The Elements of an Outstanding Cover Letter

Next to your resume, your cover letter is the second-most critical part of your employment-search package. It has been estimated that only about 50% of hiring managers or recruiters actually read cover letters, which might leave you asking, "Why bother?" But how do you know -- how can you know -- in which 50% the hiring manager you are targeting falls?

Play it safe. Write a cover letter for every resume you send out. And like the resume, tailor the letter to the company you're targeting. Nothing will shut down a reader's interest like a cranked-out, one-size-fits-all cover letter. And hiring managers and recruiters see so many of them, they can pick out the ones that are not tailored to them practically after they've read the salutation.

To understand a cover letter, it is necessary to understand its role. The cover letter's primary purpose is to illustrate the value you will bring to the company you are targeting. Think of the employer as having some problem or difficulty, and ask yourself what that difficulty is. Then ask yourself how you can demonstrate that you can help the employer resolve that difficulty. In so doing, keep in mind that what you say must always be relevant to that particular employer's needs. And finally, ask yourself the key question: Are you thinking of the employer's needs as primary? Susan Britton Whitcomb, in her book "Resume Magic", concurs: "Are you putting the employer's needs ahead of your own?"

Once you have defined the problem or difficulty the employer is having, illustrate from your professional history an instance where you resolved a similar problem. Suppose you were writing to a company that had seen its overall sales eclipsed by a rival. In your opening sentence, you could express your understanding of the problem's origins, and demonstrate that you had been following the employer's ups and downs for quite some time.

Your next paragraph could connect directly with your experience dealing with the same scenario at one of your own previous employers. What did you do to regain lost market share? How quickly did sales come back? What part did customer satisfaction scores play in the recovery, and how did you figure in that scoring?

Finally, show the employer that his/her needs are more important than your own by reiterating your successes in your field. Tell the employer how much you want to help turn those numbers around. Remind the employer how strong a fit you would be on the employer's team. And close with a suggestion to meet, either by your calling the employer or an invitation for the employer to call you.

See how long it takes before that employer contacts you for an interview.

Read more ...

The Elements of an Outstanding Cover Letter

Next to your resume, your cover letter is the second-most critical part of your employment-search package. It has been estimated that only about 50% of hiring managers or recruiters actually read cover letters, which might leave you asking, "Why bother?" But how do you know -- how can you know -- in which 50% the hiring manager you are targeting falls?

Play it safe. Write a cover letter for every resume you send out. And like the resume, tailor the letter to the company you're targeting. Nothing will shut down a reader's interest like a cranked-out, one-size-fits-all cover letter. And hiring managers and recruiters see so many of them, they can pick out the ones that are not tailored to them practically after they've read the salutation.

To understand a cover letter, it is necessary to understand its role. The cover letter's primary purpose is to illustrate the value you will bring to the company you are targeting. Think of the employer as having some problem or difficulty, and ask yourself what that difficulty is. Then ask yourself how you can demonstrate that you can help the employer resolve that difficulty. In so doing, keep in mind that what you say must always be relevant to that particular employer's needs. And finally, ask yourself the key question: Are you thinking of the employer's needs as primary? Susan Britton Whitcomb, in her book "Resume Magic", concurs: "Are you putting the employer's needs ahead of your own?"

Once you have defined the problem or difficulty the employer is having, illustrate from your professional history an instance where you resolved a similar problem. Suppose you were writing to a company that had seen its overall sales eclipsed by a rival. In your opening sentence, you could express your understanding of the problem's origins, and demonstrate that you had been following the employer's ups and downs for quite some time.

Your next paragraph could connect directly with your experience dealing with the same scenario at one of your own previous employers. What did you do to regain lost market share? How quickly did sales come back? What part did customer satisfaction scores play in the recovery, and how did you figure in that scoring?

Finally, show the employer that his/her needs are more important than your own by reiterating your successes in your field. Tell the employer how much you want to help turn those numbers around. Remind the employer how strong a fit you would be on the employer's team. And close with a suggestion to meet, either by your calling the employer or an invitation for the employer to call you.

See how long it takes before that employer contacts you for an interview.

Read more ...

Make Your Entry Level Resume Outstanding

It is very difficult for a candidate to start his or her career at an entry level. One has to struggle a lot to achieve their dream job and satisfactorily get employed in their dream company or organization. However, getting one's dream job is not a big task if one has all the required educational qualifications and skills essential to undertake that particular job position. The other important thing one must understand along with possessing all the essential qualifications is an effective and outstanding resume. Your resume plays a very important role in achieving an entry level job and giving a kick start to your career.

