How to Write a Great Cover Letter, Necessary or Not

How to Write a Great Cover Letter, Necessary or Not How to Write a Great Cover Letter, Necessary or Not Are cover letters actually necessary?Applicants dont know. Recruiters dont care. And hiring managers? Well, theyseem to be divided on the issue.But lets assume for a moment that you should, forany position towhich you are applying, include a cover letter. If that letter is read by your future boss, what should it say?For starters, it shouldnt look anything likethese three scary examples from David Silverman over at Harvard Business ReviewThe recap The resume in prose gestalt. Its redundant, harder to read than the resume, and provides no additional insight.The form letter This says, essentially, Dear Sir or Madam I saw your ad in the paper and thought you might like me. And its clearly a form letter where maybe they got my name and company right. If theyre lucky, I will still take the time to read their resume after being insulted with a form letter.The Im crazy This ones rare, a nd it expands on the resume of experience with some personal insights. Examples range from the merely batty (I find batik as an art form has taught me to become both a better person and project manager) to the truly terrifying (I cast a pentagram hex and the central line pointed towards your job listing. I know you will find this as comforting as I do.)There is a 17 percent chance a hiring manager will read your cover letter. With one minute and one page, a candidate can make or break their chances of landing the job. Heres how to aceyour cover letter, in case the hiring manager decides to read itKeep It ShortCover letters should take no longer than a minute to read. Dont write a story. The hiring manager doesnt care about your childhood dreams or the death of the family dog.Leaders are busy people dont burden them with wordy cover letters. Many applicants think that if they write long cover lettersor use a lot of $10 master of business administration words, a leader will be impress ed. They wont. If there is a shorter way to write it, do it.As for what youshould include a personalized greeting (To Whom It May Concern is gross), your professional skills, and why you are a good fit for the company. If there is room, point out why the company is a good fit for your dreams. As the head of an agency that works exclusively with HR technology, Id like to know if thats something that my applicants actually care about.Do What I SayFollow tradition and directions. Paper copies andWord documents aretraditional, but email is far more popular in todays marketplace. If someone sent me a paper resume, Id know immediately that they werent a fit for Red Branch Media. Conversely, someone who sees my job posting and applies solely via Facebook instead of my career site is elend going to be considered either.Read the application to see whether the hiring manager prefers an email cover letter or some otherform. Leaders notice if a candidate doesnt follow directions. The result a q uick rejection.Pay AttentionHiring managers look for reasons to disqualify applicants quickly. They receive a lot of applications (an average of 250 resumes for every corporate opening), and they cant possibly give them all the same amount of attention. So, they try to knock candidates out of the running as soonas they can.Phrases like the aforementioned to whom it may concern and the reason I left are ways candidates eliminate themselves from the race. HR departments in large companiesdont have time for candidates who dont at least personalize the salutation.As Ash Arnett of musicians PR firm PARTICULAR explained to Smashing Magazine, We trash generic inquiries (i.e. form letters) automatically. If you dont care to put in a little effort to tailor your communication to my company I sure dont care to read it.ProofreadTypos, like generic statements, will automatically disqualify you from the candidate pool. Seventy-six percent of hiring managers will not look beyond the cover letter if they find typos or grammatical errors. These red flags lead the hiring manager to think the candidate does not pay attention to detail or simply didnt care enough to edit. Neither of those aresought-after qualities in an employee.Give It a LittlePersonalityA well-written cover letter gives yourresume some context. Leaders want clear and concise language. They want to know why a particular candidate wants to work for the company and why they are a good fit for the position.Janet Albert of executive search firm Bridge Partners says, The best cover letterslet a bit of personality shine through, without being over the top but you really want to stick with how your experience lends itself to the job youre applying for.Cover letters open the door for candidates. Leaders want to see thoughtfully written cover letters. This means covering all the bases as seen above while remembering that despite all your hard work, a leader may never take the time to read your letter. However, the one s who dowill be very impressedA version of this article originally appeared on TalentCulture.Maren Hogan is thechief marketing brain atRed Branch Media.Master the art of closing deals and making placements. Take our Recruiter Certification Program today. Were SHRM certified. Learn at your own pace during this 12-week program. Access over 20 courses. Great for those who want to break into recruiting, or recruiters who want to further their career.

