Resume Writing Tips For Recruitment Success

Resume Writing Tips For Recruitment Success






Send a covering letter

In our seventh blog looking resumes we look at the role of the covering letter in the job hunting and recruitment process. Many people don't realise the importance an employer puts on the covering letter you send. But if you think about it, this is the first thing that they see and read and it is the perfect opportunity to draw they attention to just how perfect you are for their job.  Thus you should always send a covering letter when sending out a resume as it will give an employer a great first impression of you and what kind of employee you might be and help separate your application from that of others. A well put together neat letter says a lot about the sender so don't just think about content but also layout and look.

When applying for many jobs - as people often have to do to secure a job in today's climate - covering letters are often forgotten about. If not forgotten about they're considered by many candidates as not very important and not worth the bother, but in reality they're just as important as your résumé itself. This is where, on paper at least, you get to make your first impression.

The only time to not send one is if the recruiter request in the job advertisement that you don't send a covering letter - and, of course, in those cases you should respect their wishes. You're trying to get a job not to impress with your presentational skills and the main thing is to do what they ask so you do not get rules out for a minor "foot fault". This circumstance aside, you shouldn't ever send a résumé to a potential employer without a covering letter.

The purpose of a covering letter is to introduce you and highlight the key skill areas which qualify you for the job you're applying for. It will also show the employer your level of literacy and presentational skills. You may be thinking, how difficult or important can a letter be but the truth is, in the recruitment process, every small bit of detail is magnified as it's such a competitive field.

When writing your application cover letter you do need to carefully focus on those elements that the recruiter has illustrated as important.  Thus each cover letter needs to be individually put together.  In fact a bland, generic cover letter can be quite damaging.  If you do not have the time or inclination to create a quality letter you are probably better off saying nothing - other than, "here is my resume" since it could do more damage than good.  Let's look at this in more detail: think about an advert that says they are looking for xyz experience.  Now this is something that you did the job before last and have a good example to support this.  Your resume makes a mention of it but your cover letter which you use for all applications does not.  Think about the wasted opportunity - and what might have happened if you had taken the time to put in a sentence to say that you not only have xyz experience but a solid example of success to support this.

 

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