What Does Your Email Cover Letter Say About Your Job Search?

By Todd B Bavol

If you are searching for a job, chances are good you will be applying for a job online. That's not a problem and it can make the process that much easier for you to do. However, you need to do more than just hit the submit button. You also need to ensure your email cover letter is doing the job it is supposed to do in helping you to land the job interview. Is that possible? If you know what to include and how to do it, you'll have no problem getting exactly the results you need.

Know What the Employer Wants First

Before you submit an application, be sure you've read through the hiring manager's specific statements about what they want from you. Many will specifically request information to include in the cover letter and you do not want to overlook this. It's a good idea to reread the submission information before you apply.

Keep It Short and To the Point

This is not the place to list out your full job resume again. This is not a place to beg for a position or a job interview. Rather, keep it short and sweet. If you send a long email with too much content, no one will read it. If you keep it short and communicate the right way, they will read it.

Make it Easy to Read

So, how can you make your email cover letter easy to read? First, keep paragraphs you include short, with no more than two or three lines of test. Break up information with spaces so that it is easy to scan. It is also a good idea to include some basic highlights about who you are and why you are right for the job.

Be Sure They Know You Are a Good Match

There are many things you can do to ensure that this job search goes well. One of them is to tell your hiring manager that you are the right person for the position. Be sure to state why this is. It could be based on your job skills, experience, or other facts about you that make you a good overall fit.

It is a good idea to put some time into your email cover letter. Don't make it any less important than filling out a paper form cover letter. Customize it for the individual job position and be sure it conveys the message you want to send the hiring manager.

Todd Bavol is the President and CEO of Integrity Staffing Solutions. Integrity Staffing Solutions is a national staffing firm assisting individuals and corporations in making the right employment fit. To view job openings in Warehouse, Professional and Administrative positions, visit the Integrity Staffing Solutions web site at http://www.integritystaffing.com.

Resumes for Youth - It Isn't Only Adults Who Suffer From Unemployment Issues

By Lance Winslow

The other day, I met a very nice mom who'd relocated to help her daughter make it in show business in Los Angeles. The daughter is ultra-talented, a model, and an accomplished theater actress. In any case she has quite a little resume shaping up, and that's a good thing.

Still, what if your son or daughter doesn't have that level of talent, or a degree yet? How do you make a resume that is apropos to their unique situation - that is to say very little work experience, but hard-working smart, talented, and a go getter nevertheless - indeed, exactly what every business needs. Okay so, let's talk because I read something somewhat troubling the other day.

The Huffington Post had an interesting piece recently titled; "Kids Count Youth And Work Report: Number Of Young Adults Out Of School, Work Hits Half-Century High," by Emmeline Zhao published on December 2, 2012 which stated in the first paragraph;

"Nearly 6.5 million U.S. teens and young adults are neither in school nor working, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The report warns of a future of chronic unemployment due to a continuing failure to educate and train America's youth in needed skills."

You see, as a former employer, I didn't always look for degrees, and some experience was often better to me than years in the industry, perhaps using some other company's methodology, usually an inferior competitor. Rather, what I wanted was someone who was trainable, talented, and hard-working. So, how do you write that on a resume? Well, the reality is that you simply state it as fact, providing it is true and correct of course.

Hard work ethic, high-energy, and a willingness to learn and do what it takes to progress are all bonuses of youth. Those are pretty high up on my list as important attributes so don't sell your resume short - if you have those qualities - you are needed, wanted, and even preferably desired by an array of employers.

So, what I am saying is this, even though younger adults, teens, and even kids are hurting by percentage worse than all the other age groups looking for work - that doesn't mean you need to join that statistic. These companies need new blood, and the energy of youth. They know it, and you may as well too. Sure the competition is great, just as the mom and daughter who've come to Los Angeles to make it in Hollywood, but they aren't giving up, nor should you. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative eBook on Career Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net