Give Your Cover Letter a 10-Minute Makeover

Give Your Cover Letter a 10-Minute Makeover When you’re looking for a job, you know that to some extent, your success is a game of numbers. With an average of 250 applicants applying for each open job, it’s really tough to stand out. You are literally one of hundreds depending on the specific company and role you’re interested in. If you want to make an impression, youre going to need a powerful cover letter. Luckily, you don’t have to spend a lot of time to make a big difference. Here are 5 things you can do in 10 minutes to improve your cover letter. 1. Cut it Down Can you skim your cover letter in 5 seconds and get the gist of the message you’re trying to convey? Most hiring managers and recruiters have to sift through thousands of applicants and many cover letters and resumes all start to blend into each other. If your resume only gets a 6 second glance, you can imagine that your cover letter will only receive a similar amount of attention. Try this experiment. After you’ve cut down your cover letter, take a break from it and put it on your desk. When you return, glance at it and see what jumps out at you. If it’s so dense that nothing in particular stands out, then it’s either too long, not very interesting or both. Your goal is to make sure something important stands out in 5-6 seconds. Another way of testing this is to skim your cover letter on your computer or phone. What can you see in two scrolls down the screen? What content is “above the fold? That will give you a sense of the optics of your cover letter where it will most likely be reviewed. 2. Make It About Them If you don’t know enough about a job or an employer to write a personalized cover letter, then you need to do some research  first. If you’re looking for an engineering or marketing role, is there something about company that excites you that makes you want to work there rather than the hundreds of other companies out there? Another trick to remember is ask yourself whether you’ve used the word “you”. For example, “I’m sure you’re looking for a XXX for your marketing role because your culture seems very collaborative. That’s why I’m interested in your XXX position.” Everyone likes to feel like they are wanted, and this is true in the job context as well. 3. Explain Why You’re Interested One of the great challenges (and opportunities) of a cover letter is that you get to say why you are interested in a job. A resume doesn’t give you a chance to do that because it’s supposed to be a biographical bullet-point summary of your work and education experience. A cover letter, on the other hand, is an open slate in terms of allowing you to communicate your enthusiasm. Don’t waste that opportunity by rehashing your resume content. If you believe in the company’s mission, say so! If you think the role is your dream job, don’t be shy in sharing that. Genuine enthusiasm is rarer than you may think and everyone likes to see an excited applicant. That said, don’t make things up. If you do get past the resume and cover letter stage, it will be pretty obvious you were exaggerating your interest and that may be a turnoff to your interviewer. 4. Double Check It’s Up to Date Resumes aren’t the only thing that need a periodic refresh. If you’ve been using the same cover letter template since your college internship, it’s time to think about whether that template still matches the type of work you’re seeking and reflects your professional experience. It’s not always what you say but how you say it. For example, “I’d like to gain experience in the XXX field” is something in a typical college-level cover letter. In contrast, “My experience in XXX” makes me a great candidate” shows that you’ve matured. There are other ways resumes get out of date that may be less obvious. For example, certain skills or not as relevant or important as they used to be due to changes in industry or technology. Chances are that you wouldn’t highlight your incredible faxing abilities even if you are looking for an executive administrative role given that so much more happens over email these days. 5. Personalize As Much As Possible It’s very easy to spot a generic cover letter. There’s nothing wrong with cutting and pasting certain parts of a cover letter but try to add a sentence or two of personalization at the beginning can make something feel much more authentic (even if the person reading is skimming). In short, a cover letter is an opportunity. A good cover letter is an important first impression and increases the odds your resume attachment will actually get opened! About the Author Georgene Huang is a founder of Fairygodboss, an employee review site for women, by women. With free job listings, and thousands of anonymous reviews by women of how their employers fare in terms of gender equality, maternity leave benefits, equal pay and more, Fairygodboss is trying to improve the workplace for women through transparency. On the hunt for a job? Sign up for the Punched Clocks newsletter for more advice to nail your resume/cover letter, wow your interviewer and land the job of your dreams.

