Your Cover Letter

The cover letter is probably the least thought out aspect of people looking for a job BUT it really is one of the most important parts of getting the interview that will lead to a job.

The cover letter tells the employer things about you that a resume can not. The resume is a brief summary of your skills and experience while your cover letter should reflect your personality and your written communication skills. The cover letter is a brief overview of why you are interested in the company and position that you are sending the resume to. This often means a little bit of research about the company. This will show the company that you have spent some time and are interested in them and what they do. Let them know why you would be a good fit for the company and the position.

Yes, you may have a template for your cover letters but you should really send a different cover letter for each position you are applying for.

The cover letter should also talk about what you are looking for, where you are looking geographically; it may include your salary history and salary expectations.

The cover letter should be written in a paragraph format. It should be in a formal conversational tone. The first paragraph should tell how you found out about the position and your general qualifications for the job.

The next paragraph(s) should give more details about your qualifications. Remember, you are sending this with your resume so it is not necessary to write every detail. You can point to the resume for specific details.

The final paragraph should request an interview (or some other response, as appropriate). You should also include your availability to do a phone or face to face interview. Let them know the best phone number to reach you at during the day and the evening. Let them know that they can also contact you if they need more information. The close by thanking them for their time and let them know that you will be waiting to hear from them.

Example:

Dear HR Director:

I saw your job posting on Monster.com for software engineers in the Broken Arrow, OK. I am very interested in both software design and development.

I have worked with .Net technology in developing real-time web systems and I also have substantial experience in the design of multi-tiered customer application systems. With my skills and experience, I believe that I can make an immediate contribution to Broken Arrow Online Travel.

I have enclosed a copy of my resume, which details my qualifications. I would like the opportunity to meet with you to discuss your open positions for software engineers. If you wish to arrange an interview, I can be reached at 515. 255-9999 during the day or at my home phone number of 515.555.8888 during the evenings. I am available for a phone interview with 1 days notice and a face to face interview with 2 days notice.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Anthony Smithe
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Remember, you have one chance at making a first impression, your cover letter needs to give them a good first impression.

Your Resume

Your Resume

Your resume is your calling card. The purpose of your resume is to create enough interest in you and your skills that a Company will want to interview you. A resume is not designed to try to tell everything about you. A good resume will open the doors for you and a poorly written resume will keep the door shut.

Your resume should be a synopsis of your skills, experience, accomplishments, and education.

It may be necessary to have several different versions of your resume that focus on different facets of your skills and experience. Example: You may be a very Sr. JAVA Developer and you also have Project Management experience. It would make sense to have 2 resumes, one that emphasizes your JAVA skill and another for your Project Management skills.

There are common elements for all Resumes:

Identify Yourself

Here is the recommended format:

Full Name
Address - it is acceptable to just put City and State.
Phone Numbers - Be sure to specify if they are home, cell or work.
Email Address – This should not be too crazy. I received a resume a number of years ago and the email address was something like – joethepotsmoker@excite.com. I received another one that was – ChicagoStud@msn.com. While you friends make think these are cool, employers will probably not feel the same way. There are enough companies that offer free email addresses, that you can get one that looks professional.

Career Objective
This area should briefly tell the type of position you are looking for and what would be the benefit to a company if they hired you. Example: Strong JAVA Developer looking for a Direct Hire position in the Financial Industry. Looking to add my Object Oriented experience to a company’s development team.

DO NOT make this area a list of your wants.

Your Employment History
This area should start with you’re my recent positions and work backwards.

For each position you should list, Company Name, Location, Dates of Employment, Your Final Title

You can write on sentence about what the company does. Then write the work that you preformed emphasizing the most important responsibilities and achievements first. You can do this in a bullet format which makes it quick and easy for the Employer to read. You can say you were part of a specific team but do not write about what the team did. Companies want to know what YOU did.

If it is a technical position, your technical knowledge and skills are important to include. Be specific with hardware, software, operating systems, and protocols you can use professionally.

It is usually sufficient to go back 10 years in your employment history. If there are large gaps in your employment, you may be asked to explain why. If the gap was for education, you can include that in your employment history.

Education
List educational achievements, including degree, major, institution name. If your grade point average was 3.2 or higher you can include that. Include any Certifications that you have.

Military Experience
If you have military experience that is older than 10 years, list the branch and your position.

References
I usually advise to just put “Available Upon Request”. You do not want people calling your references without you knowing about it. Also, listing reference information can also lead to Staffing companies cold calling them to get job leads.

DO NOT list personal information such as your marital status, number of children or your age.

If you are not comfortable writing your own resume, there are companies and individuals who will professionally write one for you. It can be a worthwhile investment!

Introduction

The days of simply faxing your 1 page resume to the Human Resource Department of companies are long gone.

There are many things that you can do to increase your chance of getting the job that you want. I will go through the different areas that you need to pay attention to. These areas include, your resume, cover letters, interviewing, post-interview, salary negotiations and giving notice to your current employer.

We hope to publish helpful information a couple times a week.

Any comments from readers will be greatly appreciated.

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