cover letter Archive

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Telling Hiring Managers What They Want

I receive cover letters on a regular basis that try to define the hiring criteria for the hiring manager. Most hiring managers know what they are looking for when hiring. They might have some flexibility in the criteria, but generally they know what types of

Cover Letter Credibility

The cover letter l read this morning contained several statements designed to make a personal connection with a hiring manager, but failed dismally. The cover letter was too wordy and faked an interest in an employer.

Cover Letter Templates

Using a template to write your cover letter can make it a lot easier. We provide a three templates in our Cover Letter Best Practices Report and there are a ton of templates available on the web. If you use a template to get started,

Credible Cover Letters

When a hiring manager starts to read your cover letter and resume, you have no credibility. The reader doesn’t know you. They don’t know if they can trust you or if you are prone to exaggeration and lying. This lack of credibility is highlighted when a

Wordiness on a Cover Letter

A cover letter needs to be clear and concise to be effective. Awkward and wordy sentences will discourage a hiring manager from reading the entire cover letter and will make a poor impression before the reader gets to the resume. Unfortunately, many writers struggle with identifying wordy

Interview Skills in a Cover Letter

I read a cover letter today that did something I see very rarely. It focused on elements that are critical to a recruiter and usually overlooked by job seekers. A cover letter with a sales pitch for the candidate isn't unique. What was unique was how the

A Cover Letter Without Complete Sentences

I read a cover letter today that didn't have a single complete sentence. Each sentence was written without a subject and many didn't have a verb. The letter was nothing more than a collection of phrases and buzzwords. I've included most of the cover letter below, with

What Value Does Your Cover Letter Add?

Cover letters introduce your resume and influence how closely your resume will be read. An effective cover letter will get the reader excited to learn more. To do this, the cover letter needs to provide value beyond the resume.

Sentence Structure

I updated some of my social media accounts this weekend. My motivation was twofold. First, some of accounts badly needed an update to the design and content.  I had not updated some of the information in the last couple years and it showed.  The second reason was motivated