A resume which arrives without a cover letter gives a jolt to the receiver and makes a loud statement about the sender-the person could not even take a few minutes to make a personal statement or sign his or her name. It begs the question, "Is this the type of person we want to hire?"
When answering a want ad, specify the exact job title in the cover letter. It is not necessary, however, to specify the source of the ad or its date. The exact title will provide all the information personnel needs. When a want ad explicitly requests certain types of experience which you have, but which is not adequately covered in the resume, use your cover letter to fill in the details. The alternative would be to rewrite your resume slightly to include the necessary details. A highly specific cover letter with a modified resume will always provide better results.
If an ad does not provide a name and you are unable to obtain the name of the person with power to hire, it is generally accepted that it should be addressed Dear Sir/Madam. If you are sending your resume and cover letter to personnel you could address it - Dear Personnel Manager, but do your best to get the name of the person.
View your cover letter and resume as a team. Each performs a different function, but they must work well together. Cover letters generally consist of two to four short paragraphs and seldom total more than twenty lines. The first paragraph should open with a strong statement about you that arouses interest and curiosity. Devote a middle paragraph to an accomplishment that will further arouse interest. The accomplishment can come from your resume but should be slightly reworded. When you write cover letters, you must usually pick the strongest accomplishment from the resume and include it in the cover letter. Notice how this can be done:
- I can save money for your firm by utilizing my experience in cost control. At Standard Products, I reduced paper usage by 24% and photocopying costs by 30%.
- I can help increase the impact of your agency.
- While at Family Services, I wrote a proposal which was funded for $22,000. This allowed us to significantly increase the quantity and quality of our services.
Begin the process of responding to want ads by creating a "standard" cover letter; then modify it for each response. An electronic type writer or a dedicated word processor will prove very helpful. If you believe that "time is money," you'll save a great deal if you can modify your cover letters yourself rather than going to a word processing outfit each time you want to produce a customized cover letter. You can also rent a computer by the hour at some copy shops and then print out your work on their laser printer. Charges are generally quite reasonable. Most have Macintoshes and offer several word processing software packages. If you have your own computer, but all you have is a dot matrix printer, go ahead and use that for your cover letters but be sure to put it in letter quality mode.
To create an effective response to an ad, begin by writing down or underlining all of the key points mentioned in the ad. Check off those points which are clearly and effectively covered in your resume. If several points are not covered in your resume, determine whether you should modify your resume, or merely cover the points in your cover letter. If you decide to modify your resume you should make sure the resume covers all of the desired experience mentioned in the ad.
In using the Systematic Job Search methods you will want to meet the person with power to hire, even if no openings currently exist. Indicate in your cover letter that you will be calling to arrange a meeting. Avoid using the word interview. Instead say, "I'll call next week to arrange a brief meeting," or "I will call next week to arrange a time when we can meet," The word interview is always associated with formal hiring procedures: what you want is a relaxed meeting in which both parties learn more about each other.
Cover letters should be individually typed. Some people, however, print up 200 cover letters and then type in the employer's name and address. It doesn't look good and it does not make a good statement about you. The reader can tell that you said exactly the same thing to everyone who received your resume. Even if you develop a standard cover letter to be sent to 100 or more companies, you can still personalize it. Write the cover letter so you can insert the name of the company somewhere in the body of the letter. With today's word processors, you can easily do it yourself. Secretarial services can type your letters and address your envelopes for less than two dollars each, and each one will look perfect. If you know the company by reputation or your research has revealed some interesting information, don't hesitate to include it in the cover letter.
