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Subject:Re: Question ref resumes and cover letters From:O'NEILL Colin <CNE -at- EUROPAY -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 20 Feb 1997 17:54:00 PST
Lisa wrote:
>I've been reading the thread on resumes and noticed that most have said
to
>include a cover letter. In this day an age a lot of things are done
over
>the Internet and through recruiters.
A cover letter is certainly a good idea if you are sending your resume in
the post. I have a standard resume which I keep up-to-date but do not
change (well maybe a little) to fit the vacancy in question. Instead I
use the cover letter to focus on key skills or experience that fit the
job and use the resume to provide more complete details of my employment
history, education, etc.
If I was going through a recruiter or posting via the Internet, then I
would probably add a summary (the infamous one-pager) as the first page
of my resume in place of a cover letter.
>This is not the cover letter you wanted the client to receive, it was
meant
>strictly for the recruiter, what do you do then?
It would depend on the content of the letter. However, honesty is often
the best policy and if you explain this to the client, assuming you get
that far, it might even help you get the job.
<My 2 BEF worth>Always remember that the whole purpose of your resume is
to get that first interview. That's when you get the chance to sell
yourself and is often your first opportunity to see if you really want to
work for that company/person.
You have to assume that someone (agency, HR, employer) has to work
through a stack of resumes, one of which is yours. So, if you want that
job then you have to make YOUR resume stand out from the rest. A targeted
cover letter/summary is a good start as it allows the reader to make a
quick decision about reading further. Someone else (sorry deleted the
original post) mentioned using quality paper for the cover letter and
writing it by hand. Good idea, if your handwriting hasn't suffered from
too much keyboard use. A professional layout, use of non-standard (but
easy to read) fonts, your photograph - any of these things can be used
(with a little care) to get the reader to stop at your resume.
In short, don't be afraid to be a bit different</My 2 BEF worth>.
Colin O'Neill
colin_one -at- compuserve -dot- com (home)
cne -at- europay -dot- com (work)
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