Resume Tips
Cover Letters
- Highlight aspects of your experience that are most useful to a potential employer.
- Also provide you with the opportunity to show what you know about your field and the company you're writing to.
- Can also explain things your resume can't:
- large gaps in employment history
- re-entering the job market
- changing the focus of your career
- moving to a city where the company is located
- Your cover letter can explain these things in a positive way
Tips on Cover Letters:
- Wherever possible, address the person by name. (call the company and ask who the Personnel Director is)
if it is a blind ad, "Sir or Madam" is acceptable. You can also skip the salutation.
- First Paragraph
- express interest in the company./opportunity
- reference the ad, person who referred you, and your awareness of the company
- Second Paragraph
- speak to the requirements of the ad
- pick 2-3 points where your qualifications match their requirements and touch on those in a brief manner
- or, show you have done your homework on the co. if it is a cold-contact letter
- address any issues regarding discontinuity of work history, or entering into a new career path
- Third Paragraph
- Ask for the opportunity to meet with the hiring manager to expand on your qualifications and to discuss how your experience can help the company reach their goals.
Your cover letter is one more opportunity for that hiring manager to get motivated to call you for an interview .
Final Thoughts: Your resume and cover letters are a reflection of who you are and what you want. As long as you're honest, and keep your reader in mind, the rest will fall into place.
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