As you begin your job search, you will find that many employers will not only request your resume, but will expect a cover letter as well. Many people overlook the importance of a cover letter, and instead only focus on putting an effort into their resume. However, the cover letter is just as important in getting an employer to call you for an interview. The following article will outline how to write a cover letter with resume.

In considering how to write a cover letter with resume it is appropriate to first consider what must be written into your cover letter. First , your cover letter should state what job you are applying for, as well as, the qualifications you possess to do this job. The cover letter should leave the employer wanting to know more about you, and cause the reviewer to call you for an interview.

Another factor to consider beyond the content of the cover letter is its presentation. When learning how to write a cover letter with resume, the applicant should use quality paper to print the cover letter and resume. It is also a good idea to design a letterhead for yourself. If you are not creative enough to do this, you can hire someone or use a template from your word processing software.

Not only should the cover letter be printed on quality paper, it should look professional without any creases, stains or smudges. If you are terrible at spelling, it is highly recommended that you run the spell checker on your word processing program, and also get another person to read it over and correct any mistakes for you.

The reason it is important to put as much effort into learning how to write a cover letter with your resume is the fact that the cover letter will speak for you first. Within this letter, you will briefly provide the reasons why the employer should consider hiring you. The cover letter is an important tool in making your resume stand out from the other resumes that the employer will receive.

A well thought out cover letter and resume is the first key to your successful employment campaign. Spend the necessary time on these items and will be well on your way to career success.

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 Writing an Objective

A growing trend in new resumes is to give short shrift to or eliminate the "objective" heading altogether. Here are some compelling reasons to include this very important career statement in your resume and a top-10 tips list for writing a memorable one.

Seizing an opportunity to submit as many applications as possible, some job applicants are omitting the traditional objective statement element within their resumes. Rewriting objectives to accommodate every possibility seems challenging, while including over-generalized statements seems to do more harm than good. Nevertheless, when one considers the real purpose of an objective, the inclusion of it appears to be mandatory.

Whether written as "Career Goal", "Objective", or "Position Desired", the time honored first statement is still worthy of its place in a successful resume. When a cover letter cannot be submitted, the objective statement may be the job seeker's only chance to introduce himself. Traditionally, the objective statement has served two purposes. The first obvious purpose is to state clearly for the record, what type of position an applicant desires. Second, this introductory sentence suggests to the potential employer what type of skill set or qualifications the applicant has. A third purpose for an announced career goal, one that is frequently misunderstood or under utilized all together, is the implied employer benefits, or the "what's in it for my company" angle.

Stating your career objective should include a real job title whenever possible. Sentences that skirt concrete job names, such as, "...seeking a position in marketing...", suggests two things to the reader; one, the applicant has no idea about what types of jobs may be available in marketing and two, the applicant is desperate, and willing to take any job. Eagerness is good. Desperation is fatal.

Defining the position desired is much more effective when the company's own job titles are used, such as, "...seeking a Sales Management position..." or "...pursuing an entry-level Public Relations Specialist position...". If you are responding to an advertisement that you have seen, use the terminology in the ad, otherwise, do a little digging. A business's website can be very helpful for locating job title information specific to the company with which you want to apply. Admittedly, it takes a little more effort to customize and rewrite each objective to match a potential employer's need, but the benefits will outweigh the time spent.

Capturing your qualifications in a one or two sentence resume objective can be a challenge, but by using the identified job title combined with a descriptive term such as, "experienced" or "certified", the challenge is easily met. Think about your skill set in broad terms. Are your employment skills developed in areas of administration? In sales? Perhaps you have been employed as a carpenter. Are you skilled in cabinet making or exterior framing? Identifying your general abilities will give you some good leading sentences for your career objective, even in cases where you are looking to change careers. Consider the following examples:

Recent high school graduate, previously employed in fast-food service industry, and aiming for a new position --

Dependable and enthusiastic student with experience in sales and public contact seeking opportunity as a Market Researcher Level I.

Experienced specialty carpenter seeking a supervisor title --

Desire to obtain a Carpenter Shop Foreman position utilizing extensive trade skills and experience in the theatrical and special events industries.

Finally, when writing a career objective, resume writers should consider the potential employer's point of view. In a competitive job market, where hiring personnel sit behind stacks of non-descript resumes, the inclusion of a little "self-promotion" is critical. Ask yourself, "what do I have that this company wants?". Is it doing whatever it takes to get the job done? Is it attention to detail? Then write, "dedicated" or "quality-conscious". Consider terms that describe your work habits while offering something positive for the employer.

