Saturday, February 6, 2010

Cover Letter Format Tips

A good looking and effective cover letter should follow a simple but definite format. Once you know the job cover letter format, putting your cover letter together is as simple as piecing together a puzzle.

Your cover letter will introduce you and your intentions to the reader or potential employer. You will give a brief yet simple synopsis of your qualifications and your desire to work with their company. It should be simple but elegant - and should have a courteous introduction and closing.

Remember that you don't want your letter to be long or too wordy. After all, the idea is for them to actually read your resume. You will want to address it to a particular person by name, so you may need to do some research to determine who that is. You'll also need to state what position you're seeking, how you found the opening and why you're qualified to fill it.

Short and sweet is the name of the game here. Keep it professional and sincere. Your cover letter is the only time you will be able to make a first impression -make it count!

Next, let's talk about showing what you have to offer them. A good way to do this is to pay attention to the qualifications they require, and any buzz words they use in the the job advertisement. Show how you have relevant qualifications and experience to fulfil the position they are looking to fill. Always keep in mind that you need to show them what you can do for them, and not what they can do for you.

Finally, let's talk about using a cover letter template. This is the easiest way to ensure you have a professional cover letter format, but it's important that you don't copy it word for word - because this will be more obvious than you think.

Despite the various pros and cons of using a template, using one can help you get the general layout & structure correct. This is important for conveying what you need to in your letter, as well as holding the attention of the reader.

Always remember to check for spelling or grammatical errors. Showing that you're a good communicator is important - regardless of what job you're applying for. Make sure you show them you're a good communicator with your letter, rather than tell them you are.

I can't overemphasize the importance of making sure your letter looks professional and serious. Follow the cover letter format tips above and you can't go wrong!

Best Cover Letter Tips

Cover letters today are far different from cover letters your parents sent to their employers. Recently, there's been a large demand for customized products and customized cover letters are at the top of that list, that means cookie cutter cover letters are out the window and should be replaced by sleek, professional masterpieces. How do we create the best cover letter? As a job seeker, we would like to provide only the best characteristics that he has to an employer.

Even though there are millions of cover letter tips, there are some basic yet efficient pointers that every job seeker should know, these tips have helped many peoplego from job seeker to employee and are as simple as they are powerful.

Address your letter to the company. You need to research more about the company or industry you are applying to. Most large companies have their own website so a simple web search will be easy while for those average companies you can rely on information given by people who are familiar with these businesses.

Improve your cover letter heading. With a paper cover letter it is extremely important to make sure everything about the address is correct. You can't count on the letter getting forwarded to the hiring manager if you don't address it specifically to the hiring manager. In addition, check the format of your heading, it should be professional and factual, remember you are writing a business letter, not a personal greeting.

Write a cover letter according to the job you are applying for. You should be aware that cover letters differ for every type of job. The cover letter for an administrative position is far different from those in a different fied like information technology. Make sure that you when you check online for possible cover letter formats it should be for your desired field.

Express your interest and knowledge on your cover letter. Your cover letter should highlight your positive attributes including your strengths, interests and knowledge. The cover letter is the first part of the application that the managers gets to see and through it the hiring manager will easily determine if you are really interested in the available position in their company.

Use bulleted format or highlighted format. Bulleted form is much easier to read and it is more likely to grab the hiring manager's attention than traditional paragraphs. Also, using bold faced fonts to emphasize relevant information will make sure your attributes don't go unnoticed.

When you are applying to a job, to a school, to anything, you have to present the best cover letter you possibly can. Jimmy Sweeney has helped 19,946 job-seekers (and counting), in over 25 different countries, land more quality job interviews and job offers in dozens of highly competitive professions and markets using his breakthrough, step-by-step cover letter system.

Instant Cover Letters! In just 3 1/2 minutes you will have an amazing cover letter guaranteed to cut through YOUR stiffest competition like a hot knife through butter!

Cover Letter Software

Sell yourself with a compelling cover letter. Learn the words and strategies that will put you above the crowd. Choose the cover letter software that is best for you.

