we have to follow free resume cover letter examples.

In case of Finance & Accounting resume, it follows all the basic rules. For professional field, resume should be of only one page, unless the experience is less then 15 years. It does not need to go through the matter with full details.

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