Composing a good resume requires focused time and effort. Never try to hurry the process by leaving out the who, what, and why of your employment search. By utilizing the following top-10 tips list as a guide for developing your objective statement, you will be well on your way to creating your own job winning resume.

The Top-10 Tips List for Writing a Winning Objective Statement:

1. Choose two adjectives to describe your work style such as, "Dependable and conscientious student seeking..." or
   "Detail oriented and quality conscious accounting clerk..."
   
2. Inform your potential employer of "what is in it for them", such as, "...seeking to utilize 10+ years experience in the industry..." or "...proven sales record..."
   
3. One sentence is good, but making sense is better! If warranted, two sentences or in some cases a short paragraph will improve an objective statement.
   
4. If you know the job title for which you are applying, use it. There is nothing to be gained in trying to define a new position for yourself.
   
5. If you have read the job description in an advertisement, try to mirror one or two of the words listed. For instance, if the job announcement has indicated a desire for a self-starter, then experiment with using the same term or one with the same meaning, such as in this case, "self-motivated" or "self-directed".
   
6. As always, grammar and spelling count! It is expected that resumes will have short sentence fragments, abbreviations, and little punctuation, but your career objective should be written without error. Proofread!
   
7. Avoid being too general in your statement. It is better to do a little research with the company and uncover some of what they may be looking for than to write an over-generalized objective that essentially says nothing to the employer.
   
8. Ambition is nice, but statements such as "work my way up to..." will impress no one and may undercut your credibility.
   
9. If possible, experiment with writing an objective without the use of the word, "I". It can be done! "I", is more appropriately used in a cover letter. Using "I" and "my" too frequently may loose a recruiter whose context and focus is on what the company can gain from a new hire.
   
10. Do not promise more than you can deliver! If you are chronically late, then describing yourself as punctual will only undermine your credibility later when it is discovered that you have misrepresented yourself.

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This week's job searching tip deals with gaps in employment on your resume. If, by looking at your resume, an interviewer can see an obvious gap between recent jobs, their perception of what that gap means could hurt your chances of being considered for a job. This week's tip discusses strategies for dealing with these gaps.

QUESTION FROM A SUBSCRIBER:
What is the best way to handle being away from the job market for an extended period of time (over 2 years) both on the resume and in interviews? My absence was due to medical/psychological difficulties and I want to be honest, but discrete. Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

-- T.G..

Dear T.G.,
If an employment gap is short or occurred several years ago, most employers and recruiters won't notice and you probably don't need to bring it up unless they do. However in your case, it sounds like the gap is noticeable. There are several ways you can deal with the situation.

USING A FUNCTIONAL RESUME

A solution many resume writers would recommend is to use a functional resume instead of a chronological one. This can work if you have a complex job where you have achieved many things in various areas. For example, a programmer who has worked with several technologies could legitimately use a functional resume, dividing up the resume by technologies worked with instead of time periods. This can also work with other technical professions like engineers, attorneys, etc. If the work you do is rather straightforward and you work with a fairly limited range of skills, using a functional resume could make it seem like you're trying to hide your dates of employment.

If you do use a functional resume, many people looking at it will still want to know what kinds of companies you've worked for and what the most recent employer's line of business was. You can deal with this by including a note above your list of experiences indicating the most recent employer's name, location and line of business. In this same section you can list other employer names and lines of business you have worked in.

INCLUDING AN EXPLANATION OF THE GAP

Another approach is to include an explanation of the gap on the resume itself. This makes sense to do if using a functional resume instead of a chronological one would seem odd because your profession doesn't lend itself to such a resume format. It's also important to note that most people reading resumes prefer the chronological format. If you have a legitimate story as to why you have a gap in your employment dates that most people could sympathize with and understand easily, just being forthright and listing it on your resume is fine.

If you have a noticeable gap in employment dates but don't explain it on your resume, many recruiters will either just discard your resume and move on to the next one, or come up with their own theory about why you weren't working. Although you might still be considered for the job, the recruiter's (probably false and somewhat subconscious) story about why you weren't working could put you at a disadvantage in their mind compared to other candidates they're considering.

If you had a medical condition that has since been resolved completely or nearly completely, my sense is you're better off explaining that briefly on the resume instead of not mentioning anything at all. For example:
Dec 2002 to Nov 2004: Took sabbatical from work to deal with a medical problem. The issue has been completely resolved and the doctors feel it will not reoccur.