Professional Resume Writing Services in Ernakulam

Professional Resume Writing Services in ErnakulamWhen you are looking for a good Resume Writing Service in Ernakulam, your first stop should be the website of the company. The company has all the requirements that you will need when creating a good resume. First, you have to fill out an online form and the company will send you sample resumes from various companies. Once you get these samples, then you can go through them and see which one will fit best in your case.Another tip that a professional resume writer in Ernakulam will give you is to use the suggestions of your current employer. Your current employer will know what your strengths and weaknesses are. This will help you write a good resume, because you will be able to include your potential job requirements in it. You can even include some of your strengths and weakness into your resume.However, if you don't want to include any suggestion or input from your employer, then you can use this to improve your resume. Every time yo u are about to send the resume to an employer, make sure that you take note of the best points in your resume. This will help you improve your resume. However, you can't always remember the points that you need to mention in your resume.But if you do remember them, then you have to do a recap. This will help you remember more. As you are preparing your resume, keep a note of the most important points in it. You will have to put these points in your resume. Make sure that your resume would be very brief as the next step in the hiring process.There are certain points that you need to remember while hiring people, which are employers check. These are your references, your references and your references. You need to check all of them with your references and employers before you hire anyone. It will be better to have your references also included in your resume. There is nothing wrong in including the references of your references in your resume.Your company's need is also very importan t. Your company's requirements will definitely be there in your resume. You need to be sure about these details so that you don't create any problem for your company in the future.The professional resume writer in Ernakulam will not be just an editor. In fact, the company's needs is the main focus of their work. It is their job to make sure that your resume is professional and is able to attract the attention of the company.

Lies Youve Been Told About Resume Writing Help for a Home Mom

Lies You've Been Told About Resume Writing Help for a Home Mom The Chronicles of Resume Writing Help for a Home Mom It's possible to use our resume building software to create your own from scratch. The following thing you need to bear in mind is these days, most resumes are first sorted through a computer program that is searching for certain keyword phrases. And the very first step, obviously, is updating that resume template. Writing a strong application is a challenging procedure and we would like to make it simpler. The end result is an easy-to-read report that allows you understand how well your resume matches with the demands of the ad. Don't forget, the resume isn't a static document! A straightforward Google search will result in a great quantity of information concerning how to make a resume, how to layout a resume, the best method to produce an impression on employers. To find some formatting suggestions for your resume, take a look at our samples. Resume Writin g Help for a Home Mom Secrets Applying for employment after a time period from the working world can appear daunting, but don't believe that staying at home to be with your kids are going to automatically damage your job chances. When writing your career summary, it's probably better that you don't mention specifically that you're a stay at home mom. Writing a resume can take some moment. For most people, however, it's most effective to refrain from including parenting as a true job on the resume. Your employers are not going to consider you for employment if you don't have a resume that tells them more about you and the way you can help them. Writing a resume for employment in the art industry can be difficult. Transportation jobs involve plenty of responsibility and your resume will want to reflect you can take care of that. If you're attempting to obtain work in accounting or finance you require averystrong resume. New Step by Step Roadmap for Resume Writing Help for a Home Mom Continue reading for hints to help you get back in the work search game. Possessing a strong resume will permit you find several great jobs. Possessing a very clear and professional resume is critical in the medical field. Simply take a look at the stay-at-home mom resume example at the very top of this page. Definitions of Resume Writing Help for a Home Mom Perhaps your kids are grown, prepared to go to elementary school, or in case you've homeschooled them, college. Being a mom is among the noblest and at precisely the same time toughest jobs on the planet. The exact same mom often finds it tough to get back in the workforce when the children are a bit older and no longer require that additional care. Being a full-time mom is just one of the most difficult jobs out there. Characteristics of Resume Writing Help for a Home Mom Let's look at a favorite work-from-home job advertisement from U-Haul. Most employers who wish to hire you for a stay at home job migh t not have the opportunity to schedule an interview and so your resume is the sole thing you must earn a long-lasting impression in the center of your prospective employers. You will always have to customize each resume together with cover letter, to suit the particular place of employment. Understanding how to tailor your resume will obviously provide you an advantage.