End of Summer Blues Candy Corn to the Rescue

End of Summer Blues Candy Corn to the RescueEnd of Summer Blues? Candy Corn to the RescueEnd of Summer Blues Candy Corn to the RescueMonday was Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer. And were all feeling a renewed sense of optimism about the job market, right? If not, cheer up The first candy corn of the season is out, and we all know there aint nothin funniern placing two candy corn kernels over your front teeth and flashing a big yellow smile around the office. Alas, if youre one of those who doesnt find that as amusing as I do, perhaps these humorous job-related sayings will help bring a smile (albeit not a big yellow-toothed smile) to your face as you work on your resumes, cover letters, and interview techniquesNapping at WorkResearchers at Harvard say that taking a power nap for an hour in the afternoon can totally refresh you. They say that by the time you wake up youll feel so good, youll be able to start looking for a new job.Jay LenoBusiness ClothesYour geschftlicher umgan g clothes are naturally attracted to staining liquids. This attraction is strongest just before an important meeting. Scott Adams (Dilbert)Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes. Henry David ThoreauThe Law of the AlibiIf you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.Author UnknownNot Liking Your JobIf you dont like your job you dont strike. You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. Thats the American way. Homer SimpsonOh, you hate your job? Why didnt you say so? Theres a support group for that. Its called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar. Drew CareyDates vs. Job InterviewsA date is a job interview that lasts all night. The only difference between a date and a job interview is that there are not many job interviews where theres a chance youll end up naked at the end of it. Jerry SeinfeldHope you enjoyed those. Oh, by the way, it may be a bad idea to do the yellow candy-corn teeth thing in a job interview. (Just thought Id mention that.)

5 people with a commute that is stranger than yours

5 people with a commute that is stranger than yours5 people with a commute that is stranger than yoursNo matter if you buckle up and drive, grin-and-bear-it on public transport or hop on your bike to battle traffic on two wheels - the commute is a necessary evil for nearly professional.Its estimated we spend 8% of our workdays in the process of getting to and from work, depending, of course, on how far you have to trek. Thats a considerable amount of time over decades of working - but plenty of us forget what an impact it can have on our wertzuwachs and psyche.As the way we begin and end our day-to-day, our commutes have the ability to set our tone, perspective, and mindset. So when its over-the-top stressful and exhausting? It can take the air out of your tires, majorly.Thats why some people have dramatically transformed their commutes, all in an effort to make it more enjoyable, less-congested and well, not as temper-inducing. Shouting profanities before 9 a.m. likely wont reap y ou the best perspective when you hop on your first client call of the day, after all.From paddleboarding to paragliding and more, let these true stories of wacky commutes propel you to reconsider on youll get to work tomorrowPaddleboardingOverloaded highways, hot, sticky traffic jams in high heat and plenty of pollution in Miami inspired Parker Lake to shake things up. Or rather, splash things up He quit his job, traktement his car, found a home on the Little River, and decided to make his paddleboard his new mode of transportation. Today, he works two jobs (including a tour guide at Paddle Miami Watersports) and has lost 45 pounds.Sometimes he has to paddle three miles, and other days, its 12 miles to his gig as a security guard at Eden Roc Hotel. It doesnt matter to him though since he says the switch has made him happier, healthier and well, braver considering he once spotted a hammerhead shark on his way to clock in.ParaglidingWhile on vacation in Alicante, Spain, Paul Cox disco vered a newfound love for paragliding that would become more than just a thrill, but a solution. As a Royal Navy overseer, he was accustomed to brave feats, prompting him to create an extreme sports commute by flying his way to work.Whenever the weather allows, he makes the 10-mile journey from his back garden in North Wales to Holyhead Boatyard, helping him to soar into his workday with a clear head - and far less stress.RowingSeveral years ago, Gabriel Horchler had an epiphany Most of his commute in Washington D.C., to his gig as the head of cataloging at the Library of Congress, ran along the Anacostia River. So, in theory, he could spend time stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, or he could row - a pastime hed always enjoyed.Once he gave this 90-minute commute a go, he was hooked and continues to row his way to the office, well into his 70s. To begin, he bikes to a park, hops on his rowing shell, docks it at a nearby community marina and then takes his second bike to the office. UnicyclingIf youve ever spent time in New York City, you know how crazy and unpredictable the metro system can be - no matter the time of year. Now consider this when its rush hour, it can be double the chaos and delays. To avoid the stench and the stress of the MTA, Benjamin Kieffer channeled his inner performer to get to his gig in midtown Manhattan.Inspired by circus school classes he signed up for, he wondered, why not unicycle to work? While his commute used to be something he dreads, these days, its one of his favorite parts of the morning.FlightWhat if flying from another city could actually be cheaper than getting to work from the outer boroughs of your current metropolitan? For social media manager Sam Cookney, this was just the case, prompting him to reconsider his location. After calculating the numbers, he realized living, working and commuting in London was more expensive than taking a daily early morning flight from Barcelona. By how much? Nearly $900.So he moved to t he heart of this Spanish city, where he catches a flight that gets him to his desk in London by 930 a.m. Though it takes 5-and-a-half hours each way, he usually uses the time to nap, and is able to work from home one day a week. In addition to saving on monthly expenses, hes definitely racking up those travel points, too.

