Resume Training Series Chapter 43

Cover Letter Must Haves!

Before we discuss what your cover letter should contain in order for the employer to take notice and review your resume, it is critical that understand the importance of having a cover letter.

The most commonly made mistake in resume submissions is not including a copy of your cover letter. If you are emailing your resume, the cover letter can be included in the body of the email, or attached (although employers typically prefer no attachments in email submissions). If you are faxing or mailing your resume, assure that the cover letter comes before the resume. Omitting a cover letter from your job application appears unprofessional to your potential employer; having a well-written, personalized cover letter allows the employer to get an insight into who you are, how you communicate and how you present yourself as a professional.

Here are some great tips on composing a winning cover letter to accompany your resume:

• Address the letter to the appropriate person. The biggest mistake professionals make is not taking the time to address their cover letter to the appropriate person, such as the recruiter or the hiring manager. Take the time to address your cover letter to the appropriate person; if the job description does not include a person as a contact, take queue from the text and address the letter to the team listed as the contact. Using generic lines, such as “To whom it may concern,” is not acceptable on a cover letter.


• Know what the goal of your cover letter is and express it clearly, and concisely. Sell yourself in the best possible light; make sure that you sound confident professional in your cover letter. Concentrate on the positives, and highlight those qualifications that make you a perfect candidate for the job. Even if you are insecure in your qualifications, or feel that you may be slightly under-qualified for the job, put your best foot forward.


• Customize your cover letter to the position you are applying for. It is very important that your cover letter address why you are the best person for the job you are seeking. This includes indicating the job title in the cover letter. Generic statements, or statements indicating that you are interested in any open position with the company, make you appear unprofessional and unprepared.


• Answer these two questions: why do you want this particular job, and what can you do for the company? These two questions must be addressed in the cover letter in order to let your employer know that you are serious about your interest, that you have considered the opportunity and how it fits with your professional goals, and what you are willing to bring to the table in order to benefit the organization you want to work for.


• Proof your cover letter. Errors and misspellings leave a poor impression on the employer.


• Close the cover letter by indicating to your potential employer when you intent to follow up on your application. Do not end the letter with a statement that leaves it up to the employer to call you at their convenience. Let the employer know that you want to follow up, when and how you will do so. This confirms your interest in the position, and your professional etiquette.

Note, you must follow up when and how you indicated on the cover letter.

Resume Training Series

Materials of JobsInClerical: November 2008

Resume Training Series Chapter 42

Make Your Resume Scannable

Most job applications are now done electronically, and most employers, no matter the job level, request a resume from the candidates. Have you ever wondered why employers would request resumes from all candidates, when it can be extremely time consuming to review them all? Employers don’t actually review every resume they receive (make sure to get this right..) ; companies use various software to scan the resumes they receive for key words and content specific to their available positions. Typically, this is the first round of resume review. Your resume has to make it pass the computer-generated scan in order to make it into the hands of the hiring manager.

While your resume may be well-written and well-formatted, it may not be scannable. This may be the reason why you are not receiving calls from potential employers, even if you have great qualifications for the job.

To make your resume scannable, follow these tips:

• Special formatting may cause certain letters in words to touch, and blend into one character. This is especially the case if a word is bolded or italicized. Make sure that you review your resume and revise any parts where letters are joined together, so that the words can be scanned.

• Font type and font size are very important for both your printed and electronic resume. When the resume is scanned, it is important that the font is recognizable by the software. Stick to the basic fonts, such as Ariel and Times New Roman, and to the basic font size, such as 10 or 12 points.

• Do not underline words or phrases in your resume. In an electronic format, underlining implies that the text links to another document or a web site. Additionally, do not have any lines in the resume that touch the text, as this will prevent the resume from being scannable.

• All the text in your resume should read from left to right in order for your resume to be scannable. No special formatting, such as tables, or columns, should be contained within your electronic resume.

• Do not use special characters that may not be recognized by scanning software. This includes special formatting of bullets, use of ampersands or percent signs, copyright signs, or any other characters that may not be easily recognizable by scanning software. If you are quantifying information on your resume, make sure to spell out the percentage instead of using “%” as you are indicating increase in sales, for example. Whenever possibly, avoid using signs or special characters in your resume.

• Even if you submit a printed resume, the document may be scanned for key words to match your qualifications with available positions. It is very important that your submission is on plain white paper, in basic font type and size. If you are submitting multiple pages, make sure that all the pages are numbered, with your name in the top left corner. Do not staple multiple pages. If you do so, only the top page will be scanned.

• The most important element of a scannable resume is the selection of active keywords, or power words. Do your research and make sure that you use the appropriate keywords in your resume that apply toward the position you are seeking. Having appropriate keywords throughout your resume makes it easier for the software to find matches when scanning the document.

Helpful tip: review the employer’s job requirements for keywords. What are the required qualifications for the job? Make sure that your resume contains the same terminology as that on the job description, without direct copying of the text, of course. When your resume is scanned, the software will pick up these key words and you can be one step closer to landing your dream job.

Note: Make sure to view or copy the Resume Action Words -

Resume Training Series

Materials of JobsInClerical: November 2008

POWERFUL RESUME ACTION KEYWORDS

POWERFUL RESUME ACTION KEYWORDS

-A-

Accelerated

Accomplished

Achieved

Adapted

Administered

Advised

Analyzed

Arranged

Assembled

Assumed responsibility

-B-

Balanced

Blazed

Billed

Built

-C-

Carried out

Channeled

Collected

Communicated

Compiled

Completed

Conceived

Conducted

Controlled

Contracted

Coordinated

Counseled

Created

Cut

-D-

Delegated

Demonstrated

Designed

Determined

Developed

Directed

Dispatched

Distributed

Documented

-E-

Earned

Edited

Effected

Eliminated

Enabled

Energized

Established

Evaluated

Expanded

Expedited

-F-

Facilitated

Found

Functioned as

-G-

Gained

Gathered

Generated

Graded

Graduated

-H-

Handled

Hired

-I-

Increased

Influenced

Implemented

Improved

Initiated

Innovated

Inspected

Installed

Instituted

Instructed

Interpreted

Interviewed

Introduced

Invented

Issued

-L-

Launched

Lectured

Led

-M-

Maintained

Managed

Mastered

Met with

Modernized

Motivated

-N-

Negotiated

-O-

Operated

Optimized

Originated

Orchestrated

Ordered

Organized

Oversaw

-P-

Participated

Performed

Pinpointed

Planned

Prepared

Presented

Produced

Programmed

Proved

Provided

Published

Purchased

-R-

Recommended

Recorded

Recruited

Reduced

Referred

Reinforced

Represented

Researched

Revamped

Reviewed

Revised

Revitalized

-S-

Saved

Scheduled

Screened

Served

Set up

Simplified

Sold

Solved

Spearheaded

Standardized

Steered

Structured

Suggested

Supervised

Supported

Surpassed

-T-

Taught

Tested

Trained

Translated

Tripled

Typed

-U-

Underwrote

Updated

Used

-W-

Won

Wrote