Searching and applying for jobs is not enough to ensure land the job. You must make a good first impression in order to get the job, and in most cases you are going to have two opportunities to make a first impression to a potential employer.
The first, your cover letter.
Your cover letter is essentially your “on paper” first impression. While your resume gives information of your skills, experience, and accomplishments in the work force, a cover letter is more personal. It will still give information on your skills, experience, and accomplishments, but it will be written as a letter, which means it can also give your potential employers a glimpse into your personality. Of course, it must remain professional in order for you to be considered a serious candidate for the position, but feel free to let your personality seep into your cover letter, and finally, be sure to let the employer know the value you can offer the company.
The second, your interview.
If your cover letter and resume have done their job, then you may be asked for an interview. This is your real, in person, first impression. If you want the job, then the impression you make at the is the so important. You must look professional, smile and be cordial with everyone-from the receptionist who greets you to each individual member of the hiring committee. Your potential employers are not looking to hire a robot. They want to hire a person who they can work with and who they can see working well with the rest of the company. Be personable and be yourself.
Making a good first impression in your cover letter and your interview will help you land the job and start on the path to a successful career.
If you were in a social situation, you would not go up to a person and start talking to him or her without introducing yourself. The same is true of applying for a position. Unless a position advertisement tells you to skip the cover letter, make sure you tell the reader who you are and why you are applying in an introductory cover letter. A cover letter is not a regurgitation of what is on your curriculum vitae or resume. That is why so many potential employers may skip reading the cover letter unless they asked you to list specific information in it such as salary history or availability for work. However, you can grab your reader’s attention by making a bold statement in the first line of your cover letter. Instead of just listing the job for which you are applying and the fact that you are interested in it, tell the reader why the position is important to you. What piqued your interest enough about this position that you are taking time to apply for it? The second paragraph of the cover letter should outline how your skill sets allow you to make a difference, to be successful in this position. What makes you the best person for this job? It cannot just be experience. Everyone else applying for the position should have relevant experience too. Your experience is already listed on your resume. How can you use your experience in a way to help this company or organization. Will it increase their bottom line, help them to be in compliance, see that they are more efficient? Lastly, close with a statement on your desire to meet the employer to talk further about the position. Your interest should show strongly in every statement that you make in your cover letter so that an employer will feel obligated to talk to you, as if he may be missing out on the best candidate for the position if he does not interview you.
When you are busy organizing job descriptions and sending out hundreds of resumes, the last thing you want to do is to think about composing yet another document. After all, many employers do not ask for a cover letter, and many of them may not take the time to read one. So should you just skip the cover letter? It depends on the application requirements and what you want to say to a potential employer. A cover letter is not a restatement of your resume. The mistaken assumption that it is is one reason why hiring managers do not read them. However, companies often run multiple ads for different positions, and the first line of your cover letter should make it clear which job you are applying for and how you found out about it. Use the second paragraph to show how your experience can add value at the employer’s company. This is where people make the mistake of reiterating what is on their resume. Instead of informing the advertising employer that you were the Director at XYZ Advertising Agency, you can state that the position also gave you exposure to various media outlets, key decision makers and Fortune 500 companies. The third paragraph of your cover letter is your opportunity to clarify anything that is not specifically addressed on your resume, such as you have the skill sets for one career but would like to use them to move in a different direction, potentially into a related career. You can also use this paragraph to give the employer information that they asked for in their ad that would typically not go on a resume such as salary history and expectations. Use your closing paragraph to express that you are looking forward to speaking with the employer regarding the position. If you send a paper copy of your cover letter, make sure you sign it in the space between Sincerely and your full name. This is one detail people often forget to do. If the employer does not request a cover letter or specific information that does not go on a resume, you do not have to send one. However, a cover letter gives you an opportunity to showcase your writing skills and to give the employer a feel for your personality and work style.
Mock Interviews – A Great Way to Prepare for the Real Thing
If you are the type of person who gets very nervous during a job interview, practicing your interviewing skills in a mock interview setting may be for you. A mock interview is when you have someone such as a career coach, a counselor or a friend act as an interviewer to let you practice answering interview questions.
Most people are so nervous during an interview that they forget to listen for related questions. For example, the question “Tell me about your strengths” is related to the more challenging question of “Why should we hire you?” If you can list your strengths, you should be able to answer the second question by showing how your strengths and expertise would add value to the organization. Another interview question that throws people is, “Tell me about yourself.” Many people do not expect such an informal question. If you wrote a cover letter for this position in which you told the reader about your background, then use the cover letter as a starting point to answer the question. Highlight your skills and accomplishments and share why you would like this job and how you would be a good fit for it. Be careful that you are not confusing “Tell me more about yourself” with “tell me about your personal life”. The employer wants to hear about what your will bring to the organization professionally-not what is going on in your personal life. Videotaping a mock interview is especially helpful because it can show you your body language and the unconscious messages it is sending. For example, raised or hunched shoulders may signal you are afraid, while excessively shifting your weight around and fidgeting may indicate that you are very nervous or have something to hide. Seeing how you act on video will allow you to eliminate distracting behaviors and concentrate on providing solid answers to the interview questions. Practice the answers to the mock interview questions and monitor your body language until you feel comfortable enough to do a real interview and you will see how calm and collected you will be the next time you are sitting across the table from a hiring manger.