If it's a minor problem that most people could understand, like a problem with back pain, you could even bring it up in the interview. An employer might not feel comfortable bringing up the subject - especially because if they asked about it, it could look like they were discriminating against you illegally - but if you think you can make them feel more comfortable with the fact that the problem has been solved by explaining it, you could give it a try. The biggest concern an employer will have about a gap in employment is whether it is any indication of your likely future performance.

If it was a medical problem, they could be concerned that it could happen again and that they'd be stuck with having to find a replacement for you. If you don't provide any explanation, the employer might think you couldn't find a job and were unemployed because your skills were not up to par.

I would recommend leaving out the psychological aspect since psychological illnesses are rarely understood by the general public.

Another alternative would be if you did some other things during your time off which could be mentioned while leaving out the part about the medical condition. For example, if you spent more time with your kids, you could put down:

Dec 2002 to Present: Left work to spend more time with children. Children are now older and I'm ready to return to the workforce.

The bottom line is you're best off having some kind of story to tell that the employer will find palatable. You don't want to tell an outright lie, but you may want to emphasize certain things more than others depending on what you find gets the most favorable response (in terms of replies to resumes and in interviews).

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Keep in mind that you are not going to be the only applicant for a particular job. A bigger company that has thousands of employees is going to command a high response rate. Also, a high profile job in an industry that everyone wants to join will also command a lot of attention. You need to do something that will set your letter off and raise you above the competition. Follow these tips to make your letter stand out in the crowd.

• Use bulleted lists that will help to set off your strengths. Bulleted lists allow for the reader to quickly find what they are looking for. If a hiring manager has 100 cover letters and resumes to sift through, yours will stand out because he or she can skim right down to the important points.
• Add a post script or PS to your letter. This is one final way to get an important nugget of information implanted in the readers mind. If at all possible handwrite the post script. This shows a personal touch.

The main goal of the cover letter is to show your reader that you are unique and well qualified for the position. You need to do something that shows you are head and shoulders above the competition. If you can successfully do this you will be sure to receive more interviews, thus increasing your chance to win your dream job.

Finally, always remember to sign your letter. If you do not, it looks like you are mass mailing resumes in a last ditch attempt to find a job.

Some common mistakes to avoid:

• Make sure you have the correct address and spelling of the hiring manager's name.
• Be specific. You have a better chance of getting your resume in the right person's hands if you address it to the right person. Never send a resume to a general human resources address unless the employment ad says to do so.
• Failing to ask for a meeting or an interview can be detrimental to your chances at landing the job. If you do not do this, it looks like you are only making 'half an attempt.'
• Even though you are trying to show the reader your skills, make the letter about them. State what you can do for them, not what they can do for you!

Good Luck! Contd . . .

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The structure of these three cover letters is very important. It is necessary that the reader be able to follow your letter clearly. Below are some tips to maintain a solid structure.

• First paragraph should be why you are writing. Introduce yourself!
• Next, state your qualifications, both academic and professional.
• Tell the reader why you should get an interview, and why you are right for the job.
• Request that the reader contacts you. Ask for a meeting.

A couple things that you should always mention and a few things you should never mention.

• Put great emphasis on the skills that you can bring to the job.
• Show how college prepared you for the working world. Include relevant classes and/or work experience such as internships and co-ops.
• Use action verbs that show your positive attributes.
  NEVER use any negative verbiage in your cover letter. Do not say 'I apologize', this shows the reader that you know you did something wrong.
• Do not bring up anything that you do not need to! In other words don't write anything to the effect of 'Even though I do not have experienced.'
• Do not sound like you absolutely need the job. Sounding desperate puts the company in the position of power.
• Do not brag on your accomplishments.
• Write a strong closing paragraph that asks for a meeting or an interview.
  

Know that we have the structure down; let's go over the actual content of the cover letter. This is more important than the structure as it is going to introduce your personality to the reader. Some things that you always want to include in your letter are:

• Show what skills and experience you can bring to the company. Show your positive qualities, and how they will fit in with the structure of the company.
• Show that you have done your homework. By showing your knowledge of the company and their industry, you are showing that you are already a step above the competition.
• Customize your letter to match the advertisement. If a company is looking for sales skills, talk up your past sales experience in your cover letter.
• Be sharp, concise, and to the point with your letter. Do not make the reader search for answers. He or she should be able to find them without looking.

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