Posted by ResumeHelp on October 14, 2009
That’s the question consciously or unconsciously running through the mind of someone looking through a stack of resumes. That person will often not find the answer if there’s no cover letter from you. Resumes list the information about your skills and experience. Cover letters pinpoint why you should receive serious consideration for a particular job. A cover letter helps readers see how your experience relates specifically to what they are looking for in an employee. Instead of making readers interpret your resume, your cover letter does the work for them. A cover letter says, “I know your company and what it does. Here’s why you should take notice of my qualifications.”
A planning advisor for a huge oil corporation who scans hundreds of resumes a week looks at it this way: “The more someone can tell me what attracted him or her to my company, the better. I try to get a feel for whether the applicant is interested in our industry, which is sometimes clear in the resume and sometimes not. That is where a good cover letter can make a difference. If I get 10 resumes with similar experience and skills, the cover letter prioritizes who I need to speak to. If the resume is strong, then I don’t need the cover letter, but lots of times resumes don’t answer the questions I have.”
Keep in mind that the people who read resumes and cover letters spend mere seconds on them. You could meet every requirement of the job you’re going for but unfortunately, your qualifications might be buried somewhere in your resume. The people who are considering you for a job don’t like to dig. That’s where the best cover letter can be a make or break proposition.
Resumes are a record of your past and current experience. A well thought-out cover letter selects only those skills and experiences that apply to a job description and company. It summarizes your qualifications for that particular job so the hiring manager doesn’t have to search for them on your resume. If your cover letter doesn’t showcase the main points of your resume that match their requirements, the hiring manager is more likely to move on to the next candidate. And in this job market, you don’t want that to happen. Many times it is helpful to have a professional resume writer prepare your resume and cover letter. It’s an excellent investment.
But you may be saying; “I simply cannot afford to hire a Professional Resume Writer”. What’s the answer to that statement? I cannot deny a professionally written resume costs at least a couple of hundred dollars. But there is an answer. Here is a website that will give you basically the same thing for much, much less. You do the work, they tell you exactly how! Most people stumble over Interview questions. They offer help for that too! And you save lots of dinero! Go to Resume On A Budget now!
Authors bio: Darlene Zambruski is the managing for Resume Edge. She has authored 10,000+ resumes/cover letters/CVs for clients at every career stage.
Posted by ResumeHelp on June 29, 2009
Sometimes your resume can hurt more than help you. In today’s job-search market, you are often competing against large numbers of applicants, and your resume has to be good enough to make it past the first screening.
The first people to view your resume are often lower-level staff looking for a quick way to weed candidates out of consideration. You can minimize the chances of your resume being eliminated during this round by following three simple rules.
LESS IS MORE
Don’t tell too much. A good resume should leave the prospective employer with a whetted appetite, a desire to know more. They will be likely to call and phone-screen you. So don’t fill in all the details just yet. Save that for the interview. Do, however, paint a big picture of who you are and what you can offer.
For example, you may have worked several years at your present employer. Certainly you could fill up several paragraphs with all that you’ve done. Instead, think of the one or two most critical projects, duties or functions that you provide. List the most important and give them no more than a sentence or two each.
Here is an example:
EXPERIENCE: Mar 2003 to Present: XYZ Company, Their City, CA Senior staff design engineer. Products designed/Projects involved: A, B, C. Description of Most Important Project and why Description of 2nd most important project and why
Skip the hobbies and personal info. Avoid mind-numbing detail that will cause a reader’s eyes to glaze over. One page is ideal — two pages only if you are a 15- to 20-year veteran with a significant growth and promotion history.
MORE KEYWORDS
You want the computers to flag your resume for closer examination. Do this by including as many keywords as possible that are relevant to your job and your job skills, as well as specific industry words that may be appropriate. A convenient method to accomplish this is to include a separate “Keywords” section on your resume just below the “Objective”. Think of this as an important catchall specifically for the computers to “see”.
Here is an example from a candidate employed as a medical quality assurance auditor:
KEYWORDS: Quality System, QA, QS, Audit, Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), International Standards (ISO), Corrective and Preventive Action Programs (CAPA), training, QSR, Medical Device, calibration, 510K, TQM, PMA, FDA.
Also, include the names of major companies you worked with or for, as this often is important to employers. Include those in the “Experience” section.
BE SPECIFIC
Don’t just tell them what you did. Move beyond that and tell the benefit of your accomplishment. A good way to do this is to include several specific ways you helped your employer make money or save money. Remember, the only benefit you can bring to the table is past performance. When you interview (either phone or in person) this is what will be discussed.
Think of all your jobs in the past and bring forth examples of some of your best work. How can an employer think of you as a problem solver? If at all possible, try to “monetize” your accomplishments (state them in terms of money). At the interview, you will be prepared to enlarge upon these successes.
SUMMARY
Building an effective resume doesn’t have to be drudgery. Using the above three guidelines will keep your resume lean and to the point standing a greater chance of landing on the “to call” stack and getting you a phone screen. If your resume still looks like a jumbled mess I would invite you to contact one of our professional resume writers. We have screened them carefully and know they can help you get the perfect job even in today’s tight market. Here is our top pick; contact them today!
Authors Bio
As a recruiter, Joe Turner has spent the past 15 years finding and placing top candidates in some of the best jobs of their careers. Author of “Job Search Secrets Unlocked” and “Paycheck 911,” Joe has interviewed on radio talk shows and offers free insider job search secrets at: www.jobchangesecrets.com.
Posted by ResumeHelp on February 3, 2009
General Information
Distinctive Documents Professional Resume Writers are for you if you are in a niche market, such as IT or graphic design or if you are at the executive level in your career.
What They Say About Themselves
We pride ourselves in assisting our clients with all the tools necessary for a successful and productive job search. All of our resumes (and other personal marketing materials) are created with your unique needs in mind and are designed to place you ahead of the competition by emphasizing your personal brand and the distinguishing value you will bring to your next employer.
Services
Credentials
- Certified professional resume writers (Certified Professional Resume Writer – CPRW and Nationally Certified Resume Writer – NCRW)
- Career Coach and Certified Personal Branding Strategist (CPBS)
- Credentialed Career Master (CCM)
- Job & Career Transition Coach (JCTC)
- Certified Employment Interview Professional (CEIP)
- Michelle Dumas is acknowledged as an authority in the industry and one of the leading executive resume writers and career marketing strategists in the U.S
Positives
We love Distinctive Resume’s because they know their niche! Instead of a “one-size fits all” strategy to writing resume’s they have established themselves as a premier service for executive and niche market professionals. They know what headhunters and executive recruiters look for in a resume and will tailor yours specifically to this elite group.
Negatives
Services are not cheap. But if you’re an executive then you know that the market gets more competitive as you move up and therefore it’s more important than ever to stand out from your peers.
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