Learn the Basics in the Art of Selling

Learn the Basics in the Art of SellingLearn the Basics in the Art of SellingSelling is an art. But unlike many other art forms, the art of schlussverkauf is something that most can learn. This doesnt mean that everyone can be good at sales, however. Many people new to sales are tempted to jump right into learning how to close a deal instead of learning the foundations of sales. Customers Are Priority One For a sales job to be a sales job, you will be expected to sell something. Whether you are expected to sell a tangible product or a service, you will always sell to a customer. Knowing that the foundation of sales begins with the simple yet powerful rule that your customers are your first and primary priority. While you will have to meet the expectations of your employer and sales manager, never let your focus to your customer weaken. If you start every work day by asking yourself how you can improve the service you provide to your customers, you will be well on your way to a lon g and successful career in sales. Sales is a Numbers Game Activity is a key to sales success. In general, the more prospects you talk with, the more likely it is that you will find someone who is ready to buy what you are selling. When rookie salespeople begin their careers, their sales skills are often raw and rough around the edges. To compensate for their less than fully developed skills, most sales managers will have very clear activity level expectations. Those new to sales should focus on not only packing in as much activity into each working day as possible but also to learn from their activities. Doing 100 cold calls in a day is impressive but possibly useless if your cold calling method produces no results. If you learn from your cold calling mistakes while improving on your cold calling successes, your activities will produce better and better results. Make Time for Training Sports and sales are very similar. Both athletes and professionals seek the thrill of victo ry, suffer through losses and need to train every day. What would happen if a professional athlete decided to skip training for a few days? If the training days skipped fell during the off-season, missing a few days would probably do more good than bad. But heres the thing In sales, there is no offseason. Sales professionals dont just sell on Sundays during Fall and Winter. They need to have their sales hats on every working day. An opportunity can come out of nowhere, anyplace and anytime. If you had been slack on your training for a few days or weeks, the opportunity that you werent expecting wouldnt be an opportunity for long. If, however, you devoted at least 15 minutes every day to improving your sales skills, youll always be ready to turn an opportunity into a sale. Spend Time With Veterans One of the most effective and quickest ways for a rookie sales professional to learn the finer art of sales is by modeling. Before you start practicing your runway walk, understand that modeling means to learn from someone successful. The formula is fairly simple If you do what someone successful does, youll be successful as well. Many would argue that if success were as easy as doing what successful people do then everyone would be successful. The truth is, however, that successful people do what unsuccessful people dont want to do. Their commitment to doing what is difficult, boring, challenging, hard and un-fun is what makes the successful, successful. The day after you start your new job, you need to find out who is the top sales professional in your company and ask him if you can take him to lunch. During lunch, ask him what made him successful and if he would be willing to meet with you on a weekly basis to mentor you. Most successful sales professionals are very busy but are also usually willing to help others earn success. Having a mentor from whom you can learn from and who is willing to point out your strengths and weaknesses is probably one of the great est secrets to success that any professional should learn about.

