Connecting Your Résumé and Cover Letter

2012-06-08
From: MSN Careers
You thought your reacutesumeacute was flawless when you sent it to employers. And you expected big results. Instead, youve had no interviews and no clue as to why youre bombing in the job search.

Sure your reacutesumeacute is perfect, but did you give your cover letters the same care? If your job search is going nowhere, theres a good chance you didnt.

Youre not the only one to make the mistake. Too often job seekers focus all their time and energy developing their reacutesumeacute and hastily write a cover letter to accompany it. Savvy job seekers, however, know that a reacutesumeacute is only as good as its cover letter. In fact, 60 percent of executives believe a cover letter is either as important as or more critical than a reacutesumeacute, according to a nationwide survey by Accountemps.

To land a job in todays competitive job market, you must know how to write an eye-catching cover letter. You must also know how to use a reacutesumeacute and cover letter together to sell yourself to employers and recruiters.

Your reacutesumeacute and cover letter should work together in presenting you effectively to a prospective employer. The cover letter should draw attention to the most important information in the reacutesumeacutemdashthe information you want the reader to be certain to see, says David Noble, Ph.D., author of Gallery of Best Cover Letters, Third Edition (JIST 2007).

Noble offers the following five tips for connecting a cover letter to a reacutesumeacute:
bullIf the intended reader of your reacutesumeacute suggested that you send it, or if you have recently spoken with the person, say this in the first sentence of the cover letter.

bullIf someone else suggested you submit your reacutesumeacute to the reader, mention that at or near the beginning of the cover letter.

bullInclude important information in a cover letter for which there is no room in the reacutesumeacute.

bullThink of the cover letter as a hook for your reacutesumeacute. For example, your letter might refer specifically to the most important part of your reacutesumeacute.

bullCreate a text or PDF version of your cover letter and reacutesumeacute so that they can be customized as needed. Also, e-mail them in response to online ads or post them to online job databases.

While complementing one another, your reacutesumeacute and cover letter should present two essential things all employers look for in candidates, Noble says. Remember, reacutesumeacutes should show that you can do the work required, while your cover letter should show that you want to do the work required.

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