Why Your Tailored Cover Letter Strategy May Be Falling Flat. Some of the most successful businesses operating today started with a pain point. In other words, the founders started listening to consumers’ frustrations (or their own) and came up with solutions that worked. Think: Google’s search engine, PayPal’s money transfers, even Etsy’s handmade marketplace.
So it’s no surprise that using this approach also opens that elusive door to a new job. Liz Ryan, a former HR executive and founder of Human Workplace, is a big believer in the power of pain when it comes to applying for a job. That’s why Ryan recommends a four-point strategy to facilitate the hiring manager’s search for the perfect candidate. Not so fast says Donna Svei, who as a recruiter (and professional résumé writer), has received her share of these letters. In brief, he was formal but enthusiastic, established himself as a user of the service in addition to being an applicant, and then proceeded to outline four ideas that would help the department forge new media partnerships. Donna Svei sur Twitter : "Your #CoverLetter: Write About Opportunity, Not Pain | AvidCareerist. Your Cover Letter: Write About Opportunity, Not Pain | AvidCareerist.
Remember, solving a company’s pain only saves it from failure. Capitalizing on its opportunities makes it succeed. Call me crazy, but I’d rather be the person who grabbed the gold ring for my company than the one who put her finger in the dike. Why Cover Letters About Pain Fail: You Show You Don’t “Get It.” First, let’s talk about why pain letters fail so often. A few years ago, Josh Goldstein, now Co-Founder at Underdog.io, found his job search stalled. He was so frustrated that he wrote a blog post asking his readers for help. He shared the cover letter he had written to foursquare.com. The blog post gained the attention of foursquare’s Head of Talent. “Listing ideas in a cover letter can be dangerous.
Beyond showing that you don’t get it, you might also come off as a pompous know-it-all. The Opportunity Letter Rather, let prospective employers know you can capitalize on opportunities. What if foursquare’s Head of Talent had received a letter that read like this? Dear Jason, Sincerely, Cover Letter Mistake Loses Steam. You can find opinions a-go-go on the necessity of cover letters. Sadly, there’s not much hard data backing up either the pro or con positions. I was curious, so I decided to look for some good research on the topic. I found three reliable studies from the past twelve years. They indicate that it’s a good idea to write a cover letter, but the most recent study shows the cover letter losing steam with recruiters. Here’s the scoop: Cover Letter Research Now: Omission Can Be a Cover Letter Mistake A 2014 SHRM survey of HR professionals found that only 22% of respondents think applicants make a mistake by omitting cover letters from their job applications.
Small business HR professionals valued cover letters more than HR professionals in larger organizations. Government HR professionals valued cover letters more than private company HR professionals. Cover Letter Research Then: Omission was a Big Cover Letter Mistake Conclusion Note to Recruiters Here’s the language I use: Top 10 Confused Words in English. By Maeve Maddox 1. affect / effect These two words have specialized meanings in psychology, but in ordinary speech and writing, affect is most often used as a verb meaning “to act on or to cause a change” and effect as a noun meaning “a change that is the result of some action”: How will the move to New Orleans affect the family? (verb) What is the effect of this move on the children? (noun) Note: Effect can also be used as a verb meaning “to cause” or “to bring about”: The new mayor has effected positive change in the police department. 2. advice / advise The error with this pair results from mispronunciation and failure to distinguish between a noun and a verb.
Advice is a noun meaning “recommendation regarding a decision.” She always gives me good advice. 3. aisle / isle Both words are nouns. You’ll find the children in the toy aisle. 4. adverse / averse Both words are adjectives that imply a form of opposition. The jury delivered an adverse verdict against the defendant. Donna Svei sur Twitter : "5 Reasons The #CoverLetter Should Just Die Already v @careerintell...
5 Reasons The Cover Letter Should Just Die Already. AvidCareerist : Do You Misuse This Word in ... Do You Misuse This Word in Cover Letters? When We Write Letters To apply for jobs.For legal documentation.For love. In other words, not very often (or not often enough!). Thus, most of us aren’t very good at it. And they seriously mess up job searches. I can’t say it boldly enough: The Sadly Misused and Abused Word Given all of that, I smiled at this tweet from Lydia Dishman yesterday: Multiple Choice Test Pick the correct choice for a cover letter sentence: A. B. C. D. Answer: I would hire that Copy Editor applicant on the spot because I have rarely seen the word “piqued” used correctly in a cover letter.