The entry level resume is full of various important sections that help the employer understand your potential thus increasing your chances of getting selected. Some of the most important and mandatory sections in your resume include your personal information, career objectives, key skills and proficiencies, educational qualifications, and experience. These sections completely help the employer in deciding your eligibility for the applied job position as a fresher. The below drafted resume template for entry level will further guide you in drafting your own resume.

Entry Level Resume Template

Full Name of the Applicant
Address 1
Address 2
Contact Details
E-mail address

Career Objectives:
The career objective section plays a very important role in an entry level resume and helps the employer to understand the job position you are applying for as a fresher. This section also guides the employer about how do you consider yourself eligible for the applied position and your future career goals. While writing this section the candidate must see to it that he or she does not exceed two to three sentences while writing their career objectives.

Educational Qualifications:
The educational qualification sections in this resume helps the employer decide the eligibility of the candidate to undertake the applied job position. Thus, it is one of the most mandatory sections in your fresher's resume.

Key Skills and Proficiencies:
These type of resumes generally do not have experience sections. Thus, the key skills sections play an important role in overcoming the impact made by the experience section. A candidate can effectively draft this section to aware the employer about all the qualities he or she possesses to undertake the applied job. However, while writing this section the candidate must be aware of including the skills that closely relate with the applied job.

Experience:
This section is generally absent in an entry level resume. However, a candidate can include his or her internship projects in this section. While writing this section the candidate must include a short description about the project and the responsibilities undertaken by them during the project.

Personal Information:
This section includes detailed information about the applicant including his or her name, date of birth, gender, marital status, and nationality.

The above drafted entry level resume template will help you to understand the different sections in the resume. This sample will also help you in drafting your own resume.

Ana Rose is a freelance writer who writes on various career related stuff, above article provides you a template, if you want to go through sample resumes goto bestsampleresume and find out much more than expected, to check more similar templates visit here.

Read more ...

The Elements of an Outstanding Cover Letter

Next to your resume, your cover letter is the second-most critical part of your employment-search package. It has been estimated that only about 50% of hiring managers or recruiters actually read cover letters, which might leave you asking, "Why bother?" But how do you know -- how can you know -- in which 50% the hiring manager you are targeting falls?

Play it safe. Write a cover letter for every resume you send out. And like the resume, tailor the letter to the company you're targeting. Nothing will shut down a reader's interest like a cranked-out, one-size-fits-all cover letter. And hiring managers and recruiters see so many of them, they can pick out the ones that are not tailored to them practically after they've read the salutation.

To understand a cover letter, it is necessary to understand its role. The cover letter's primary purpose is to illustrate the value you will bring to the company you are targeting. Think of the employer as having some problem or difficulty, and ask yourself what that difficulty is. Then ask yourself how you can demonstrate that you can help the employer resolve that difficulty. In so doing, keep in mind that what you say must always be relevant to that particular employer's needs. And finally, ask yourself the key question: Are you putting the employer's needs ahead of your own?

Once you have defined the problem or difficulty the employer is having, illustrate from your professional history an instance where you resolved a similar problem. Suppose you were writing to a company that had seen its overall sales eclipsed by a rival. In your opening sentence, you could express your understanding of the problem's origins, and demonstrate that you had been following the employer's ups and downs for quite some time.

Your next paragraph could connect directly with your experience dealing with the same scenario at one of your own previous employers. What did you do to regain lost market share? How quickly did sales come back? What part did customer satisfaction scores play in the recovery, and how did you figure in that scoring?

Finally, show the employer that his/her needs are more important than your own by reiterating your successes in your field. Tell the employer how much you want to help turn those numbers around. Remind the employer how strong a fit you would be on the employer's team. And close with a suggestion to meet, either by your calling the employer or an invitation for the employer to call you.

See how long it takes before that employer contacts you for an interview.

Read more ...

Make Your Entry Level Resume Outstanding

It is very difficult for a candidate to start his or her career at an entry level. One has to struggle a lot to achieve their dream job and satisfactorily get employed in their dream company or organization. However, getting one's dream job is not a big task if one has all the required educational qualifications and skills essential to undertake that particular job position. The other important thing one must understand along with possessing all the essential qualifications is an effective and outstanding resume. Your resume plays a very important role in achieving an entry level job and giving a kick start to your career.

The entry level resume is full of various important sections that help the employer understand your potential thus increasing your chances of getting selected. Some of the most important and mandatory sections in your resume include your personal information, career objectives, key skills and proficiencies, educational qualifications, and experience. These sections completely help the employer in deciding your eligibility for the applied job position as a fresher. The below drafted resume template for entry level will further guide you in drafting your own resume.

