If you are applying for a job, your professional resume must be accompanied by a professional cover letter. A cover letter gives you the opportunity to sell yourself directly to the hiring professional or recruiter. Unlike your resume, your cover letter will be customized for each position you apply for.

A “Direct” cover letter is the type of cover letter used to apply for a specific job posting. Directions on submitting your resume and cover letter will be included with the posting and must be followed to a T. Remember most hiring professionals are looking for a reason to eliminate candidates. Don’t give them one.

Some job postings will divulge the hiring company and some include only the recruiting company. And there are many that are posted by various recruiters as well as the hiring company. Invest the time and effort to fully research the position. Sometimes it’s as simple as a google search for the first “line” of the job description to discover the details. 

Anyone can submit a cover letter and a resume but if you want to position yourself above the competition, do your due diligence in discovering the details and then incorporate the information in your cover letter. Did you uncover a contact name? Is the company renowned for their corporate social responsibility? Have they been awarded a Top 50 employer? What reason do you have for wanting to work for them? If you are responding to a recruiter, does the recruiting company have a well established reputation or maybe an international clientele? Everyone will notice your extra effort and appreciate the acknowledgment or a genuine compliment.

Your cover letter is a selling document as is your resume so sell yourself! Highlight key accomplishments from your resume in your cover letter. Your goal is to impress the reader! You included quantifiable proof of your achievements in your resume, don’t omit it in your cover letter.

Do you have a tag line? Don’t hesitate to keep the readers attention right to the end of your cover letter by adding it as a P.S.,  “My tenacity, diligence and determination will drive your business to new heights. “

If you don’t pay attention to detail when sending out critical documents such as your cover letter and your resume, what message do you think that sends to an employer? If your lack of attention to detail results in spelling or grammatical mistakes in your cover letter or resume do you think an employer will want to hire you and pay you to make more mistakes? Why should an employer put their faith in you to represent their company when you are not able to submit a cover letter or resume free of errors? These are documents that have the potential to open up career opportunities for you and you haven’t made the effort to pay attention to detail. 

Review the entire resume and cover letter and pay attention to detail. Yes, we know the cover letter you are submitting is a template for various job applications as your experience and accomplishments aren’t going to change. But it should not look like a fill in the applicable blanks with job title and date cover letter. Proof the entire document and make the effort to research the company you are applying to and note your enthusiasm about  joining a top 50 best employer. Although your accomplishments don’t change, you may have the option of selecting ones with more relevance to the position. Carefully review the instructions for submitting your cover letter and resume. Who, where, what and when?

Recently I received a cover letter dated June 2nd that should have been dated August 18th and the position that was referenced was spelt wrong. Do you think a decision maker would consider this person as a potential candidate?

Don’t miss out on an opportunity. Pay attention to detail and you will be recognized as a viable candidate throughout your job search.

If you are sending out your resume, it must be accompanied by a cover letter! There are five main types of cover letters; advertising, direct, pain, networking and recruiter. Your cover letter enables you to customize your information appropriately for each submission of your resume. Each type of cover letter requires unique information from the other.

The recruiter cover letter is perhaps the most general with regards to your talents and skills as you are not applying for a specific job or organization so it is imperative that you sell yourself to the recruiter as a potential candidate for a variety of positions and companies. As with your resume, always concentrate on your accomplishments. If you don’t impress the recruiter you will not get the opportunity to interview with their clients.

A recruiter will most likely be filling positions for more than one client, many of which could be hiring in a variety of locations. Are you willing to relocate? This could be a key factor in a recruiters decision so be sure to include details if you are willing to consider relocating.

Be sure to note that you are interested in current or future search assignments as they may not have something for you today but you do want to be kept on file and be remembered for any future opportunities.

Sell, sell, sell!

“I am an expert! I’m a problem solver! I have an impecable track record for delivering results! Your client will be impressed! Please call me to discuss my further accomplishments, too many to note on my resume.”

Selling yourself is one key point that is common to every type of cover letter.  

The days of a paper resume are gone! If you were considering stuffing your resume in an envelope and affixing postage, think again. HR professionals and recruiters alike expect a properly formatted, professionally written resume with an accompanying cover letter to be submitted online. Your online proficiency doesn’t stop there. You must also have a significant personal and professional online presence. The best way to find out what the majority of recruiters will discover about you is to google yourself.

