Page 254 - Complete Idiot's Guide to The Perfect Resume

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Part 4 ➤ Letters That Work

Use these techniques to keep your writing style casual yet on the ball:
➤ Don’t use overly formal language.
➤ Let your personality shine through your words and phrases.
➤ Choose words that demonstrate confidence and sincerity.
➤ Use action verbs instead of passive verbs whenever possible.
➤ Check that your grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct.
Let’s see how each of these points can give your letter zing!

Bonus Check
Learning how to write effective job-search letters is a good investment of time. Persuasive
letter writing is a skill you’re bound to use on the job for proposals, requests, and other
business correspondence.

Dump the Stilted Stuff

A good rule of thumb for knowing what’s appropriate language for
your job-search letter is to write as you would speak in a friendly busi-
ness conversation. That way your letter will sound like you—someone
the reader will want to chat with—not like some stuffed shirt who’s
completely boring.
Job-Hunt Hint
Stilted language is deadly in job-search letters, yet it’s commonplace
After you’ve composed your job-
because most job seekers make the mistake of thinking they should be
search letter, read it out loud to
formal in their correspondence. The good news is that because most
a friend and ask her, “Does this
job seekers use stilted language, your letter’s going to really stand out
sound like me?” If her answer is
when you follow the advice in this chapter.
“No,” your letter probably has
some stilted language that needs Are you wondering what I mean by stilted language? Here are some
to be made more conversational. examples:
“Enclosed, please find my resume for … ” (Way too formal for a
letter that’s meant to be an ice-breaker.)
“Pursuant of our conversation, I would like to apply for … ” (Reads like a legal
document, hardly like a message to someone you’d like to know better.)
“In response to your advertisement in the Gazette, I am enclosing … ” (That’s
way too stuffy for a letter intended to increase rapport.)

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