Why I Work Like a Millennial

Why I Work Like a MillennialWhy I Work Like a MillennialThe term millennial is mora than a buzz word its a complete culture. Millennials are changing the way things are done, fruchtwein notably the way we work. As the largest fraction of the U. S. workforce, its surprising to see companies resisting the profound impact of millennials. As they continue to change the workforce, here are a few reasons for why these changes are for the betterMillennials Made It More Productive to Work from Home Millennials understand that with all the technology we have, being in the amtsstube is not always necessary. Ive scheduled tweets through my phone. Ive used Facebooks apps to conduct full-on marketing campaigns while waiting for a movie to start. Ive booked interviews in an emaille exchange while on a train. Ive written blogs from hotel rooms across America the same types of blogs Ive written in the office. And if I could have had job interviews over Skype, Im pretty sure I can attend meetings ov er FaceTime. Technology has made the office anywhere you want it to be. However, many employers are hesitant to adapt to this change.I worked for the City where there was a strict policy against working from home they even invested millions on a program to track peoples work hours (it was called CityTime and it cost millions more when you factor in the corruption countless news sources have reported around the program). You had to clock in and clock out and it created a 9 to 5 culture that becomes a productivity killer. Now, think of how much money would be saved by employers if job performance wasnt measured by hours worked, but by how much you did during your work day. What a concept.If I can work from home, I will go above and beyond for my employer, and I have. I feel accountable for my work, but sometimes something happens in the day that takes me away from my computer. I dont want to lose the perk of working from home, so if I had to step away from 12 to 2 in the afternoon, I will more than likely work an extra three hours at night to make sure the work got done. And sometimes, when there are no office distractions, more work can be accomplished during those three hours.Millennials Make Work More Efficient At my last job, I used to joke that we would have meetings to prepare for our meetings. It made no sense that with the availability of email, chat, even workplace social media programs like Yammer, meetings are leise considered a necessity. In todays fast-paced environment, efficiency is key and anyone who has been in a meeting that begins with unnecessary banter, devolves into a contest of one-upmanship, and ends with the decision to schedule a follow-up meeting, knows that meetings can be extremely inefficient.Lets break it down further. There are 10 people in a room discussing a topic, but only one part is really talking at a time. When that person is talking, the other 9 people are sitting there listeningmany of them waiting for what is being said to apply directly to their function. In turn, those 9 people are not working. In many cases, they are only half-listening. But if there are 10 people on an email chain or using a collaborative work program, the email chain might take a little longer to conclude, but people are working at the same time the topic is being discussed. In addition, when work is conducted over email and a written record is created, the information is all there and can be easily searched if someone forgets something.Millennials are Eliminating Corporate Hierarchies and Making Work Fun A former employer did not like that I was friendly with people on all levels, from the woman who cleaned our offices to the secretaries and even top executives. Although it is important to remember your role in a company, being friendly