Maintaining a consistent and professional name for each of your online profiles is important. Unless you have a very unusual name, it may not be in your best interest to use only one initial with your last name as you could end up lost in a sea of people with the same handle or possibly mistaken for someone with a less than stellar reputation. Consider establishing your online presence using your full name, Harold J Smith, rather than H Smith to differentiate yourself. Eliminate all of the dots and dashes and numbers that are often automatically generated and use your proper name. Most online networking sites give you the option to customize your URL and generate one based on the user name you choose. How does this relate to your resume? A resume written in 2009 must contain your Linkedin address with your contact details.

Also included in your resume is your email address. The question to ask in 2009 is not whether or not you have an email address on your resume, but how old is your email address and is it professional? Today there is no excuse! Email addresses are easily acquired and they’re free. If you haven’t updated yours in years or you’re still using the one you created using a nickname, create a new one that can be used professionally. Recruiters are interested in forward thinking individuals who stay current. An AOL address is perceived as outdated and a Hotmail address lacks professionalism so update your resume with an appropriate email address.

First impressions are key to your success and the contact information you provide on your resume is your first impression on paper, or rather, on the computer! Without an impressive resume it is unlikely you will be given the opportunity for a job interview. If you want to be taken seriously in your pursuit of an executive position and increase your chances of a job interview, submit a professionally written resume with at least one online address and a professional email address.

Not sure if you have a resume that will get your foot in the door? Don’t take any chances! Contact us for a free resume critique today!

Do you have a completed LinkedinProfile? If you are questioning the significance of a presence on Linkedin, please take the time to review the 2009 Social Recruitment Survey Results from Jobvite.

You may not be in career transition today but there’s no guarantee that you won’t be next month, next year or the year after that. Here are a few results from Jobvites’ survey:

80% of the companies surveyed are using or planning to use social networking to find and attract candidates this year. 95% of those using social networking sites for recruiting are using Linkedin. Those using Facebook increased from 36% last year to 59% this year. Twitter is now ranked third with 42% of recruiters using it to source candidates.

Since Twitter was not even ranked last year it is evident how quickly an online presence has evolved into a critical  job search tool that rivals that of a resume!

If you wish to succeed in your job search it is imperative to add an online presence in addition to your professional resume and cover letter. According to these survey results, I recommend starting with Linkedin!

There are different types of cover letters and the “pain” cover letter is one type that has evolved as a sign of the times. It is a very specific and powerful document addressing particular issues relating to a company experiencing problems or pain and relating it to your particular realm of expertise. As a professional sales person, it could be a company that is experiencing a drop in market share or a reduction in sales. For a Production Engineer, it could be a company experiencing continuous break downs on their manufacturing line. Once the issues have been identified and if you feel confident in resolving the problem, write a detailed letter to the President, CEO or senior executive with the responsibility for that particular function and issue. Outline how you see their issues and present a brief synopsis on how your skills and knowledge can rectify their problems. Be detailed giving examples of how you have increased market share, driven sales or realigned production line operations with minimal investment from your previous employers.

The pain cover letter shows you are proactive, someone looking for new challenges and ready to tackle critical business issues and it is an intriguing way of luring a potential employer into calling you for an interview. They will want to know in greater detail what contributions you will make.

You will need to go hunting for these opportunities, staying current with news and business magazines to discover the companies that are experiencing trouble. Then position yourself as the chief problem solver and go in with gusto explaining how you will tackle their dilemma.

The pain cover letter offers another perspective to your job search. It works. Make it work for you!     

Your cover letter is an important element to marketing your resume! Getting your resume noticed is your objective and a compelling, well written cover letter will do just that. 

Unlike your resume, cover letters are written in the personal pronoun and there are a variety of types, including:

Recruiter – Networking – Direct Mail – Advert – Pain

Click on the following to find an example of a Direct Cover Letter:

For examples of other cover letters,  http://aneliteresume.com/resume-writing/sample-resumes/cover-letters/

Seize the opportunity to exude confidence and sell your skills with an enticing, personalized cover letter. More importantly, don’t forget to ASK FOR THE JOB!

The competition is fierce! HR professionals are receiving more resumes and cover letters than ever before. Will your cover letter and resume get noticed if it is 1 of 1,000?

With so many resumes being submitted for available positions the goal of all HR professionals or Recruiters is to reduce that number to a manageable list of viable candidates. A common first step in this process is to electronically scan your resume for keywords. If you are applying for an executive position and the company wants a candidate with an engineering degree, they might scan for “P.Eng” or “MBA”.  For a sales and marketing position they may scan for “P&L”. Have you included the necessary keywords in your resume to keep you in the running?

