Cover Letter Essential Part of Job Search Portfolio

Dear Sam: I’m struggling to write a cover letter. I’ve created what I believe is a good résumé, targeting the types of positions I am interested in, but now I find myself stuck when trying to write a cover letter. My friend writes a cover letter for each job she applies for, is that necessary? I fear if I can’t write one letter, how on earth can I write one for every job I apply for! If an ad doesn’t ask for a cover letter, is it okay to just send my résumé alone? Help! – Stacey

Dear Stacey: A cover letter is your opportunity to introduce yourself to a prospective employer, expand upon and personalize the experience presented in your résumé, and highlight how your skills and experiences fulfill the employer's needs. While this suggests a new cover letter needs to be written for each position, it actually does not. Your cover letter should be written with your objective in mind, just as you have your résumé, which when done well, will be presentable to most positions you are interested in applying for. You can always tailor your cover letter a little if there are specific nuances to a posting that you need to respond to, but overall you should be able to develop one résumé and one cover letter that fit the bill the majority of the time. By the way, a cover letter should be a key part to every application, regardless of whether it is requested. Keep in mind that a cover letter not only expresses your interest in the position, but it also gives the employer an opportunity to observe your attentiveness to detail, spelling, grammar, and quality of your written communication.

When writing your cover letter there are many strategies you can employ in the development and organization of the content. Here are some guidelines:

• Open the letter noting your key qualifications and the position of interest. Use the first paragraph to capture the recipient's attention and make them want to read more. To do this well, you have to clearly understand your key qualifications, the position of interest, and the intended audience. Consider the following examples of a traditional and value-added opening sentence, the latter serving to pique the reader’s interest by presenting the candidate’s key qualifications for the position of interest. Contract with the traditional opening and I think you’ll see what a difference an appropriately executed opening can do in grabbing the attention of the reader.

Traditional (loses the reader’s attention): “I am writing to apply for the merchandising manager position advertised in the newspaper.”

Value-Added (grabs and holds the reader’s attention): “Having worked for some of the nation’s leading fashion and trend-right retailers, I possess extensive experience in merchandising, inventory allocation, customer relations, and retail management.”

• Use the main body of your cover letter to explore your experiences, successes, and the skills that support your performance. Often times I will use bullet points to focus the hiring manager's attention on the most important pieces of information, which also help to break up a "heavy" one page letter. This also allows for a quick and easy way to “custom fit” a cover letter to the position of interest. This is where the bulleted sections can really be helpful as you can interchange sentences or key phrases to market your most notable skills to each position.

• Close with an action-oriented statement. Do not take the passive approach and wait for a hiring manager to call you. Of course if the advertisement says no calls, then you need to follow that advice, but most of the time a follow-up call is the appropriate strategy to reiterate your interest. A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management suggested the majority of hiring managers expect a candidate to follow-up on an opportunity, meaning this is no longer deemed a taboo practice.

• Keep it brief. Generally cover letters should be no more than one page and include ample white space to facilitate ease of readability.

• Do all you can to acquire the name of the hiring manager and address your cover letter appropriately. When all else fails write to "Dear Hiring Manager” not “To Whom it May Concern.”

• Use the same heading from your resume in order to present a clean and professional package. Don't forget to sign your letter if sending a hard copy or scan your signature and place on your electronic version for a personal touch.

Samantha Nolan is a certified professional résumé writer and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service résumé writing firm. Reach her at dearsam@ladybug-design.com, www.ladybug-design.com, or 1-888-9-LADYBUG (1-888-952-3928).

Packaging and positioning critical to résumé success

Dear Sam: I enjoy reading your weekly resume advice columns; you provide some very useful insights. In a recent column, you mentioned that the job seeker should create a targeted resume for the specific position. Could you provide an example to illustrate your point? – John

Dear John: I don’t want you to think you have to develop an entirely new résumé for each job posting, what I am saying however is a one-size-fits-all résumé is rarely effective as the information provided to each hiring manager is diluted and doesn’t “speak their language.” A one-size-fits-all résumé is a document that does not position the candidate for one type of opportunity; more so highlights soft skills and a person’s ability to perform a multitude of jobs. While this might in fact be true, a résumé has to be a more strategic document that positions the candidate for what they want to do. Think of a résumé as a brochure for a product, it should clearly position the product (you!) as appealing to the buyer (the hiring manager), touting the features and benefits (your experience and skills) that are of interest to your target audience (the hiring authorities in the industry/field you are interested in). It is only when you have an idea of what you want to do that you can develop and effective positioning strategy to attract the “right” interest in your candidacy. This doesn’t mean you have to develop an entirely new résumé for each posting, it just means you have to be a little more targeted about your communication.

