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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

thoughts on getting a job #3

i am enjoying sharing things i am learning about the process of getting a job with you (whoever you are) so i am going to share more, regardless of if you are actually finding it helpful or fun... hehe

so thought #3 is about... cover letters. 

i feel like they are the new resume. i mean i spent literally a few months getting my resume ready before i started looking for jobs, and then to my amazement i have to work just as hard at doing cover letters for every job i apply for. now i know what you are thinking, why dont you just do one and be done with it? well here are my five tips when it comes to cover letters (which i picked up by scouring the web on the subject- of course!):

1. Dont underestimate the importance of the cover letter! Most employers read these alone and then pick the resumes they will look into solely off of this.
2. Dont just copy a template offline and change the names etc! I will totally admit this is what I did with the first few. Then i found an article online which pointed out that everyone is doing this... meaning companies are seeing the same cover letters over and over again! Which leads us to number three...
3. Put some of yourself in the cover letter. I kept seeing this tip on websites and it totally makes sense, because you want them to begin reading something they havent seen all day. So think of something personal that connects you to the position.
4. Connect your strengths and experiences to the position responsibilities as much as you can. You want to be specific and straightforward, showing them that you will be great at this job. Dont write a bunch of vague and generic sentences about work in general, they want to know how you will be at their open position, so tell them.  (This one i experience first hand with council applications... when people wrote generic sunday school answers i skipped right over their answers bc i found it to be fake and pointless...)
5. Be honest. Dont try to convince them you will be a good worker if you wont. Just tell them who you are, what kind of experience you have, why you like the position and then let God do the rest! 

now i realize i am an unemployed girl who really knows nothing about any of this... but i just want to share easy to understand info along the way for anyone who is in the same boat i am. i hope it saves you lots of time googling the million upon millions of websites dedicated to this! 

do any of you have any other great tips?

1 comment:

  1. good points. as weird as it is to me, i am the one who screens resumes and interviews new candidates for non-medical positions at our office. i look for experience in the field (ours being a medical office), some type of job consistency, and education. and a huge thing which you would think is a no-brainer--PROOFREAD!! i get so many typos--spelling and grammatical errors--it drives me crazy! honestly, if i see those i toss the resume out. when it comes to hiring though, personality is so important--no matter how qualified a candidate may be, if i don't feel that she/he would fit in with the rest of the staff i won't consider them for the position.

    good luck w/the search!

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