Entry Level Resume Template

Full Name of the Applicant
Address 1
Address 2
Contact Details
E-mail address

Career Objectives:
The career objective section plays a very important role in an entry level resume and helps the employer to understand the job position you are applying for as a fresher. This section also guides the employer about how do you consider yourself eligible for the applied position and your future career goals. While writing this section the candidate must see to it that he or she does not exceed two to three sentences while writing their career objectives.

Educational Qualifications:
The educational qualification sections in this resume helps the employer decide the eligibility of the candidate to undertake the applied job position. Thus, it is one of the most mandatory sections in your fresher's resume.

Key Skills and Proficiencies:
These type of resumes generally do not have experience sections. Thus, the key skills sections play an important role in overcoming the impact made by the experience section. A candidate can effectively draft this section to aware the employer about all the qualities he or she possesses to undertake the applied job. However, while writing this section the candidate must be aware of including the skills that closely relate with the applied job.

Experience:
This section is generally absent in an entry level resume. However, a candidate can include his or her internship projects in this section. While writing this section the candidate must include a short description about the project and the responsibilities undertaken by them during the project.

Personal Information:
This section includes detailed information about the applicant including his or her name, date of birth, gender, marital status, and nationality.

The above drafted entry level resume template will help you to understand the different sections in the resume. This sample will also help you in drafting your own resume.

Ana Rose is a freelance writer who writes on various career related stuff, above article provides you a template, if you want to go through sample resumes goto bestsampleresume and find out much more than expected, to check more similar templates visit here.

Read more ...

Make Your Entry Level Resume Outstanding

It is very difficult for a candidate to start his or her career at an entry level. One has to struggle a lot to achieve their dream job and satisfactorily get employed in their dream company or organization. However, getting one's dream job is not a big task if one has all the required educational qualifications and skills essential to undertake that particular job position. The other important thing one must understand along with possessing all the essential qualifications is an effective and outstanding resume. Your resume plays a very important role in achieving an entry level job and giving a kick start to your career.

The entry level resume is full of various important sections that help the employer understand your potential thus increasing your chances of getting selected. Some of the most important and mandatory sections in your resume include your personal information, career objectives, key skills and proficiencies, educational qualifications, and experience. These sections completely help the employer in deciding your eligibility for the applied job position as a fresher. The below drafted resume template for entry level will further guide you in drafting your own resume.

Entry Level Resume Template

Full Name of the Applicant
Address 1
Address 2
Contact Details
E-mail address

Career Objectives:
The career objective section plays a very important role in an entry level resume and helps the employer to understand the job position you are applying for as a fresher. This section also guides the employer about how do you consider yourself eligible for the applied position and your future career goals. While writing this section the candidate must see to it that he or she does not exceed two to three sentences while writing their career objectives.

Educational Qualifications:
The educational qualification sections in this resume helps the employer decide the eligibility of the candidate to undertake the applied job position. Thus, it is one of the most mandatory sections in your fresher's resume.

Key Skills and Proficiencies:
These type of resumes generally do not have experience sections. Thus, the key skills sections play an important role in overcoming the impact made by the experience section. A candidate can effectively draft this section to aware the employer about all the qualities he or she possesses to undertake the applied job. However, while writing this section the candidate must be aware of including the skills that closely relate with the applied job.

Experience:
This section is generally absent in an entry level resume. However, a candidate can include his or her internship projects in this section. While writing this section the candidate must include a short description about the project and the responsibilities undertaken by them during the project.

Personal Information:
This section includes detailed information about the applicant including his or her name, date of birth, gender, marital status, and nationality.

The above drafted entry level resume template will help you to understand the different sections in the resume. This sample will also help you in drafting your own resume.

Ana Rose is a freelance writer who writes on various career related stuff, above article provides you a template, if you want to go through sample resumes goto bestsampleresume and find out much more than expected, to check more similar templates visit here.

Read more ...

Make Your Entry Level Resume Outstanding

Read more ...

Make Your Entry Level Resume Outstanding

It is very difficult for a candidate to start his or her career at an entry level. One has to struggle a lot to achieve their dream job and satisfactorily get employed in their dream company or organization. However, getting one's dream job is not a big task if one has all the required educational qualifications and skills essential to undertake that particular job position. The other important thing one must understand along with possessing all the essential qualifications is an effective and outstanding resume. Your resume plays a very important role in achieving an entry level job and giving a kick start to your career.

