Florida Executive Search Pre Interview Coaching

Author: Judi Perkins

Creating a job search cover letter doesn’t need to be a laborious process. Effective cover letters are short, skimmable and easy to read (a good rule of thumb no matter WHERE your cover letter is going) – three to four paragraphs tops.

If you are answering an ad, address the requirements in the ad and speak to how your experience relates to each. If you are sending the letter cold, make sure your letter reflects some research on the company, how your background relates, and why you have an interest in that company.

But instead, what generally happens is this. Bob is looking for a job. He looks through the paper, finds a bunch of ads that sound interesting, and circles them all with red pen. Then he sweats out the cover letter, personalizes each address, attaches his resume, mails them out, and congratulates himself on a job well done.

Then nothing happens. He wonders why. He shrugs his shoulders and starts all over again. On the other hand, Bob could take control of his career and set out to find his perfect job.

First, he gives some careful thought to his previous jobs: which ones he’s liked and why, which ones he hasn’t liked and why, where did he excel - or not, and why he left each one, what his supervisors were like, what his job description was in each place. That begins to give him a clue about what motivates him, who he is, under what circumstances he functions productively, and what he’s looking for in his next job.

Then he begins to look for companies that fit this profile - whether they have ads in the paper or not. Not all companies advertise their openings. Frequently openings are still in the contemplative stages, such as an expansion or confidential replacement. Then he sits down to write his cover letters.Two would suffice, with a bit of personalization in each: one for companies actively advertising their openings, and one for companies that he’s researched which sound appealing to him.

In the first paragraph, Bob says why he’s writing to that particular company. Instead of “I am writing because I saw your ad,” he writes, “I am responding to your ad because…..”. For the letters he’s sending cold: “I am sending you a copy of my resume because in researching companies that I feel I could be of benefit to….” (as opposed to “…companies I think I’d like to work for…”) Emphasis goes on the benefit to the company. Not the benefit to you.

In the second paragraph, Bob personalizes it. This is the paragraph (or two) that varies with each company or ad. Two or three sentences will do it if there’s one paragraph, or add another paragraph of about the same length. This part comes from the heart. Why are you writing this company? What’s it got to do with what you do and who you are? It needn’t be a long introspective story - but if there’s something specific in the ad or about the company that appeals to you, speak to it.(And if there isn’t, why are you writing them?)

The third paragraph winds everything up. And don’t forget to be pro-active. Give the person to whom you are writing about 10 days to receive the letter and contact you (which probably won’t happen because things usually don’t move that fast), and then follow up. State the date you will be doing so, and then DO IT on that date!

Don’t think you can get away with a generic cover letter. You can’t. They’re spotted at 100 steps, especially by recruiters and human resource people. And they don’t put you to the top of the pile.

Is all this a lot of trouble? Yes, it is. But that’s how you stay in control of your career: by going those extra steps. A personalized cover letter gets you remembered. Writing to the person by name gets you remembered. Saying you’ll follow up and then doing so on the date indicated, gets you remembered.

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Author: Jacqui Mitchell

You may not wish to change jobs or career at the present time or your job search may be taking longer than expected (the average time period is 3-6 months) so what steps can you take to make your working life more interesting? The following ideas may be just the thing to banish those Monday blues:

Look for positives in your current position - Think about the good points about your job even if you don’t particularly enjoy your present role; it might be your salary, your work colleagues, your short commute or the nice new building you work in. There’s sure to be a few things that you’re grateful for so remind yourself about these whenever you feel fed up. For example, Sarah doesn’t enjoy her job in a call centre but her working hours are from 10am to 3pm which means that she can drop off and collect her children from school. As her children are her priority, this factor is very important to Sarah so she reminds herself of this whenever she gets bored with the routine nature of her work.

Concentrate on what you enjoy - Analyse your current job into activities that you like doing and those that are always at the bottom of your “To Do” list. Ask your boss if you can do more of your favourite activities and this should lead to greater job satisfaction.

Delegate or swap your least favourite tasks - If you have staff working for you then it might be possible to ask them to do the tasks that you dislike. If you don’t have staff it may be worthwhile asking if a colleague would be interested in swapping one of your least favourite activities for something that you prefer to do. Some people love admin tasks whilst others find them a bind so its an ideal situation if you can team up with someone who loves the tasks you hate.

Give yourself rewards for completing tasks you don’t enjoy - There may be some tasks that no-one in your team particularly enjoys so you still have to do them. Schedule a time for undertaking these tasks and give yourself some kind of reward on completion. It might be a chocolate bar, an extra long lunch or even the opportunity to spend the rest of the day doing activities you enjoy but this can be a great way to knuckle down and get the job done.

Alternate tasks you enjoy with those which aren’t as interesting - You may have a deadline to meet and little choice in the matter but in situations where you can schedule your work then do something which you enjoy doing followed by a task that you find more of a bind. I prefer to tackle my least favourite tasks first thing in the morning but everyone is different so do what works for you.

Think of ways your role could be expanded or changed - Provided you’re not swamped with work then think of some other projects you’d like to get involved with. If you’re able to clearly state why you think it would be of benefit for the company for you to do this then there shouldn’t be a problem with you taking on some additional tasks that you consider to be more interesting.

Look for learning opportunities - Ask to attend training courses or conferences that will help to increase your skills and knowledge. Keep abreast of what’s happening in your industry by networking and reading relevant publications. This will make you more of an asset in your current team and more employable if you choose to move in the future.

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