JOB SEEKERS : The Subject of Cover Letters and the Effectiveness
As an Independent Recruiter/Talent Acquisition Specialist, I typically screen for companies offering 1k and up salary grids with big bonuses and benefits attached to the position(s). The sad part is that because people don't understand the effectiveness of cover letters they don't even stand a chance. All things being relative there is a good reason potential employers not just ask for the resume but for the cover letter as well.
When I speak to a candidate and I ask them to send me their resume and cover letter, and they state something on the lines of "Oh, wait just a minute I will put a cover letter together and send it to you in the next few minutes". My mind immediately goes something like this "Oh, no not yet another one". Perfect credentials poor grammar, and sentence structuring, and worst with no real thought being given. NOT good! What they send is a sheet of paper that reads with a lot of "NOTHINGNESS." At that point, I am truly embarrassed for them, without saying it.
And, I am sorry to say I always get exactly what I was expecting a poorly written cover letter. Now, I use to redo candidates cover letters for them however, I no longer do this. The reason I no longer, is because as professionals expecting that type of salaries one should know better. "IT" Information Technology people's cover letters are by far the worse ever. Being that I am not in their specialized field, rewriting someone's cover letter can take me an hour or two including doing extensive research in their field. Sorry guys no offense intended, but remaining only truthful.
Get it together, you Job Seekers, all life belongs to us, and all desires to be fulfilled, but you have to take the right steps, and those steps are under your feet. "The Journey of a Thousand Miles begins Under Your Foot". The good news if we just take one or two the Creator will reach down and do the rest.
Hello Ms. Collins I was wondering if you charge a fee to remake someones cover letter?
I would love to have a great job and I think that I have hauled drywall to jobs and I have hung dry wall for 20years l have driven 16 foot box truck s flat beds from big to little but it was great in Columbus l have done exry rooms but I have no cdl my kids are gone now l would love to have something better for myself l always wanted to be a security guard l do have my ccw thank you mark Stapleton god bless everyone
I m looking a job for general worker at East London Eastern cape I m ready to start work anytime
Love It !!!! Thanks for the Vision.
Love It !!!! Thanks for the Vision.
In my opinion, cover letters are a waste of time. Cover letters are nothing more than a recap of the information that is listed on your resume. It's a lot like filling out a job application that wants you to upload a copy of your resume but also wants you to type in every detail of your resume into the job application. Waste of time.
I m malopeni Robert Mkhonto I m looking a job for security operated or general worker I m in East London and hard work
Now you got me concern. I went to a career center just to update my resume and the format that I was encouraged to used did not have a cover letter. I was told cover letters are not as popular as years previously. The new thing is a professional objective space at the top of the resume after one's personal information. Maybe I should do another resume with a cover letter just in case. What do Jobcasers suggest?
So my suggestion to you as a recruiter, clearly here making a statement on an effective cover letter to accompany a strong resume. If people don't know how to write a cover letter and the important contents mentioned in the cover letter structure, then you being the wiser, help then. Inform or instruct here on jobcase, reasons why a good cover letter is important. I find many people have a hard time talking about themselves, even little things in general. So give them some kind of outline, what contents to be included. And explain that every cover letter does not go with every job or field of interest. You may have 4 cover letters, depending on yoir skillset n education level of training. I have multi degrees n multi licenses in difference fields n 1 Resume or Cover Letter can not be used on every job. Not saying to dumb yourself down either. But Healthcare field Resume had no place in Retail Sales Resume. So my question to you Patricia Collins, are you go help by giving them a roughdraft to go by and follow on their future job search endeavors? Post it here in your reply comment section. It's not cool to put people down if you not willing to help lift them up. It's all for the greater good of mankind. I will be lookin for that roughdraft n see if you know your stuff. I will critique, I can do that i have a MBA and Doctorate.
As a direct response to one of the commenter's "Johnathon": Cover Letter Writing Tips"
If your cover letter doesn't fit your skill set and career achievements in direct correlation to your resume then you have kinda shot yourself in the foot. Remember a cover letter tells the whole picture of a candidates achievements, goals and future ambitions without creating a list, that is what the resume is for.
Cover Letters should state facts, not to read like an appeal to get whatever is there. It's telling the reader "this is what I AM bringing to the table. It is to give a complete profile without useless wording and run on sentences.
It is a claiming of who you are as a professional. Like making a statement "Look At Me" I have qualities that are dazzling to the reader whereas one would be foolish not to consider me as a serious candidate.
You are competing and that should be the "flow" of your credentials starting with your cover letter. Presenting yourself as extremely competitive without being obnoxious or egotistical just factual. The keyword here is "Flow". Think of it as a summarization of yourself professionally. Pretend you are the reader and as if you are reading about someone else. If the word boring comes to mind then you know it needs some more work.
I usually critique my cover letter over and over again until it finally reads what I think is perfect, and then I ask myself in 3rd person would you hire this person, then I ask myself what do I need to be added to make me want to look closer at this person.
Typically, if you can land the interview, then you can land the job! At that point, it just takes confidence in yourself. Always remembering "it's not what others think of you it's what you think about yourself". This is what reflects in everything you do! I literally memorize the cover letter that got me the interview, and when sitting in front of that person I am basically rereading it but just changing a few words and position of paragraphs here and there.