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all you can about a company you wish to work for before sending an unsolicited job inquiry so you can weave the firm’s own branding and messaging into your letter.
The elements of unsolicited cover letters areas follows.
Opening
To prevent your letter from being summarily dismissed, grab the readers attention quickly in your opening statement by including knowledge you’ve gained about the company’s mission, values, or culture. Show how your skills fill a need.
The recent news of AdWork’s acquisition of Holistic Healing as a client caught my eye because of my knowledge of the complementary medicine field and experience with social media�You might also want to use a question to gain interest.
Now that Adworks has landed the Holistic Healing account, might you need an experienced social media planner with extensive knowledge of the complementary medicine field?Body
The body of an unsolicited job application letter is much like that of the solicited cover letter with the exception of using words and phrases from an ad. Instead, discuss how your skills and experience can benefit the organization or help achieve its goals.
My background as the brand manager of a nutriceutical company has given me experience introducing new products to emerging markets�Where possible, weave words and phrases the organization uses to describe itself into your letter. For example, if you were writing a letter to Nike, echo words from its mission statement (to bring inspiration and innovation) into your letter.
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As a team leader, I inspired my group to innovate and helped create a successful product line that now comprises 10 percent of company revenues.
Closing
The closing of the unsolicited and solicited cover letters is the same. Ask for an interview make sure you refer specifically to an attached resume avoid vague and clichéd statements such as Thank you for your time or I hope to hear from you soon.”
document design
If sending
the cover letter as an email, make sure your subject line specifically states the job to which you are applying. Begin the email with a formal salutation and follow the document design for emails we discussed earlier. Make sure your complete contact information follows your name in the signature block at the end of the email. If sending a cover letter on paper, print it on the same letterhead you use for your resume. Balance the letter on the page so you don’t leave too much white space at the bottom. Remember to physically sign the letter and note
Enclosure at the end to alert the reader that another piece of paper is part of the package. See Appendix B fora sample cover letter.
ResumesA resume is a structured summary of your qualifications fora particular position. Many people think resumes need to include their entire work history, listing every job ever held and each commendation earned. This is not the case at all. Resumes must highlight your qualifications as they pertain to the job at hand.
As your career advances, your resume will change, too. In other words, you will be rewriting your resume for the rest of your work life!
The most common type of resume is the
chronological resume, which lists jobs in chronological order from the most current to the oldest. Recruiters are most familiar with this
style of resume and prefer 98 WRITING FOR THE WORKPLACE
it because it quickly illustrates the candidate’s education and work background. The
functional resume includes the same mandatory elements of any resume (heading and education) and many of the same optional sections (objective, and awards, honors, or activities) but highlights skills and abilities instead of job experiences. This style of resume is used for those with gaps in employment or sometimes for new workers who have yet to gather significant on-the-job experience.
The length of resumes is not fixed. Many say a resume should be contained to one typed page others say it should be as long as it needs to be. Whichever side you choose to believe, remember that experts say that hirers spend no more than five to 10
seconds looking over a resume, so it must be concise and easy to navigate.
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