I’ve presented an example here to illustrate that you can leave your options open while still developing quite a targeted marketing piece. Charlotte was interested in opportunities aligned with her experience (retail management) in addition to possibly branching out into a merchandising role, so her résumé was developed with both objectives in mind. You’ll notice I split the qualifications summary between the two objectives, highlighted merchandising related achievements first, and used a creative design to engage the hiring manger and reinforce Charlotte’s orientation towards design. As her objectives were in the same general field, one résumé could accomplish these objectives effectively; however, for a candidate with more diverse objectives, two distinct resumes would be more effective.

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Dear Sam: I am back in the job market after a seven month stint in medical sales. The bulk of my career has been in the mortgage industry and most likely that is where I will find my next job. Although I did learn quite a bit in my most recent position, I was wondering if I should include it on my résumé given the short amount of time I worked with the company and that I am looking to get back to more familiar territory? – Andrew

Dear Andrew: I’d probably lean towards including the most recent experience so you don’t show your last position ending in 2007 versus 2008. I’d likely use a combination format where you would pull out your mortgage industry achievements/highlights first, then move to a professional experience section where your experience would be presented in reverse-chronological order. Engaging this strategy would allow the dates of your experience to fall to the end of page one or even page two, your related experiences and achievements to be highlighted up front, and your segue from the industry to play a much lesser role in the 7-10 second screening process.

One page (résumé) isn’t always better than two!

Dear Sam: I currently have a résumé that is two pages long. I recently applied for a position which had a lot of details listed to provide information regarding the duties and responsibilities. In order to respond to them, I found my cover letter filled an entire page. Many of my friends have told me a cover letter should never be more than three short paragraphs at most, and a résumé should be one page. Their reasoning is that a hiring manager wouldn't have the time to look at a lot of information, and may in fact toss a lengthy résumé and cover letter. Is it best to be short with both a cover letter and résumé, and if so, what is a good option to show all the skills and abilities a company is looking for? Thanks. – Dan

Dear Dan: The old school of thought was that a résumé had to be only one page or it wouldn't get the time of day. This is not the case today and at times a two or even three page résumé suits a candidate more appropriately. Your friends are right about part of this however, and that is that a hiring manager is unlikely to scan more than one page of your résumé during their initial review. For that reason, you have to prioritize the information contained within your résumé. Therefore anything that really enhances your candidacy for a position does need to be listed on page one. Hence the reason that qualifications summaries are an essential component of effective résumés. Qualifications summaries allow candidates to provide a snapshot of their career in order to convey their most notable skills and experiences on page one of their résumé. Once the hiring manager has established interest in you as a candidate, they will take the time to review the supporting information on your résumé albeit on page two or page three.

As to the cover letter, I find a very effective way to write a cover letter is to incorporate bullet points. This breaks up the "heaviness" of a lengthy letter and highlights the most important pieces of information for the hiring manager. If you have a lot of experiences and skills that you feel are essential to communicate in your cover letter try this strategy. Open your cover letter with the position of interest and your most notable and unique qualifiers for the position. Then transition into presenting a bulleted list (I like to use three) of the experiences that you feel position you for the opportunity. Incorporate a second bulleted list exploring the softer skills you possess such as multi-tasking skills, organizational capabilities, leadership talents, etc. Then use the last paragraph to close the letter and present your action-oriented follow-up statement.

Using this strategy will allow you to communicate a lot of information while maintaining a very readable format. Use of bullet points in a cover letter also pushes the reader to the "heart" of the letter, which is what you actually want the reader to know.

Dear Sam: I have had a lot of different jobs in the last 5 years. I've been laid off from most of them after working for just a few months. As a result, it looks like I am a bad risk to any hiring employer who looks at my résumé. If I send out 20 résumés, I may get 1 or 2 responses and the ones I do get will ask me about the number of jobs I've had over the past 5 years. I can usually address it at the interview but there are so many that won't even give me the interview. Should I not list all the different jobs on my résumé? If I don't list them, my dates of employment will not match up. I don't want to lie about the dates so I'm debating if I should leave the dates off, although you say never to do that. I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard spot in getting a personal interview from my résumé. – Carole

Dear Carole: I understand your dilemma. You definitely don’t want to omit dates as the hiring manager could assume a worse situation. Instead make sure you are not using months on your résumé. When you display your time of employment in years only, it can really clear up a messy looking background. Also, for positions that are completely unrelated, or that you held for such a short period of time, it is entirely appropriate to not include them within your résumé. If you were completing an employment application you would need to mention them, but your résumé does not have to be a narrative of everything you have ever done. I think when you take out unrelated or extremely short-term positions, and replace the months with just years, you will see a much crisper image of your background emerge.

