A Good Resume Invites Recruiters to Read Your Cover Letter

I always looked at person's resume first. I quickly breezed over qualifications and employment history. If they looked promising in these areas, then I would look at cover letter.

The cover letter gave me further insight into person, e.g. how organized they are by examining presentation of letter, whether or not they had taken time to find out anything about my company, whether or not they have had or do have any ties to company, whether or not they have specified job they want, will they travel, and so on.

What all this means is you need both a resume and a cover letter. The meat is in resume. I wanted facts and I wanted 'em fast. If a person looked promising from resume, then I read cover letter, and then I call 'em in for an interview. That's where rubber meets road.

The Goal of a Cover Letter

So, this brings up your goal in creating a cover letter ...

... to introduce yourself to company and to sell yourself.

If you do this well enough, you are at top of list for an interview, assuming you are qualified for position.

Creating a Strong Cover Letter

1. Make it short. Definitely no more than one page. Half a page is better. Two paragraphs is even better. If you can whittle it down to that and make your case succinctly, then you are proving yourself to be a great communicator. That's a huge bonus in my book. 2. Be professional and concise. Never try to be humorous. Keep your tone on a "business only" level.

And it's true.

There are hundreds of thousands of ezines and newsletters. Most rely on contributed content, giving you a wonderful opportunity to connect with an endless ocean of prospects for free!

The rub is that most would-be authors get pretty shabby results. They conclude that they can't write, or that submitting articles isn't an effective means of promotion. At least not unless you're a "big name."

Wrong.

Almost anyone can write articles of acceptable quality to be published online. You needn't be a literary wizard, nor well-known. It's simply that like most things in life, there's a right, and a wrong way to do it.

Below are several easy ways you can get an editor to trash your article - EVEN if they LIKE what you say!

* Don't Check Spelling And Grammar Thoroughly

Even with electronic spell checkers, this is still a killer. Be particularly careful with words that sound alike but have different meanings (homophones). Should that be "there" or "their"? "Your" or "you're"?

Another trouble spot is apostrophe ('). An apostrophe should be used to indicate possession (John's car), dropped letters (don't) and characters/words mentioned as themselves (ID's). And remember, "it's" means "it is."

Most editors don't expect you to be perfect. However, a piece littered with obvious errors is unlikely to be published.

* Write In Long, Dense Paragraphs

Long, unbroken runs of text are visually unappealing, and act as a subconscious block to reading (looks like too much hard work). People are in a hurry, so information needs to be presented in a way they can scan for points of interest.

* Ramble And Use Wordy Sentences

Providing great information is not enough. People read to learn, but also seek excitement. Instant gratification. They lack time to be patient, so stick to point.

When you've finished writing, start deleting. Cut unnecessary sentences. Look for superfluous 'filler' words and repetitions. Delete them. Add more punch and drive by killing adjectives.

* Use Gratuitous Self Promotion

There's no greater turn-off than an article that proclaims author or their product wonderful. People want to discover your qualities for themselves. Your article is medium.