coerces cooperation and teamwork. Heres a quick example My supervisor approved my request to have two computer screens so I can work faster using social media. She also approved my request to ask that I trade in my outdated Blackberry for a smartphone with better social media capabilities. Once I had both my requests fulfilled, she was shocked that I had better equipment than her. She hadnt realized that I was friends with the IT department (I even joined a basketball league with one of its team members) and they worked quickly to meet my needs.Millennials do not care about titles, statuses or salaries. They just want to get the job done in the most efficient way possible and they want to do so as part of a team. They enjoy the collaborative environment and know that the team is made up of people on all levels. They also want to work for a company that has a great culture because that usually leads to enjoying where you work. If that morning coffee with the cleaning lady makes a valued employee enjoy working for your company, why not make that extra effort? And when people buy donuts, go out to lunch with staff, pass cards around for birthdays or other celebrations, its not goofing off, its building a team a team of people who care about where they work and want to see their company succeed.Millennials Understand the Value of Experience Over Education I will never forget when a former boss was looking for an executive assistant and disqualified a bunch of people because she didnt like their education. She completely ignored the rest of their resume. She hired the person she wanted and that person quit six months later because she got a better job that she felt was more in line with her degree. The hiring process started all over again, which cost the company money, and all because she had pre-conceived notions about people based on their education. I was completely unsure why she had even hired me.Im a kid from the Bronx who learned just as much hanging out in Morris Park as I did in the classroom. I grew up broke, working at a Carvel to pay my college education, but when I graduated, I did not have student debt and Im doing pretty well for myself . I credit my work ethic to my achievements on the basketball court. I would lose to the same person over and over and all it did was make me work that much harder until I was able to beat that person consistently so that there was no doubt who the better player was. I take the same approach at work. I pay attention to the staff member everyone thinks works hardest and then do all I can to hustle harder than them. And, having to overcome more obstacles than those who were considered better educated than myself, I have become well adept at employing outside-the-box thinking to achieve results.I like to hire people who offer the same work ethic. When I was working at my last job and was interviewing candidates for a Deputy Director of Public Affairs, I ignored the robots who checked off all the right buttons during the interview and went with someone who offered compelling, unscripted examples of the work she performed for previous employers. Startups, predominantly made up of millenn ials, take the same approach. Unlike bigger companies that filter resumes based on education, startups are looking at your results and see more value in what you have achieved than the classes you took.We are growing in a new world. Its time to stop fighting the future and accept that millennials are singlehandedly taking the workforce to a new level. You cant fight change, but you can get left behind in its dust if you dont embrace it.Follow me on Twitter. Follow Vault on Twitter and Instagram. Read MoreFive Tips for Finding Freelance WorkHow to Effectively Use Social Media To Develop Your BrandThe Real Signs Its Time To Quit Your Job