There are a lot of positive points but also some negatives. As someone who are used to all this 'job looking' stuff for almost three years before, I always prefer to recommend my newly graduated friends who don't really have a good copy writing skills to get professional cover letter software instead. The reasons are:

If you hate writing, then it is always a good idea to let third party writer or a professional program do it for you. You would get a much better results then.

Using professional software is much easier. It is way cheaper. As of now one of the best software that I have used before goes below $50. Much cheaper than getting a good copywriter services to write one for you.

The software that I used, Amazing Cover Letter Creator, is able to generate more than one with only a click of a button. Unlike outsourcing, I don't have to buy multiple software if I were to apply for different posts or jobs. I save more money this way.

Using professional software is also much easier, quick and gives me more confidence. No more stress and I am able to get my letter and resume out faster.

Cover letter software
lets you create professional looking cover letters in minutes. If you're short on time you may want to consider ordering cover letter writing software so you can begin writing your own job cover letter right away.

Would you like to have your cover letter practically written for you in just a couple of minutes? Amazing Cover Letter Creator is one of the premier cover letter writing software out there. You really should check it out. Here's my full review of the Amazing Cover Letter Creator.

Howt to Write Sales Cover Letter

A sales cover letter contains an extent different standard than a business cover letter. For the sales job position, a person should know how to sell anything to anyone.

By writing a good cover letter, a person can express himself as a potential employer, who can sell things as well. There are many ways to do this but the cover letter should be one page in length.

Here we have provided various sales cover letters that mainly focus on the sales jobs. This page contains sales cover letters, which are useful to fresh as well as experienced sales peoples.

Points to Include When Writing a Sales Cover Letter

A sales cover letter is held to a slightly different standard than a business cover letter. As a salesperson, one is expected to know how to sell anything to anyone. Writing a good cover letter is a great way to show a potential employer that a person can sell themselves as well. There are a few ways to do this and still keep the cover letter to one page in length.

A sales cover letter should include past sales achievements in the body of the letter. One or two examples of how sales were made under time constraints, pushy customers, or under budget constraints will make an impression on any company. The company needs to be reassured that they have sales people that will make them money. They do not want to hire those who cannot deal with pressure, who cannot see opportunity, or those who cannot take the initiative and find new customers. Sales is a highly competitive business that depends on the people who can sell their product or service. A good salesperson is friendly, pushy, and has the ability to convince others that the product is necessary to own or use. They will also build friendships with long time customers.

It is in the body of the letter that sales people will shine. A sales cover letter should also include ways in which they brought business to their company. The cover letter should include the basics including an opening and a closing. The letter should look professional and be free of grammatical errors. A person who has worked in sales will be able to construct a clever, honest, smart letter that will get them an interview. For those who are starting out in sales, a sales cover letter includes any sales experience and expresses an interest in learning how the business works.

Learn more about sales cover letter writing.

Internship Cover Letter

Internship cover letters have the principles of a regular cover letter, but they should involve more risk taking. Since an employer knows that the internship position is temporary, they will be more likely to chose a candidate they find interesting and take a chance on them. Creativity as it relates to passion is extremely important in internship cover letters. That said, here are the GrouperEye tips for a remarkable internship cover letter.

The Cover letter is also an opportunity for you to focus on and communicate to a prospective employer your relevant skills, knowledge and accomplishments that match the characteristics of a specific position. The internship cover letter serves as an introductory sales letter and motivates the employer to read the resume and invite you for an interview for the position you are seeking.

1. Tell a story. My internship cover letter to Google was a story about how I asked my middle school girlfriend to date me. The best way to tell a story is to focus on a single example and then tie that into your internship pitch. The point of my internship cover letter story is that “I fumbled like an idiot asking this girl to date me, but it was then that I learned: there is never a perfect way to do something, you just have to follow your heart.” Google flew me out for an interview two weeks later.