The entry level resume is full of various important sections that help the employer understand your potential thus increasing your chances of getting selected. Some of the most important and mandatory sections in your resume include your personal information, career objectives, key skills and proficiencies, educational qualifications, and experience. These sections completely help the employer in deciding your eligibility for the applied job position as a fresher. The below drafted resume template for entry level will further guide you in drafting your own resume.

Entry Level Resume Template

Full Name of the Applicant
Address 1
Address 2
Contact Details
E-mail address

Career Objectives:
The career objective section plays a very important role in an entry level resume and helps the employer to understand the job position you are applying for as a fresher. This section also guides the employer about how do you consider yourself eligible for the applied position and your future career goals. While writing this section the candidate must see to it that he or she does not exceed two to three sentences while writing their career objectives.

Educational Qualifications:
The educational qualification sections in this resume helps the employer decide the eligibility of the candidate to undertake the applied job position. Thus, it is one of the most mandatory sections in your fresher's resume.

Key Skills and Proficiencies:
These type of resumes generally do not have experience sections. Thus, the key skills sections play an important role in overcoming the impact made by the experience section. A candidate can effectively draft this section to aware the employer about all the qualities he or she possesses to undertake the applied job. However, while writing this section the candidate must be aware of including the skills that closely relate with the applied job.

Experience:
This section is generally absent in an entry level resume. However, a candidate can include his or her internship projects in this section. While writing this section the candidate must include a short description about the project and the responsibilities undertaken by them during the project.

Personal Information:
This section includes detailed information about the applicant including his or her name, date of birth, gender, marital status, and nationality.

The above drafted entry level resume template will help you to understand the different sections in the resume. This sample will also help you in drafting your own resume.

Ana Rose is a freelance writer who writes on various career related stuff, above article provides you a template, if you want to go through sample resumes goto bestsampleresume and find out much more than expected, to check more similar templates visit here.

Read more ...

How To Create An Outstanding Resume

Presently, there are nearly 20 million people that are out of job and nearly as many that are seeking for new jobs and careers. The best thing to do therefore is to spend time finding a job you want instead of desperately blasting your resumes to hundreds of employer which may or may not land you a job of your dream.

Employers do not want to be bombarded by hundreds of resumes which may have been sent out as part of automated process such as what you will find in job search websites. The best way to get your resume noticed is to personalize it so it speaks to the employer.

Your resume must share the experiences and skills that best fits the job you are applying for. It should speak directly to the employer by explaining how your skills can fit into their business by using the business name of the employer.

Another great way to catch a person's attention for the business you wish to apply for is to take time to make friends with someone inside the business. In fact, you may ask them politely without abusing their trust, if they could put in a good word for you and even submit your resume with their endorsement.

You should bear in mind that the person reading your resume does not have time to dig through pages and pages of text, which is why your resume should be a bit formatted so that it will be easy to scan through and find the skills and experiences they are looking for without trouble.

Your resume should be broken up by headings and enough spacing between each sections and use bullet points and italics to grab the attention of the employer. It is true that you might be under a lot of stress, but you must endeavor to create an outstanding resume that will attract the employer instead of just blasting hundreds of resumes out trying to find anything that fits. All it takes it a little extra time.

Your contact information should be in front and center so the employer does not have to guess on how to get in contact with you. Do not take the risk of overloading your resume with text, make it easy-to-read and to the point.

The resume is dynamic and living document that not only illustrate your work history but also sells you to the employer. Finally, do a simple and effective cover letter and summarize the contents of the resume.

Irabor A. Mark is a chief technologist and head of unit, college of medicine university of Ibadan. For definitive guide to writing a resume, cover letter and interview tips visit: http://www.jobopenng.com/ jobs and employment portal.

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Top Ten Tips For An Outstanding CV (Resume)

An outstanding CV should result in selection for interview for the job of your choice.

Rather than a 'history of your life' it is helpful to think of your CV as a personal advertisement promoting your suitability for a job ahead of other applicants. Just like marketing information for products and services an outstanding CV should focus only on positive information and therefore exclude anything negative or information that could be construed as negative or you would prefer not to emphasise.

The following SCALE top ten tips represent recommended best practice for an outstanding CV. Use these tips as a guide to help realise your future success.

STRUCTURE

1. Structure and layout: An outstanding CV should easily enable the reader to evaluate your suitability for interview measured against the key requirements for the job. To enable your CV to successfully achieve this objective follow the tips given below including the recommended sequence for the actual content of your CV. The structure of your CV will benefit from:-

o centralised headings for the key sections rather than having everything left hand justified;
o margins of at least 20 cms on each side;
o black text of font size 10 to 12;
o no more than two pages in length, even for a senior executive. The exception to this guideline is for individuals in medical, research or academic careers who may need to record research papers to which they are recognised as being the author or a contributor. This research information should be included under a suitable heading in addition to those detailed below.

