Summary: After you have cleaned up your internet identity, we can move to the next part – resume, cover letter and recommendations. Without further ado, let's start form the two things you need to do before your future employers read your resume – recommendations and cover letter.
Get Recommendation in Hand Before Sending out Your Resume
You future employers will possibly request your recommendations. It is a good idea to get recommendation ready when they request it, because it will take a while to complete recommendations.
To get recommendations from various sources is an easy job, but it does make some sense who writes the recommendations for you. Even though your family would write the most brilliant recommendation for you, you should find someone more professional, such as your professors and your past employers.
To get strong and professional recommendations, here are some tips:
It is important to get recommendations from various sources
You won't know which the best recommendation is until you get it.
Follow up to get your recommendation sooner
If it takes longer than you expected to get the recommendation, it is a good idea to contact them via an email or call. Tell them that you are pretty grateful to them for working hard on your recommendation and quickly on it since you will apply for jobs on (certain day).
To give the person who write your recommendation a gift
The gift may vary from a small gift such as bookmarks to shopping card for coffee and books, which depends on how much the person has done for you.
Cover Letters Are an Open Sesame to a Job
Cover letters, as their name, are a letter attached to your resume. In this letter, you can express why you want this job and convince everyone who is reading it that you are the perfect one for this job.
Cover letter is a great place to express how much do you know about the company
Before writing your cover letter, do research! Check out the website of the company to go over it mission, history, products and clients. Doing thorough research is a strong proof that you are interest in the company and it helps you understand what kind of employees they are looking for and then during the interview you can blow them away with your traits.
Cover letter is also a place to explain why your are the one for the job
Think about is there one thing in your life that makes you perfect for the job, write it and explain why. For instance:
A cover should be controlled in one page
Longer cover letter seems unprofessional and more like an autobiography than an introduction to you and your resume.
What should you write in your cover letter?
1. Contact information: your name and address – usually at the top of the letter
2. Employer's contact information – on the top of the letter as well
3. Your phone number and e-mail – usually wrote in the last two sentences of the letter
4. What you have known about the company
5. An experience to explain why you are qualified for the job
6. Why you want to work in the company
What’s Next?
In the next installment, we are going to discuss about how to write a resume and tip on how to spice your resume up.
What Do You Think?
How to make your application stand out? Do you have any tips for cover letter and resume? Please leave your comment and let us know.
