When I decided to reenter the workforce and began the tedious and gut-wrenching task of sending out resumes and good cover letters for resumes to every employer I could think of, I quickly realized my hard work and tenacity were not getting me very far. I am a pretty decent writer, and I thought my good cover letters for resumes were truly works of art. I was sure I would get at least an interview for each and every one of these beauties.
But I was barely getting even so much as a courtesy confirmation that my good cover letters for resumes were being received in the appropriate HR mailbox, much less an interview.
I dug into every contact I had, and twisted a few arms to get early heads up on any one retiring, or being fired. I canoodled and networked. I knew that even good cover letters for resumes like mine needed the extra boost of being personally handed to the hiring manager by a current trusted employee, in these times of record unemployment.
But even those "definite ins" did not get me interviews. I was terribly upset and disillusioned.
I knew how the game worked. I was doing everything right. I was more than qualified, was asking for completely reasonable salaries, and had personal recommendations from trusted employees at the companies to which I was applying.
I know times are hard, and there are as many as hundreds of applicants for any given opening, but it seemed to me like I had all my ducks in a row and good cover letters for resumes to at least guarantee a preliminary interview. I knew if i could just get the face-to-face I could make the necessary impression. Like many people in my industry, I am VERY good in interviews.
I began looking at my resume to review the possible problems there. True, I was leaving behind my successful stint as an entrepreneur and business owner to return to the workforce. That can often cause an employer to hesitate. It makes me look like I was either "technically unemployed" or "not a team player." Neither of which was true. But that was supposed to be counteracted by the friends that were physically handing my resume to their managers with the words "she would be perfect."
I reworked much of my resume over and over again, trying desperately to highlight the skills I had acquired and the accomplishments I had managed to achieve. I was almost ready to throw up my hands and apply at Wal-Mart when a close personal friend, who is a hiring manager in a large energy company (an industry I was not qualified to work in, unfortunately.) asked to see my so called "good cover letters for resumes."
I asked her if she didn't need to see my resume also and was surprised when she simply said "not really." I was confused to say the least. I wanted to know how she could help me if she didn't even look at my resume.
"Honestly, as a hiring manager having a good cover letter for resumes is far more important these days."
I was still convinced that my good cover letters for resumes were impeccable so I proudly sent them to her. The advice she gave me was priceless, and helped me land an interview at last.
You need individual good cover letters for resumes for each position you apply to.
Okay. I knew this, but she explained that I needed to be sure I was researching exactly what the company was looking for, and exactly what then needed, and then make sure to highlight those areas of my skills that are relevant to those needs in all my good cover letters for resumes.
For example, when applying to Company A, I learned they needed someone with very strong database and bookkeeping skills. For the same titled position at Company B, I learned that they needed someone that could, in addition to their normal tasks, publish a short departmental newsletter.
These were both skills I had in spades. So I had mentioned these skills on both good cover letters for resumes But company A saw my desktop publishing skills and probably assumed I was overqualified or would require extra pay for that task. They thought they only needed a data-cruncher. Company B saw my database skills and bookkeeping and possibly assumed I was too "left-brained" to create the kind of fun and artistic design they wanted for their newsletter.
I had effectively over-marketed myself to both companies and my good cover letters for resumes went straight to the bottom of their file drawers.
I was hurting myself by showcasing the wide range of my skills. This is a sad reality in the corporate world where they still think they want one person per task, instead of sharing the work load as a creative collaborative effort. So for my good cover letters for resumes to really have the desired effect: (get me an interview) I needed to narrow their focus a bit.
You need to sound less fancy when writing your good cover letters for resumes.
What? This threw me for a loop. But she explained: My writing was in fact great. I had a very extensive vocabulary and my sentences were complex and interesting.
Unfortunately this was not a good thing. In fact it was hurting my good cover letters for resumes for two reasons, both of which are silly but true:
1. It makes me sound like an insufferable prig. Certainly not the impression you want your good cover letters for resumes to leave.
2. The managers I am applying with are likely less verbal, and might feel threatened if they were to hire someone they viewed as possibly "smarter" than they are.
I found this last one a bit far fetched, but she assured me that while many managers realize the value of having people on your team with better skills than your own, just as many are insecure and would fret that they might eventually be replaced by a superior individual they themselves had hired.
Silly. But True. The lesson learned there was that good cover letters for resumes use concise and basic language. They use short and straightforward sentences. They are utilitarian, not verbose. Finally, you must learn to put the skills and talents you have in the correct place in good cover letters for resumes.
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/
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