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Chapter 5 D
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The Ad Response/ S
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Resume Cover Letter O
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Whether it’s sent unsolicited or in response to an advertisement, through a referral E
or to a friend as part of your networking efforts, your Ad Response and Resume S
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Cover Letters afford you an important opportunity. With this letter, you create the M
context in which your resume will be read. A well-written letter serves as a road E
map for the route a potential employer will take through the winding facts, figures,
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and dates on your resume. In an effective Cover Letter, you can draw a conclusion
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for your reader that is supported by the data contained in your resume. V
In all cases, the primary goal you seek to achieve in your Cover Letter is to E
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make your reader want to meet you and to interview you. Your letter should in-
troduce you as more than simply the list of qualifications and accomplishments on L
your resume. It should bring you to life as a three-dimensional person who is in- E
teresting and unique. It must make your reader want to meet the person present- T
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ed in the letter...YOU! E
Your secondary goal is to predispose R
RECRUITER’S TIP your reader to make a connection between S
your skills and his or her needs. If you are
START AT THE TOP
responding to an employment advertise-
Serious jobhunters don’t write ment, you may have a good idea about
only in response to ads in the what qualities your prospective employer
“Help Wanted” section of Sun- is after. If you have an understanding of
day’s paper. They create their the job requirements from past experience,
own opportunities. you can use this perspective to highlight
If you have identified a your own individual qualifications. The
firm that may be hiring some- worksheets in Chapter 3 demonstrate how
one with your skills, write di- to link your specific talent with the needs
rectly to the Department Man- of the hiring firm. In the sample letters
ager, Division Head, or that follow, you’ll see how to incorporate
Company President. this skill into your Ad Response and Re-
Letters get filtered down sume Cover Letters.
the corporate ladder—they As you peruse the sample letters,
rarely make their way up. you’ll discover that virtually every one
features an opening line you may think of
as somewhat unorthodox. Think again.
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