CONTENT

2. Contact information: Your CV should be headed with your first and family name followed by any formal letters of any higher education and professional qualifications which you are eligible to display, e.g. BA. ACCA. This should be followed by your:-

o residential address;
o home and mobile telephone numbers;
o personal email address.

Exclude your business telephone and email details to prevent any potential opportunity for breach of confidentiality or embarrassment, unless these are totally secure.

3. Summary Statement: This should be limited to two or three descriptive sentences designed to:-

o encourage the reader to read the rest of your CV;
o engage their enthusiasm and build their interest in your application.
This concise and engaging statement should confirm your unique selling points, such as focus of your expertise, special skills and environments or sectors in which you have operated. This is not the place to record an extensive list of your skills or platitudes often found in poor quality CVs.

4. Education & Qualifications: Use this as a section heading. Employers are interested in your education and qualifications relevant to the job and the potential career path for the successful applicant. You should therefore only record those that are directly relevant to the job and the type of career you are pursuing. Only include dates where this information adds value to your application otherwise their inclusion enables the reader to determine your age which you may not wish to emphasise.

5. Areas of Expertise: Use this as a section heading. A concise summary of your areas of expertise will help the reader understand the scope of your expertise. It can be helpful to record these in a table format as this will help vary the structure of your CV and communicate key information in a very concise and digestible manner.

Note: Each of the above sections should appear on the front page of your CV and in the order given above. Such a structure and sequence will engage the reader and their increase their willingness to read the entire CV and your overall suitability for interview.

6. Career Responsibilities & Achievements: Use this as a section heading. This is one of the most important sections of you CV and the amount of space allocated to it should be a balance between page space availability and the amount of detail to be included.

o Employers are interested in the scope and length of an individual's career but it is normally their most recent achievements, say over the last ten years, which are often regarded as the most relevant for consideration for a specific job.
o List each employer together your job title and dates of employment, going back no more than twenty years.
o If you held multiple jobs with one or more employers then make this clear.
o After each employer insert one sentence to describe the nature of the organisation.
o After your job title insert no more than two sentences summarising the scope of your responsibilities.
o Bullet each of your achievements by explaining how your performance benefited your employer using metrics where appropriate as confirmation of this impact. Also see the 'Align' section below.
o For example:

? Improved - Revenue, sales, new products, culture, productivity, efficiencies, or safety, etc.
? Reduced - Costs, absenteeism, accidents, etc.
? Maintained - Staff motivation or market share during difficult times, etc.

7. Personal Interests: Use this as a section heading. The final section of your CV should include details of your hobbies and personal interests. Try to include a mixture of interests you do on your own such as reading and team or interactive based activities such as squash or a scout leader.

ALIGN

8. Align: Employers are more interested in your achievements than your responsibilities. It is therefore essential when recording your achievements to align them to the actual requirements of the job you are applying for. This important feature will increase the reader's interest in your CV and play a critical part in determining your selection for interview.

LIMIT

9. Limit: Ensure you limit information in your CV to only positive information. This means excluding any negative information or anything the reader could possibly regard as negative. Examples of negative information could be any connections with extreme political groups or significant detail about jobs held more than twenty years ago.

ELIMINATE

10. Eliminate: Ensure your CV is completely free from any misspelling, or syntax or grammatical errors as these will reduce reader interest especially if 'attention to detail' is a key requirement for the job. You should also ensure you eliminate the following from your CV:-

o Date of birth,
o Marital status,
o Nationality, (unless you have a medical, research or academic career - where it is often relevant)
o References,
o Salary,
o Business email and telephone details (unless totally secure),
o Notice period,
o 'Curriculum Vitae' or 'CV' heading.

By Stephen Isherwood

Stephen Isherwood is Director of 'Invest In Your Career Ltd' a UK based consultancy that offers individuals and organisations professional help from start to success. For individuals these professional services include outstanding CV writing
IIYC Professional Coaches - have substantial experience of a wide range of industries and business disciplines plus a detailed understanding of:
? What employers are seeking from potential new employees
? How employers evaluate Covering Letters and CVs and / or application forms
? How employers interview and evaluate candidates
? How an individual should best utilise their time and effort to secure a job opportunity of their choice
IIYC Professional Coaches - are all accredited Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, the UK's established Institute for Human Resource Professionals.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Isherwood

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