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A cover letter serves three purposes: it accompanies your resume, introduces you, and generates employer interest in interviewing you. The cover letter is as much of a marketing tool as the resume itself. It must have a good layout and design, be neat, concise, well organized, and follow an acceptable business letter format. It should consist of three paragraphs. It should be geared to solving a prospective employer's problems. It should be accomplishment-based and contain new information that is not covered in the resume. RESUMES A resume is more than just a summary of your work experience. A well written resume is an effective marketing tool positioning you above your competition. Its primary function is to get you an interview. It needs to highlight your special skills and accomplishments, while being concise and visually appealing. It should be set up to catch the reader's attention immediately as most resumes are given 8-30 seconds on the first reading. It has to present enough information to convince the reader that you merit an interview and to give direction to the interview. The Write Stuff By Sally McIntosh. Originally published at www.resume-resources.com Years ago no one needed a résumé. All
anyone had to do was fill out an application. The system worked. Right? Wrong. Employers
started asking for one-page résumés to find out more about the prospective employee.
That was enough. Right? Wrong. I have the expertise to prepare
scannable and e-mail resumes as well as those for Internet database use. I can give
you an effective resume to assist you in gaining the success you deserve. It takes
two to write a resume - one with the expertise and the other with the information
that needs to be effectively presented. REFERENCE PAGE SALARY HISTORY You have to add up your total compensation package of cash and extras. There is a difference between take home pay and a total compensation package. Put your salary in its best light. Take your base pay + estimated bonus + next raise (if soon) + the value of your extras (company auto plus mileage per year + matching contribution to company sponsored retirement plan + life and health insurance + any other company compensation or benefits) = Your Compensation Package. Give your salary history on a separate sheet of paper or in your cover letter, but never in the resume. Use the same heading as your cover letter and/or resume. No matter what an employer asks for, you can always give him less. Some people give information only on their last job or the last ten years. Normally salary tables give each employer's name, followed by your title, dates of employment, and ending salary:
Another way of handling it is to say something in your cover letter:
Salary data is considered by many to be exclusionary. That means it will be used to eliminate you from consideration - unless you are underpaid and applying to a new employer who wants to underpay you. If you make too much, then he will think that you would be unhappy with his company. If you make too little he will undervalue your claimed experience and skills. If you used to make more than you do now, he will think you are a poor risk. If you are comfortable providing salary information then give it but if you are not, you are not alone. SALARY NEGOTIATIONS You should avoid providing any salary information before an interview; then let them bring up the topic first. Respond to any questions about your salary requirements with a question about their salary. "What range did you have in mind for this position?" Always negotiate salaries in person and whenever possible delay the negotiations until they have made you a solid job offer. An offer is just that. It isn't necessarily written in stone and can more often than not be negotiated. If the salary is a bit too low, perhaps they'll consider an early salary review or a raise after six months. If benefits start after three months of employment, perhaps they might waive the three months or maybe pay for your private benefit plans until you go on theirs. As for vacation, this is usually a fixed policy, but not as fixed as it may seem. Many times (especially at the management level) the waiting period for the third or fourth week is waived. Also find out how much vacation you're entitled to in the first year. That may also be negotiable. LETTERS OF RESIGNATION Always submit a letter of resignation. Deliver it the same day that you verbally inform your boss that you will be leaving. It will document the fact that you are leaving and verify that you did, in fact, notify your employer well ahead of time. Date the letter of resignation and give the exact date of your last day at work there. Say nice things about the company and thank them for the opportunities you received there. This is not the time to vent anger and hostility. You may need them as a reference in the future. Send it directly to your boss but also send a copy to your Personnel Department. I can assist in drafting your resignation letter so you will leave on a high note. LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
Sometimes people are more than
willing to write a letter of recommendation for you but do not know what to put in
it. You can help them and yourself by reading on. EMPLOYER REQUESTS INTERVIEWING Cringe. An interview. Ugh! Guess what? Most interviewers feel the same way. Very few people who actually do interviewing have little, if any, training or background in it. So now what do you do? You take the lead or the initiative. It is up to you to get enough information on the table so that you will be the person who is hired. It is up to you to keep the interview targeted on what you need to tell them so they can make a good hiring decision. A bad hiring decision does not benefit anyone. It is not to the company's advantage to make the wrong decision. Remember you need to develop topics that are of interest to the company. They do not care what you want. They do care what you can do for them. You need to figure out what information you want them to hear. It does not matter if you are an hourly line worker or the president of a company. Once you come up with six or eight questions you need to develop a two to three minute sound bite on each of them and include an accomplishment for each topic. For example, maybe you want them to know that you have contributed to the company's safety record. You would tell them that in seven years you have never had an accident. This is an accomplishment. You would then go on to tell them how you have avoided accidents in the workplace, that you served on the Safety Committee, and that you made thus and so recommendations to the company that were acted on. Now you have a nice, neat little package to present at the interview. Practice it over and over again until it sounds natural. Practice on friends and family. Remember, your next job is depending on your presentation. Always arrive ten minutes before the scheduled time for the interview. Come prepared with at least five extra copies of your résumé to distribute at the interview. There is no guarantee that the interviewer will have your résumé in front of him or that he even read it. You never know how many people will be involved in the interview. Don't forget to bring your list of references and maybe even a well done portfolio (scrapbook) of your noteworthy job activities. Originally published at www.resume-resources.com JOB SEARCH STRATEGIES Did you know that only 17% of the positions available are listed in the newspaper? I can assist you with networking strategies, broadcast mailings, dealing with recruiters, and Internet job searches. I have many resources at my disposal.
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Resumes LLC in St. Louis Copyright
© 1998-2010 11921
H Villa Dorado Drive - St. Louis, MO 63146
Sally McIntosh,
professional résumé writer, provides expert resume writing when she
writes a resume. We make a resume for you. We give you a resume tip, resume help,
or a free resume sample, or a free resume and cover letter sample. A sample resume
or a free resume sample or a free resume example shows a current resume format or
résumé form. We do not use a resume template for a resume or resume
cover letter nor do we provide a free resume template nor do we do a 10 minute resume
nor do we use resume software. All of our resumes and cover letters are custom designed.
We target our resumes with or without a resume objective. If you are asked to send
a resume fax, make sure it is clear and the page is not crowded. We can give you an
online résumé. At this resume service, we can create resumes for a teacher resume, an executive resume, a customer service resume, a nursing resume, an electronic resume, accounting resume, sales resume, college resume, student resume, IT resume, it resume, nurse resume, or any type of resume. We post resumes and can do an online resume and an electronic resume. |
Cover Letters