A hiring manager may look at your resume and see that you’ve switched jobs every couple of years. Some would see job hopping or frequent career moves as a sign of a restless employee, one who cannot commit to one job and doesn’t stay in one place long enough to be properly trained. Others may look at you as a go-getter who job hops to acquire new skills in a fast-paced industry. Job hopping is not for the faint of heart in a weak economy. Sometimes it is difficult to find that next job or change careers. However, if you do job hop for new skills, new projects, more money, more experience or to progress to the next rung on the career ladder, you have to make it clear on your resume why you are changing jobs so often. A functional resume which lists a skills summary, professional experience summary and your employment history may clarify your job hopping for a hiring manager. Noting (briefly) in your cover letter will let them know as well.
If you are job hopping to acquire new skills, list those new skills on your resume in your skills summary, in the job description and also in the training section if appropriate. Highlight new projects and show how they build on previous projects listed on your resume, if appropriate. While more money may be a motivator to switch jobs, stating that fact on a resume is not appropriate. You can illustrate that you received more job responsibility by a higher level title, more responsibility and more complicated projects. All of these may indicate why you are job hopping. However, you still need to show potential employers that you are a dependable employee by being dependable in all previous jobs. Show up on time, finish all projects by their deadlines and before you move to a new job. Contribute in meetings and one-on-one sessions to add value to your present company. Good career management is obvious when your previous employers are willing to give you a good recommendation.
When you are applying for a new job it takes more than just a good resume to get a potential employer’s attention. If you want to set about creating the right impression with your job application, then you also need to make sure that you have a good cover letter to accompany your resume. Putting together a cover letter is simple enough – you simply have to use it as a way to introduce yourself to the company you are applying for and let them know why you are interested in the job. However if you really want your cover letter to be perfect then there are several tips you should bear in mind. First, you need to remember that first impressions count. You might be the best person for the job, but if you don’t get this across in your cover letter then they won’t know! You need to make sure you tell them your exact reason for wanting the job and why they should give it to you. You should also always make sure that you personalize your cover letter. Don’t just assume that a template letter will work for everyone. Address the letter to the person you are applying to if you know their name, mention the name of the company, the job title you are applying for and unique mentions of the company in question. This will show them that you know about the company and that you are serious about working for them If this is something that you can’t think you can get right yourself then it is essential that you get help with putting together the perfect set of cover letters for your needs.
Online media is growing and with it so is the opportunity to apply for jobs online. Many companies now opt to advertise their job vacancies online as they know it will reach a massive range of people and they have every chance of finding someone perfect for the job – and much quicker than old fashioned methods of newspaper adverts and classified adverts.
For some reason people often feel much more relaxed about applying for a job online and assume that emailing a resume in order to apply for job doesn’t need the same attention to detail that a posted resume does. However, this isn’t the case and you should make sure that your resume and cover letter are perfect, even if you are applying via email.
Just because you are attaching your resume to an email that doesn’t mean that the cover letter shouldn’t include all of the relevant details. Your best bet is to treat the email body as you would a cover letter. This means that you need to make sure that you include all of the relevant details – the position you are applying for, why you would be perfect and how they can contact you for example.
When you are searching for jobs online they will often have a reference number attached to them. It is essential that you include this reference number in your email cover letter. Also make sure that your email has a subject to it – even if it is just “Job Vacancy Application” so that your email doesn’t get over looked and pushed to one side.
Don't Put Off A Potential Employer With Your Cover Letter
We all know the importance of a decent cover letter and why we need to use it to sell yourself when applying for a job. However, if you aren’t careful, you could make some of the most common mistakes made and that is going to harm your chances of being successful when applying for a job. One of the biggest mistakes that people make when writing their own cover letter is giving away too much information and being too truthful. Although no one is suggesting that you should lie on your cover letter there is a possibility that you can give too much away and put them off of hiring you.
For example, writing something like “I know I don’t have much experience, but I am a quick learner” is going to do you no favors. The whole point of your resume and cover letter is to sell yourself, not to give them a reason to move you off of the “to hire/to interview” list. Another example is telling the reader (who you don’t know) the reason why you left every job, OR what has been happening in your personal life. If you have a major job gap, it’s a good idea to touch on it briefly i.e. “After taking time off to raise a family…” or “After taking a year-long personal sabbatical…” You don’t ‘need to tell the reader that you were going through a messy divorce or needed to take time off work to decompress. Some things are better left unsaid. What you say could work against you. Rather than concentrate on the negatives, turn it into something positive – so, for example, “Based on my unique experiences, I know I would be a valuable asset to your team,” or something similar will work for you. You are telling them that you feel you would fit in and that you are already considering the team that you are likely to work with. Remain positive and show them why you would are the right choice for the position. Including these assets in the cover letter will help you be as successful as possible when it comes to finding your perfect job.