2. Get weird. Be different with your internship cover letter. One of the best internship cover letter stories that I have heard is a girl who wrote her cover letter on a shoe. With things like “I will put my sole into it,” “I will lace up the competition,” “I am not afraid to get my foot in the door.” She got the internship with MTV.

3. Show passion. If you use a company’s product, tell them about it in your internship cover letter. I had a friend who drank Snapple like it was his job. He wrote an internship cover letter about his passion for Snapple and how he drinks them all day long. Students who like the product/service are attractive to employers. They want to make sure that this isn’t just a resume item.

4. Be short. No HR person is going to read a whole page from a perspective intern. That’s just reality. *Unless it’s remarkable and starts off with a bang.

5. Use Humor. The people who read internship cover letters aren’t robots. They go to parties, drink beer, watch movies, and tell funny stories. These HR people get so many careful, boring, safe cover letters that this will make you stand out. I had a good buddy that sent an online finacial company the “Top Ten Reason To Hire Me” and it was hilarious. If you can manage to mix humor with a meaningful message, you will win.

6. Don’t send a form letter. Ever. Unless you have a 4.0 from Harvard, you are worthless to an HR department. They just have to many options to chose somebody who cares this little.

7. Tell them what you are going to do. My buddy ran a startup with little money to spare and was not hiring. A student then sent him an internship cover letter that read: “I can get you 3 business to use your service, 100 individual accounts, 3 PR pieces and 20+ links. If I don’t, no need to pay me.” My buddy was floored and the student was hired the next day.

The internship cover letter should be problem-solving oriented letter mentioning how you can meet the job needs rather than simply listing your desires.

Administrative Assistant Cover Letter

Competition for Administrative Assistant positions is intense. You have to stand out from the crowd in a positive, exciting way to ensure you are the one employers are determined to hire. An administrative cover letter is an essential part of your document if you wish to be hired.

Usually, administrative cover letters encompass a large domain of hiring prospects. This is because in any companies, the administrative divisions can provide a lot of openings that range from the lowest to the highest positions. Therefore, if you are going to include a cover letter, be sure that you have already decided where you want to belong to.

If you have already written your resume, the words you need are already right in front of you. It’s just a matter of weaving them in and out of a few paragraphs. Ok, so it’s a little more involved than that. At least you have the hardest part done – the resume.

The cover letter builds on the resume and leads the employer toward it. Its goal is to get the employer excited about the resume. It is a sales tool, just like the resume is. Sell yourself in a compelling and exciting way. Inject energy and let your best qualities reach the employer through carefully written examples and anecdotes. Don’t just state what you are capable of, show the employer with vibrant language that attracts and invites the employer to want to know more.

Let your personality show, but remain professional.

Secretaries and administrative assistants held about 4.1 million jobs in 2002, ranking among the largest occupations in the U.S. economy. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

You are a part of a significant sector of the labor market.

Are there a lot of Administrative Assistant positions available? Yes, there are probably a lot of positions you COULD get, but do you want just ANY old job? Or, do you want a job where you will have opportunities to succeed, make more money and send your career to new heights?

You have to be your very best to get the great jobs. What skills and abilities do you have that you can offer the employer – and – how can you do so in a way that makes the employer pick up the phone and call you for an interview?

Start with your “marketing materials”. Your cover letter and your resume are your sales resources. Make them work for you.

The cover letter is the first thing an employer sees. Make sure it is impeccable. Proofread it just as meticulously as you did the resume. No mistakes. Not one.

State clearly what position you are seeking and tailor the cover letter, just as you did with the resume, to the specific position and employer.

Have you read that before somewhere? Yes, you have. That’s because it is very important. Mass marketing general resumes and cover letters to a host of employers is a thing of the past. Targeting a resume and cover letter is essential in today’s competitive environment if you are to be successful.

An administrative assistant resume does not have any differences compared to ordinary resume files intended for other industrial or business positions. Actually, resumes only differ in the parts like Objectives and Cover letters but everything else is the same; you need to put your contact details, the education background and the work experiences that you may have.

Some tips on how to write your administrative assistant cover letters.