Okay, you’ve passed the scanner but is your resume free of spelling mistakes or gramatical errors? Will it exceed the expectations for this professional document, easy to ready, bulleted points, standard font, white paper, consistent page borders, no excess white space? If your resume doesn’t look impressive, neither do you. 

The next step in the few seconds of attention that your resume will be given is to discover your attributes and achievements. If they don’t jump out at the reader, no one is going to spend the time to go looking for them. Clear, concise, quantifiable and impressive results will be noticed. Do not waste your time with vague comments such as, “saved the company money”.  

If your resume has generated enough interest at this point to put you above the crowd, you are one of the few but you could still miss out on the job interview if you have neglected to include some pertinent information. If you have missed including the dates anywhere in your resume you will generate a negative impression as it will be perceived that you have something to hide. Finally, the most critical information of all is your contact details. There are still those who are not comfortable putting their phone number on their resume and still many who have not realized the significance of an online presence and do not have an email or LinkedIn address. If you are not a phone call away or a google away, you may have come this far only to be dropped out of the running.

Your resume and cover letter are the most critical components of your job search! You need them to get in the door and if you don’t get it right, you could be missing out on the job opportunity of a lifetime. Don’t take the risk, call a professional resume writer.              

Your job search must entail a wide range of methods and strategies if you are going to succeed in today’s competitive job market. Job search tools that will elevate your visibility include a professionally written resume, extensive networking and utilizing online resources. If no one knows who you are or that you are looking for a job, how will you be found? You can search job boards but results show a success rate of approximately 3%. Networking is the number 1 job search tool for job seekers and today we have more online resources for networking than ever before.

The following online resources provide networking opportunities, job search tips and advice, job postings, personal profiles, company profiles, resume posting, facts, figures, surveys and so much more. Take advantage of these online resources to help you succed in your job search:

Monster.ca – “your calling is calling”
Workopolis.com – “Canada’s biggest job site”
JobAngels – A grassroots movement to help get people back to work, one person at a time.
red canary – “opportunity meets community”
JibberJobber – “Career Management 2.0″
About.com – “Jobs and Careers”
Indeed – “one search. all jobs. Canada”
Eluta – “The search engine for new jobs in Canada”
Jobhawk.com – “soar higher”
Alltop – “All the top Careers news.”
ZoomInfo – “find people and companies”
Simply Hired – “Search over 150,000 jobs in Canada”
LinkedIn – “Relationships Matter”
Naymz – “Next Level Networking”
Xing – “Global networking for professionals”
CareerAdviceBlogs.com – “top career advice headlines”
Twitter – Who are you following?

The Best Sites to Find Job Listings, by Alison Doyle

If you are still looking for more online resources, the following will provide a wealth of business information and the opportunity to find details  and employee reviews for companies you may be interested in working for.
BusinessWeek
Canadian Business
Glassdoor.com

Elite Resumes is dedicated to providing extensive information to help you manage your career. Please review our website for free resume samples and cover letter samples. We welcome comments and are pleased to answer any questions you may have.  Martin Buckland, Principal of Elite Resumes is fully accredited in a wide variety of career management fields.  Contact him for a free resume critique today! Martin is also the sole Canadian representative for ExecuNet. Sign up for the next meeting and join a professional group of networkers dedicated to managing successful careers.

Online resources offer volumes of information related to your job search on resumes, cover letters, personal branding, networking and more. Here are just a few articles available online offering valuable information:

Top 10 Tools for Landing a Better Job, by Kevin Purdy on lifehacker. Number 1. Write a killer resume for a new career path!

A Cover Letter is not Expendable written by Phyllis Korkki in the New York Times tells you what a cover letter is all about, what it should say and why, even in this day and age, you should never send your resume without one.

Use social media networks to create a “personal brand”, Brianne Sanchez reports in the DesMoinesRegister.com providing advice from Mike Templeton, recently named director of social media and Web strategy at the  Iowa Hospital Association, who says, “Before blasting out a “brand”, sit down and do a little self Q&A”.

Eight Little-Known Tricks for the Job Hunt, by Liz Ryan, The Savvy Networker online at SFGate.comhome of the SanFransciso Chronicle. Do you have a signature on your outgoing email? Does your resume sound human? Check out these great tips from an internationally recognized expert on careers and the new millennium workplace.

So much information available at your finger tips!