Samantha Nolan is a certified professional résumé writer and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service résumé writing firm. Reach her at dearsam@ladybug-design.com, www.ladybug-design.com, or 1-888-9-LADYBUG (1-888-952-3928).

Strategically written résumé produces results

Dear Sam: I’ve sent out more than 100 copies of my résumé to jobs I felt I was qualified for and received very little interest. I’m a graphic designer, have an online portfolio, a degree in visual communications, a strong work history while in college, and have completed internships in my field. Is there something else I can do to improve my results? – Julia

Dear Julia: As a designer, you have to make sure your résumé is touting your talents. By this, I mean use your résumé to showcase some of your work, either by designing your résumé in a unique manner, or by including a snapshot portfolio. It is great to have an online portfolio for review, but unfortunately if the hiring manager does not have time to view your work online they will not get a sense of your talent. By including a mini-portfolio on your résumé, your work will be seen immediately, and will better prompt the reader to visit your site to see more of your work. This also creates a much more interesting résumé and, when coupled with strong content, is sure to make your résumé stand out.

As the ‘Dear Sam’ mailbox receives so many questions like this from candidates with diverse backgrounds, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight other tactics you can use to make a better first impression. Here are just some of the issues that come up time and time again from those finding it difficult to differentiate their skills from their competitors’.

For the multi-talented candidate: Many want to keep their options open, stating they can do anything if given the chance. While this is wonderful for expanding the job seeker’s prospects, it makes writing an effective résumé difficult. Instead of creating a one-size-fits-all résumé, instead tailor your résumé to suit diverse objectives. If you don’t, your résumé will present a diluted image of your candidacy to each reader. Use a core skills list as a quick and easy way to retarget your résumé in 5 minutes. This list can include any type of experience or skills that represents your notable strengths. Modify based on the keywords in the job posting of interest to create the tailored feel the hiring manager is looking for.

For the administrative assistant: The most common complaint I hear from administrative assistants is they do not have accomplishments to highlight. Most feel that they have played a supportive role and cannot attribute achievements solely to their efforts. I however have yet to work with an administrative assistant who didn’t have achievements of some kind — whether increasing effectiveness, performing despite limited articulation of responsibilities, or even helping others better perform their jobs by seeking out and taking on additional tasks. By showcasing where you have driven value, you will position yourself ahead of the competition.

For the salesperson: One of the biggest mistakes I see in sales résumés is a lack of quantifiers. As a salesperson, your résumé has to include quantifiers pertaining to your goals and actual achievements. Of course, if your quotas are small, or if you had trouble meeting your objectives, then quantifiers have to be used sparingly, but there are almost always ways to incorporate numbers into a sales résumé. If you worked with a smaller company, try to quantify your successes in percentages as opposed to dollars. Doing so will keep you in the running for those opportunities in which you would handle much higher volumes. I also find that some of my clients in the sales arena have never had solid goals and objectives, and therefore think that they don’t have anything to measure their performance against. If this is the case, try to compare the results you achieved with those of your peers, competitors, or industry averages. Lastly, if you can’t use quantifiers, maybe you have some sales-related awards you can showcase at the beginning of your résumé, client comments, or even pull quotes from annual reviews.

For the teacher: One of the fields I enjoy writing most about is teaching, because there are a number of ways you can make a resume stand out as a teacher. First, instead of opening your resume with your full name, use your teaching name, such as ‘Miss Charlie’. This unique approach immediately positions you as a teacher and engages the reader. I also find myself using imagery a lot on teaching resumes. Often this will be something as simple as ABC blocks, but I have also created teaching resumes with images of children playing, writing on the blackboard, etc. These images grab the reader’s attention and make a case for the strength of the content in the resume. Lastly, if you have them available, I suggest adding written comments you have received from parents and students. You can even present them in a handwritten-style font to add a personal touch to your resume. These testimonials, particularly if they are from your students, reinforce the claims on your resume and present an outsider’s view of your core competencies.

Samantha Nolan is a certified professional résumé writer and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service résumé writing firm.

Reach Samantha at dearsam@ladybug-design.com, www.ladybug-design.com, or 1-888-9-LADYBUG (1-888-952-3928).