The number of resumes received by employers continues to be
overwhelming as the job market begins to pick up this year.
The challenge for you, as a job seeker, is to get your
cover letter/resume noticed - to stand out from the crowd.
More and more candidates are using a cover letter/resume
that demonstrates the "match" between the employer's
requirements (Your Needs) and the skills and experience
that they have to offer (My Qualifications).
An example of this type of cover letter/resume is shown
below. For some candidates this can be a very effective
tool.
Your Needs - Marketing Experience
My Qualifications:
*5 plus years as a marketing consultant.
*Significant consumer-oriented technology marketing in the
retail industry.
Your Needs - Product Management experience
My Qualifications:
*Led product marketing efforts for an online store.
*Spearheaded product management efforts for major retail
chain as a product manager.
Your Needs - Analytical abilities
My Qualifications:
*Excellent qualitative and quantitative marketing analysis
with high impact results.
Your Needs - Interpersonal Skills
My Qualifications:
Leadership qualities with the ability to lead projects and
teams to highly successful outcomes.
Ability to communicate through presentations to all levels
of management. Strong ability to influence others.
The more technically able you are the more creative you can
be with boxes and grids.
Even if you decide not to use this type of document, this
exercise will help you familiarize yourself with how close
a match you are for the position you are applying for. A
few steps will make it an easy task that can serve you well
in the long run.
Begin by reading the ads/postings carefully. Notice that
there are some of the same words included in every ad for
your type of job. An example would be ads for an Executive
Secretary where the word "confidentiality" appears
consistently. If you were applying for that particular
position you would want to include the word "confidential"
in your resume and cover letter and show how you have used
that skill in past jobs. These words are called the "key
factors" or the "key competencies" required to do the job.
(Your Needs) By reading job postings carefully and looking
for the words that are repeated or stand out as being the
most important factors to perform the job you will become
familiar with the company or industry jargon used and what
skills are being sought for the type of jobs you are
seeking.
Practice identifying key factors in job postings or ads
that are of interest to you. Go through postings or ads and
use a highlighter to mark words as you read. What are the
common words used in almost every description? What they
are looking for? What are the qualifications listed? How do
your skills match up against their requirements? Make a
list of the key words and requirements to use in your cover
letter/resume.
Next, make a template for your new cover letter/resume. On
one side of the template type in "Your Needs." On the other
side type "My Qualifications." Use this template to write
an individual document for each job you apply for matching
what they are looking for against what you have to offer.
Be sure that your resume is as close a match as possible to
the posting/ad that you are responding to.
As is the case with any cover letter or resume style it
will depend on your resume reader as to how effective this
style will be. Some resume readers like it because it "cuts
to the chase." Others don't like it because it is too
simplistic. If you are not experiencing the results that
you were hoping for and need a new angle to get "your foot
in the door" this may be the ticket for you. Who knows you
just might get a surprise with a quick response? Anything
is worth trying in this very competitive market.
----------------------------------------------------
Carole Martin, America's #1 Interview Expert and Coach, can
give you interviewing tips like no one else can. Get a copy
of her FREE 9-part "Interview Success Tips" report by
visiting Carole on the web at http://www.interviewcoach.com
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