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Summary of What's included in this Step:
6: The Custom Cover Letter
Last Update: 2-21-03
Transitioning from school to work is an important time to start to build your individuality.
In the mechanized processes of digital screening as the basis of employment and especially in resumes broadcast by the hundreds and thousands, the use of customized cover letters has been ignored and short circuited into a formality, yet it is one of the few remaining ways to individualize your approach as a job seeker or career changer and emphasize your particular talents and objectives. In The Resume Kit we show you how to use a unique tool to achieve of work beyond a simple job slot. This is an area that you should take way beyond simple canned forms and examples. This is an area where you can focus your talent like a spotlight. In working in this part of The Resume Kit you will also discover some important parts of your own talent and your ability to communicate it. This is an essential tool for self-definition. Using it moves you to the top 10% of job competitors.
A custom cover letter is an individualized communication - often by email- occasionally as an attachment - to a person by name that causes that person to be attracted to finding out more about you for one or more positions- announced and unannounced in that firm. It gives you the following potential benefits in the process of making your future the way you envision it to be:
Voice: Character and self-expression that speaks for your uniqueness
Relationship: Setting up person-to-person contacts with people who can help
Scope: Adding quantitative and qualitative information that differentiates you
Individuality: The employer sees you as a person, not a set of keywords
Legitimacy: There are so many spam resumes in the system that by individualizing your approach by cover letter you are at least out of the unknown zone
Inquiry: The most respected job seekers are often those with the best questions to ask
Action: A call for action is a legitimate part of a customized cover letter, and it calls for a response
Resume Spotlight: The cover letter can point the reader's attention to particular parts of your resume that support a particular employment opportunity, or remedy a potential deficiency such as a low GPA
Practicing the art of good cover letters will greatly improve your ability to build a compelling case for quality jobs at all stages of your career.
The Resume Kit provides sample language and forms for cover letters and how to use them.
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