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To boost your response rate it is extremely important that you contact the correct decision maker
and hiring official before
sending your cover letter.
You
can contact employers by email and phone. In this way
you can find out a myriad of information that will help you create targeted cover
letters that position you as a top candidate because you
have learned key information that other job seekers won't
address in their cover letters.
When you make initial contact, it will also give you a chance to develop a relationship with a real person, someone you can follow-up with and talk
to after you send your cover letter. Another plus when
you contact an employer before sending your cover letter, is
that this can make them more receptive to your follow-up after your resume and cover letter are received.
After I had written my first book, Proven Resumes &
Confidence Builders, I was seeking jobs that would continue
to build my resume as a master resume writer and
trainer. I found a job ad for a Job Placement
Specialist with the University of Washington, Bothell and it
said no phone calls.
Since I am not a sales person and had never called employers
before sending cover letters, it was quite scary to call on
the job ad - just writing and sending a cover letter seemed far less
scary. However, I sat down before I contacted the
employer and hastily rushed off my cover letter, I
underlined skills in the ad that I possessed and thought
about what my top qualifications were. The ad requested
someone who could assistant the student body with resumes
and job placement.
So I went through my book and with these job requirements in
mind, I decided that I did have excellent qualifications and
that if I was able to contact the hiring official I might
very well put myself at the top of the stack of cover
letters received. So, I selected key pages from my
book that described my success in writing resumes but
helping my clients land better jobs and higher pay.
This bolstered my ability to contact the employer and see if
I could gather more information to sell my self in my cover
letter.
I was able to talk directly to the Director of Student
Affairs who was hiring for the position, told her a little
about my background and asked if she would like to see some
of the pages from my book. She said she would be
delighted. Was I glad I made contact with this
employer!
I then prepared my cover letter and put together a package
from my book based on the key skills she was seeking.
I sent it and within 2 weeks was called for an
interview. During the interview the Director said that
she had already decided to hire me as long as I could walk
and talk - that's how strongly she felt about the written
package I submitted to her.
Because I made employer contact before sending my cover
letter and resume, I had positioned myself as a top
candidate before the interviews even began.
So when you can do research and get through to a hiring
official - do it. But, before you do, make a list of
your top qualifications so you can give a 30-60 second
commercial of your best qualifications when you make that
verbal contact. Have questions prepared to see if you
can gather more information about the job before you during
the contact you make and before sending your cover
letter. Then write your cover letter addressing not
only what you know from the job ad but what you have learned
speaking with the employer.
Below
are more cover letter snippets, cover letter tips and cover
letter samples from my book Proven Resumes Strategies
That Have Increased Salaries $9.95 instant access
which provides more
detailed information on cover letters. It is filled
with success stories of job seekers who thought they were
not qualified for the jobs they wanted - but wrote their
cover letters anyway - and landed good jobs.
The cover letter strategies in my book have been responsible
for helping clients raise their pay $2,000 to $80,000 more
per year.
If you're having difficulty creating a resume and
cover letter - you
might consider hiring me to write your resume.
The fee is $150 or $250.
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Contents, Regina Pontow, 1997-2013