What to Do If you really want to stand out in your cover letter, use “piqued” correctly. If your reader knows how to use peaked, peeked, and piqued correctly, and you misuse “piqued,” it will tarnish your application. AvidCareerist : #CoverLetters: Taking a Pay... Cover Letters: Taking a Pay Cut. Your Cover Letter Made Me Wince | I’ve blogged about this topic before on ERE and as a ghost writer on a former client’s blog (which caused something like a 1000% spike – albeit temporary – in the blog’s traffic). Given all the pablum-like advice on cover letters these days – folks, there’s something wrong when a one-page resume is accompanied by a one-page cover letter – it is worth reposting this one specific letter in response to a Linus sysadmin opportunity… I’ve been bouncing boxes for Uncle Sam 2.5 years now in some of the most god-awful places on earth.
I’ve racked servers during indirect fire, maintained contact with a bird while our vehicle was shot up, mastered the finer art of the many uses of duct tape and how it applies to IT in a warzone. I’ve put up racks in Namibian provinces while cheetahs and jackals watched me from 100 yards away, I’ve even chased an ostrich who tried to steal my CAT5 from the box. This was so unique that I was dialing this person’s phone number the moment I finished reading. Do You Misuse This Word in Cover Letters? Do You Misuse This Word in Cover Letters? When We Write Letters To apply for jobs.For legal documentation.For love.
In other words, not very often (or not often enough!). Thus, most of us aren’t very good at it. And they seriously mess up job searches. I can’t say it boldly enough: The Sadly Misused and Abused Word Given all of that, I smiled at this tweet from Lydia Dishman yesterday: Multiple Choice Test Pick the correct choice for a cover letter sentence: A. B. C. D. Answer: I would hire that Copy Editor applicant on the spot because I have rarely seen the word “piqued” used correctly in a cover letter. What to Do If you really want to stand out in your cover letter, use “piqued” correctly. If your reader knows how to use peaked, peeked, and piqued correctly, and you misuse “piqued,” it will tarnish your application. AvidCareerist : Do You Misuse This Word in... Do You Misuse This Word in Cover Letters?
Do You Misuse This Word in Cover Letters? Do You Misuse This Word in Cover Letters? The Research Data Says, “Write a Cover Letter.” Really, I would rather say that you don’t have to write a cover letter. Why? Because, as a recruiter, I almost never read cover letters and I don’t want to waste your time writing them. I care about your resume. I want to read it. You can find opinions a-go-go on this topic all over the Internet. I found two reliable studies from the past ten years. A 2009 study of 140 national and multi-national companies found that 56% of respondents preferred to receive a cover letter along with an applicant’s resume. A 2003 on-line SHRM poll with 286 respondents found that 43% of respondents rated the cover letter as “influential” in their hiring decision. It’s not a lot of data, but it’s good data collected and reported by unbiased researchers. A Common Cover Letter Mistake That Will Hurt You.
Advertising Guru David Ogilvy's 10 Writing Tips. Ogilvy & Mather In 1982, the late founder of the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency David Ogilvy issued a memo of 10 incredible writing tips to his staff. Known as "the father of advertising," Ogilvy made sure his employees knew they'd only climb the ladder at his agency if their writing was sharp, clear, and precise. As Ogilvy said, "people who think well, write well. " Here are 10 writing tips we can all learn from, as posted on Ogilvy & Mather's Twitter account earlier this month.
Basically anyone in business anywhere can learn from this. Ogilvy & Mather. Are Resume Cover Letters Becoming Obsolete? - Career Geek Blog. The humble resume cover letter: we all know that we should write one. And yet so many of us skip this simple step. Our reasons for this are many and varied: we kid ourselves that we don’t have the time, that it’s not needed in this day and age, or that the hiring manager won’t read it.