The Most Overlooked Answer for Computer Programs for Resume

The Most Overlooked Answer for Computer Programs for Resume Computer Programs for Resume Help So maybe you truly want to observe some resumes. Resumes could be organized in various ways. The placement of your skills section is also a rather important issue to contemplate. If you are a newcomer to the computer programming business, the experience section of your resume should list any employment opportunities youve had in the past couple of years. The very best additional skills for resume writing are the ones that are associated with the job. Your best strategy is to tailor your resume to every parteicular job which youre applying to. Each job will call for various abilities and experiences, so make certain you read the work description carefully and concentrate on the appropriate job skills listed by the employer. It also enables you to easily build in the particular skillset for each work application. If youve read through the work description, and youve realized you dont ha ve a number of the core competencies to be able to do the job, this is the moment where you truly consider if youre capable of doing the job. If a work description contains any of the next skills, be sure you add them to your resume. You dont have the fundamental computer skills you want to acquire the job that you desire. You probably have the proper computer abilities. There are quite a few other computer skills, however, that are normally used across all industries which are important for fruchtwein job applicants to know. This computer skills are astoundingly valuable at this time across a wide selection of industrieswhich means having them on your resume will cause you to be a more attractive job candidate. Top Computer Programs for Resume Secrets If youre asking for an administrative position, you will need to be well-versed in using Office programs for your day-to-day tasks. During your initial semesters at UW-Stout, youre enroll in a mixture of general education and si gnificant core courses including calculus and computer science. You might also want to practice navigating the most frequent features of these applications. Examples are supplied for each main hardware system and several individual components, together with instructions specific to laptop computers and cellular devices.Hardware skills permit you to physically operate a computer. Additionally, it is going to help you show off your very best PC skills easily You may often find both systems on computers at your community library, though you might also be in a position to learn on the work too. For every kind of computer programs, there exist quite several versions since some computer systems can only work with a particular type of computer program. Your skills section stipulates a window into how much capability you are able to bring to the provider. Make sure to be aware that you understand how to use common development programs, and describe your degree of skill. Soft abilit ies, on the flip side, arent simple to quantify. On the flip side, soft abilities, also called interpersonal or social abilities, are those which you have as personal qualities or you get through professional experiences. If youre able to do that, an employer will surely notice. For instance, a computer programmer with one professional role whos searching for advancement ought to have a one-page resume. Personal computing has turned into a fundamental part of life in the 21st century, and computer programs are written for just about any sort of activity. New Ideas Into Computer Programs for Resume Never Before Revealed An excellent on-line media director should not merely understand what things to blog about, but should also know which blogging platform best suits the providers needs and the way to link the blog to the organizations various social networking accounts. The web is another reason people use computers, and an assortment of computer programs facilitate various kinds of Internet usage. The program is web-based instead of downloadable, and the range of features, along with the websites connectivity and convenience, are difficult to beat. Without it, many wouldnt be in a position to access all the programs that we need so its worthy of a place on the list.

3 Skills to Look for in Hospitality Employees - Spark Hire

3 Skills to Look for in Hospitality Employees - Spark HireIf youve ever held a job in the hospitality industry, then you know its not an easy job. You must juggle many different things at once, all while wearing a smile on your face and staying pleasant.It takes a special kind of talent to work and be successful in the hospitality industry, which means managers must be extra cautious in their hiring process. There are three key items that should be looked at when interviewing talent in hospitality.1. CommunicationWhen working in hospitality, your employees must have clear communication skills. Oftentimes, employees will need to speak with customers or guests, providing instructions, directions, or simply telling them how much they owe on a bill. If your employee is unable to clearly communicate and be understood, your customers will quickly become frustrated. The brde thing you want is a frustrated customer or a customer who wrote down incorrect directions due to miscommunication.2. AttitudeEmployees in hospitality must have a cheerful disposition, even on bad days and in difficult situations. When disaster strikes, your employee needs to be calm and positive. Many times your employee will be faced with negative or awkward situations and they must smile and stay calm. There is no room for short tempers or rude attitudes in the hospitality industry.3. JugglerHospitality employees must not only communicate clearly with a smile on their face, but they must be able to do these things while also juggling many other tasks. Answering phones, dealing with customers face to face, and responding to customers online are just several of the many tasks hospitality employees may find themselves juggling at any given time. Multi-tasking is key in this industry, as well as speed and accuracy. Being able to juggle many things at once, quickly and accurately is an important skill that must not be overlooked.How do you interview for these skills?You will want to schedule multiple interviews so that you can observe actions and personality outside of that first interview. Planning to have follow up interviews in a different schauplatz is one way to see the candidate in a more relaxed atmosphere, which tends to bring out their true personality. This could be as simple as a coffee shop or a lunch meeting. Observe how the candidate acts towards the waiter. Pay attention to attitude and communication.You can also check for these skills through references. Make sure you speak with 2 to 3 previous managers or supervisors that the candidate reported to in the past. Ask questions surrounding the candidates ability to handle difficult situations, manage multiple tasks at once, and their communication skills.By ensuring your interview process is thorough and focused around these 3 key skills, you will have a better chance at hiring a successful hospitality employee.What are some traits you look for in hospitality employees? Please share your tips below.Image fotorobs/B igstock.com