Winning Cover Letters

ROBIN RYAN is the bestselling author of 60 Seconds & You re Hired!, Winning Resumes, and What to Do with the Rest of Your Life. She has appeared on 700 TV and radio shows, including NBC Nightly News and Oprah, as well as in most major magazines and newspapers, including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Money, and BusinessWeek. She has also been a Seattle Times career columnist for nearly six years.

• Acknowledgments 11Chapter 1 A GREAT COVER LETTER IS A KEY ELEMENT IN LANDING THE PERFECT JOB 15The Importance of Cover Letters 16Our Hiring Managers’ Survey Results 17Why Use The Power Impact Technique™? 18Acknowledged Difficulties in Getting Employers’ Attention 19A Guarantee 20What’s Ahead 20Chapter 2 COVER LETTER MISTAKES HIRING MANAGERS SAY TO AVOID 23Mistakes You Should Not Make 251. Don’t Start Your Letter with: “I’m Applying for the Job I Saw in Sunday’s Newspaper” 252. General Letters Are Worthless 263. Do Not Ignore the Stated Criteria 274. Don’t Let Careless Errors Torpedo You 285. Clueless About My Company 296. Paying Little Attention to Format or Style 307. Sloppiness 318. Poor Salutations Start You Off on the Wrong Foot 329. Negatives Are a Major Turnoff 3310. Just Wanting It Is Not Enough 3411. Don’t Specify the Salary or Benefits Desired 3512. Phone Etiquette Doesn’t Exist 3613. The Meat’s In the Resumé 3714. They Could Do My Job 3715. Can’t Do the Job 3816. Can’t Work the Hours Requested 3917. Long Letters Are Losers 4118. Unsubstantiated Bragging Backfires 4119. Not Showing a True Interest 4220. Don’t Expect the Employer to Find a Need for You to Fill 4221. Using Buzz Words Can Backfire 4322. Don’t Include the Employer’s Want Ad 4323. Gimmicks Rarely Work 44Bad Cover Letter Example 44Summary 48Chapter 3 THE POWER IMPACT TECHNIQUE™ 49Success Stories 52Summary 80Chapter 4 MORE SUCCESSFUL COVER LETTERS 81Proven Cover Letter Examples 82High-Level Executive Cover Letters 95Terrific Job Search Resources and Advice 106Internal Promotions 107Targeting Your Skills to Different Types of Organizations 109Referral 113Insider Information 117Volunteer Experience/Reentry 119New Graduates 122Bachelor’s Degree 122The MBA Challenge 124Career Changing 129Special Notice for Those in the Creative Arts 133More Examples of The Power Impact Technique at Work 135Salary History Requests 142Summary 144Chapter 5 WRITING YOUR COVER LETTERS 145The Writing Technique 146Paper, Printing, and Envelope Recommendations 155Creating Your Marketing Package 156Chapter 6 SPECIAL LETTERS THAT CRACK THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET 159Prospect Letters 160Highly Competitive Fields 166Informational Interview Request 173Chapter 7 WRITING SELF-MARKETING LETTERS 179Prospect Letters 179When You Have a Referral 183Informational Interview Letters 186Chapter 8 INTERNET, FAXING, SCANNING, AND E-MAILING 189Faxing 196Netiquette 199Chapter 9 THANK-YOU LETTERS THAT CAN LAND YOU THE JOB 203The Strategic Note 205The In-Depth Letter 207Chapter 10 THE ACCEPTANCE/EMPLOYMENT LETTER 215Chapter 11 THE EASY TRACKING SYSTEM 219Hot Leads 222High-Impact Words and Phrases 222Notable Abilities 224Guidelines to Follow When You Have a Full-Time Job 225Guidelines to Follow When You’re Not Working 226Chapter 12 BE A SUCCESS STORY 227MORE CAREER HELP AVAILABLE 231Index 233About Robin Ryan, Author, National Speaker, and Career Coach 239