Maybe we hope that our impressive LinkedIn profiles and bustling industry-savvy social media accounts will suffice. After all, studies have shown that 35% of employers will view your social media page before even reading your resume. Yet that still leaves a whopping 65% of employers who will decide whether or not to interview you based solely on the contents of your resume and (if you’ve supplied it) your cover letter. So why do we dislike writing that cover letter so much? Yet a survey by OfficeTeam showed that not receiving a cover letter with a resume was still a huge turn-off to potential employers. Put simply, including a cover letter with your resume is good manners. Google+
4 Tips on How to Answer the “Salary Expectations” & “Salary History” Questions. Perhaps you shouldn’t apply for that job. The employer has already shown you that expediency is more important to them than a reasonable negotiation process and respect for your boundaries. Don’t expect that behavior to stop after you go to work for them.If you do apply, respond to the “salary expectations” question by stating that you expect to be paid equitably in comparison to your peers in the organization.If you do apply, respond to the “salary history” question by providing your base salary and a general statement about additional compensation and benefits. See the sample language provided below.
If you feel uncomfortable as you write either response #2 or #3, respect your feelings. Stop. Sample Salary History Language: “I am providing the compensation information that you have requested. If you’re way out of their ballpark, you just saved everyone some time. 10 Secrets to More Magnetic Copy. Cover Letter Errors. Like job seekers, bloggers often reach out and network with each other. Just this week, The Pongo Blog received an inquiry from a potential guest blogger. Her message started with a nice compliment ("Your blog is so helpful! ") and referred to one of our recent posts. So far, so good. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that this particular piece of flattery was less-than-sincere, as the next line said: "I would love to have one of our bloggers write a guest post for [sitename].
" Wait, what? Who you callin’ [sitename]? In this case it was kind of amusing and no big deal. Most employers these days have more qualified applicants than they can handle, so even a small mistake is reason enough to eliminate you. And while we’re on the subject, here are a couple others: 1. Ideally, you should address your cover letter by name to the hiring manager for the specific job. Acceptable options include: Dear Hiring Manager: Good Afternoon, 2. Some employers might not even notice a small mistake. Using a Digital Signature to Spruce Up Your Cover Letters. Home > Cover Letters > Using a Digital Signature to Spruce Up Your Cover Letters Most job applications are submitted through the Internet today, either through an online application system or by e-mailing cover letters and resumes as attachments. Sending electronic cover letters is very convenient, but it precludes the applicant’s ability to sign the letter.
Unless you want to print out, sign, scan, and then e-mail every single cover letter you write, it’s easier to just send them without a signature. One way you can make your cover letters stand out is to insert a digital image of your signature. Many online application systems won’t be able to process the digital image of your signature. Jessica Holbrook Hernandez is an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, speaker and President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast. Jessica Holbrook Hernandez Latest posts by Jessica Holbrook Hernandez (see all) The Monster Blog. « Seasonal Jobs and the Monthly Unemployment Report | Main | The Monster 5 for Friday--Careers Edition--October 8 » October 07, 2010 Hunter S.
Thompson's Cover Letter Journalist and bon viveur Hunter S. Thompson is an unlikely source of career advice--his path to success was so unconventional (to say the least), that very few people would be able to follow in his footsteps. But a recently published cover letter Thompson sent, in 1958, to the Vancouver Sun provides a good example of what not to do in a cover letter—because in it, he makes mistakes that many young, creative people make when applying for jobs. Although Thompson went on to great success and did some unforgettable writing in his estimable career, he didn't get this job, and here—perhaps—is why: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. So Thompson wasn't good at cover letters, it seems. Share this post: Digg, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, Facebook, Twitter, etc. TrackBack Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Hunter S. Comments. AvidCareerist. Really, I would rather say that you don’t have to write a cover letter.
Why? Because, as a recruiter, I almost never read cover letters and I don’t want to waste your time writing them. I care about your resume. I want to read it. Then I want to go ride my bike or dance Argentine tango. You can find opinions a-go-go on this topic all over the Internet. I found two reliable studies from the past ten years. A 2009 study of 140 national and multi-national companies found that 56% of respondents preferred to receive a cover letter along with an applicant’s resume. A 2003 on-line SHRM poll with 286 respondents found that 43% of respondents rated the cover letter as “influential” in their hiring decision.
It’s not a lot of data, but it’s good data collected and reported by unbiased researchers. AvidCareerist. AvidCareerist. Cover Letter Tips & Career Advice from Career Expert Teena Rose : CAREEREALISM. Step 2: The Lead Line | Susan Ireland's Resume Site.