Basic Cover Letter Tips | JobSearchTV.com
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, offers to four tips for writing a cover letter and states his preference.
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Cover letters. There are two versions of them. There is the pretty traditional 3 paragraph format. You know, “Hi! I’m forwarding my resume to you because I understand you’re trying to fill a position for such and such. Then, you briefly say, “I believe my experience with . . . and you list several of your experiences and qualifications that fit what the firm is looking for, that show that you fit the role. I’ll be contacting you in the next few days if I don’t hear from you. I’d like to be able to schedule an interview with you.” Words to that effect. That’s version number one. It’s not my favorite one. It’s pretty standard.
Now, the second version which is far far more effective is, “I’m forwarding my resume to you for the (same opening paragraph). I understand from the position description you’re looking for such and such. Let me walk through my background and demonstrate how it fits the role. Now, you go through the requirements of the position and how long and how recently you’ve worked with those particular skills. You’d look at the functionality in the job description. Pick the functionality that you’ve actually performed for another organization. It’s identical with it. How long you did it. How recently you did it. What you did and embellish it a little bit. So, this is a longer cover letter but it’s tailored to the particular firm that’s hiring and far more effective.
Then, you conclude by saying, “I look forward to speaking with you in the next few days and scheduling an opportunity for us to talk in detail. Real simple but again, I believe it’s called a T-square model where you’re taking the requirements and the functionality, putting it on the left column. In the right column , communicating how long and how recently you performed it. Put it in a Word format. No embedded headers. Nothing awkward. Saving it in a traditional docx format and forward it to the employer.
Hi! I'm Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. I'm referred to as The Big Game Hunter
Because I've been hunting down leaders and staff for organizations for more than 40 years.
Cover letters. There are two versions of them. There is the pretty traditional 3 paragraph
format. You know, "Hi! I'm forwarding my resume to you because I understand you're
trying to fill a position for such and such.. Then, you briefly say, "I believe my
experience with and you list several of your experiences and qualifications that fit
what the firm is looking for, that show that you fit the role. I'll be back and
I'll be contacting you in the next few days if I don't hear from you. I'd like
to be able to schedule an interview with you." Words to that effect. That's
version number one. It's not my favorite one. It's pretty standard. Now,
the second version which is far far more effective is, "I'm forwarding my resume to you
for the (same opening paragraph). I understand from the position description
you're looking for such and such. Let me walk through my background and
demonstrate how it fits the role. Now, you go through the requirements of the
position and how long and how recently you've worked with those particular
skills. You'd look at the functionality in the job description. Pick the
functionality that you've actually performed for another organization. It's
identical with it. How long you did it.. How recently you did it what you did in
embellish it a little bit. So this is a longer cover letter but it's tailored to
the particular firm that's hiring and far more effective. Then, you conclude by saying,
"I look forward to speaking with you in the next few days and scheduling an
opportunity for us to talk in detail. Real simple but again, I
believe it's called a t-square model where you're taking the requirements and
the functionality putting it on the left column. In the right column , communicating
how long and how recently you performed it. Put it in a Word format. No embedded headers.
Nothing awkward. Saving it in a traditional docx format
and forward it to the employer. I'm Jeff. Altman. hope you found this helpful. Come
over to my website which is TheBigGameHunter.us. There's a lot there that you
can watch, listen to or read, to help you find work more quickly. Also, I want to
mention, if we're not already connected on LinkedIn send a connection request to
LinkedIn.com/in/TheBigGameHunter. I accept connection requests from people
worldwide except if you look like a spammer or scammer. Except if you're a
third-party recruiter. Finally, resumes need to be perfect these days to get
good results and if yours isn't, your friends aren't going to be able to help
you with it like I can. Contact me through my website which is again
LinkedIn.com/in/TheBigGameHunter. Order a resume critique from me and I'd be very happy
to go through it with you. I'm Jeff Altman. hope you have a great day!
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves career coaching, as well as executive job search coaching, job coaching, and interview coaching. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2400 episodes.
Are you interested in 1:1 coaching, interview coaching, advice about networking more effectively, how to negotiate your offer or leadership coaching? People hire me to provide No BS career advice whether that is about a job search, hiring better, leadership, management or support with a workplace issue. Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
My courses are available on my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us/courses The courses include ones about Informational Interviews, Interviewing, final interview preparation, salary negotiation mistakes to avoid, the top 10 questions to prepare for on any job interview, and starting a new job.
I do a livestream on LinkedIn, YouTube (on the JobSearchTV.com account) and on Facebook (on the Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter page) Tuesdays and Fridays at 1 PM Eastern. You can send your questions about job search, hiring better, management, leadership or to get advice about a workplace issue to me via messaging on LinkedIn or in chat during the approximately 30 minute show.
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