|
Author: Roy Miller Article source: http://www.nurses-jobs.info/. Used with author's permission.
Not necessarily. And for the same reason resume samples or resume examples may or may not be worth anything (see Free resume examples - Use 'em, but don't).
It's worth looking at effective cover letters created by other people. See if they strike you as being able to reach out and grab a potential employer's attention, enough to compel him to call you. Here are some things to look for:
Is it professionally organized? A rambling introduction that wastes time getting to the meat is a recipe for a one-way ticket to the garbage can.
Is it personalized? A cover letter addressed to "Dear Sir" or "To whom it may concern" is almost useless. Do you feel good when you get mail like that? It's junk, right?
Is it hard hitting? The stuff in the cover letter has to jump off the page and tell the reader, "You've gotta call this person for an interview, because everyone else will be!"
Does it suggest (or directly ask for) an interview? If you don't ask, you don't get.
Is it brief? Long-winded cover letters can be interesting, but you've got maybe 30 seconds to impress. Probably much less than that. Commercials last 30 seconds for a reason.
It's a good idea to get some help evaluating what you're looking at, though, because the guidelines I just gave you are pretty broad. A cover letter example isn't necessarily a good or effective cover letter example.
There are three options for getting that kind of evaluation help:
- You can ask cover letter-savvy friends to review it.
- You can buy cover letter writing products to help you get better results.
- You can skip the review and have a resume and cover letter writing service prepare solid documents for you.
I heartily recommend that you ask knowledgeable friends for help. If that's not an option for you, you're left with one of the two other options. The difference is whether you want to go it alone or not.
There's nothing wrong with going it alone, as long as the do-it-yourself product you buy (or free one you use) has a solid track record or proven results. In fact, it's often a cheaper option than hiring somebody to write your resume and cover letter for you.
Most people don't have resume and cover letter writing talent. You have to be honest with yourself. Are you willing to risk 5 months of unemployment on your resume and cover letter writing skills? That's how long the typical job search lasts, mostly because the typical resume and cover letter stink. If you're not confident enough to take that risk, get help. There's no shame in it. In fact, there might be significant profit.
Copyright (c) by Roy Miller Roy Miller created http://www.Job-Search-Guidepost.com.
Would you like a "secret weapon" to crush your job search competition? Subscribe to Roy's free newsletter and get a free report that shows YOU can win the job of your dreams in record time. Visit here to subscribe and claim your free copy: http://www.Job-Search-Guidepost.com.
Roy will link to you if you publish this article! Publish this article with no changes (keep the bio box at the bottom) at your site or in your newsletter. Then email Roy here to let him know where you're publishing: Editors@Job-Search-Guidepost.com. You'll get a link at http://www.Job-Search-Guidepost.com, and maybe an ad in Roy's weekly newsletter.
Detox Your Home Deeply cleanse your living environment by getting rid of harmful, toxic chemicals and replacing them with healthy and environmentally safe household products.
Why Articles Fail To Deliver Traffic To Your Website It's no secret that submitting articles to article directories can generate traffic to a website. In fact, it seems that everybody and their dogs are up to it. ...
Natural Sources For Vitamins This article talks about Natural sources for vitamins
When Was the Last Time? Are you living a purposeful life?
8 Tips for Keeping More of Your Hard Earned Money A sound knowledge of financial basics combined with some careful financial planning goes a long way towards helping you hang on to more of your hard earned mone...
Tarragon: A Favourite of French Chefs Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is the focus of this article. The essential ingredient in Béarnaise sauce and certain Dijon mustards, Tarragon has a special a...
Niche Marketing: The Affiliate Angle If you're just dipping your toes into the waters of Niche Marketing for the first time then Affiliate marketing is the ultimate low risk choice to get you start...
Growing Your Own Herbs for Tea If you love herbal teas, as I do, you know they are just a little bit pricey. However, growing your own herbs is easy and so much fun! Here are just a few of t...
Increase Sum in Your Check Account with Follow-Ups We'll be examining what makes follow up to prospects/customers so important on our online world today. Are you familiar with this scenario? Joined an affiliate...
Diet Sodas & Losing Weight: Is Diet Coke Good Or Dangerous For Healthy Weight Loss? Calorie-free diet sodas, like Diet Coke™, Diet Pepsi™ or Diet-7 Up™ seem very good for weight loss or maintenance, compared to their sugar-saturated counterpart...
WiMax Election Strategy So you are ready to run for public office are you? You want to start at the city level? Good idea, as you like many other Americans are not satisfied and want t...
Are You Scaring Your Customers Away? Coming on too strong when prospecting or selling by phone is counterproductive. While enthusiasm and persistence can be a good thing, taken to extreme they do m...
Ezine Article Writers - What is in Your Wallet? If you are an online article writer and you want to see more cash in your wallet then you must be careful when writing articles to properly title them and also ...
Five Essential Hiring Practices Recruiting and hiring are often done in haste, leaving the company to repent in the long run. Today, there's a reason to be concerned about negligent hiring. Ne...
Mexico: Who Farted? Do you have embarrassing gas problems? Do you find this problem creeping up on you when you least expect it? I bet not.
What to Do One Week before Thanksgiving You only have seven days until your Thanksgiving guests arrive. Is it time to panic or time to plan? You are going to need a clean house, a scrumptious meal an...
Weight Loss, Exercise, and New Years Resolutions – Why They Dont Work? Almost all the people that I have counseled over the years in weight loss have been successful in keeping it off because at some moment in time they said, "That...
Dry Skin Prevention Tips If you suffer from dry skin your probably always looking for different ways to help improve your condition.
How to Child Proof Your Home in One Day Simple steps you can take to protect your baby, your family and yourself.
Navigating The Squeeze A paradigm shift teaches us about working with chaos and things turned upside down. The old paradigm needs to be examined and shifted before a new paradigm can ...
A Scrapbook Page To Celebrate Your Childs First Haircut Between the ages of about 12 and 18 months, a baby boy or girl may go for their first hair cut. So why not create a scrap book page to celebrate this event in a...
Medicare Is Missing The Obesity Target Pick Up The Pace joins thousands of other fitness professionals in congratulating the Department of Health & Human Services in finally taking a much more pro-ac...
Birth Control Pills 101- What You Absolutely Need To Know The alarming increase in the population because of the stationary birth rates and the ever lowering death rates of the countries brought about by the economical...
Myofascial Release "...Myofascial release is a tender mixture of stretches and massage techniques. A bodywork therapy whereby a therapist directs hands-on touch and maneuvers to t...
|