Cover Letters

The thing about a cover letter is that it is assumed that it is not vitally important, and frankly many people do not read them, so some people skip them completely. My advice is that it is better to have one that is unread, than to skip it and have the reader looking for one... So first, it should be a simple letter that reads something like this:
Dear _____, ( make sure you put the right name here or "To Whom It May Concern" )
My name is _____ and I am responding to your recent advertisement in ___________ for a ___________. As you can see by my resume ( attached) my background, experience, and education are an excellent match for the opportunity, and I hope that you will take a moment and review my qualifications. My home is convenient to your location, so I would be open to an in-office interview the whenever you have some time on your schedule.
Sincerely
______

As you can see this is a very simple letter, but it gives you the chance to get many resumes to employers without having to author a new format with every resume you submit.

Introduction

My name is Mike Devlin, I am a recruiter with a boutique staffing firm in a suburb of Philadelphia, PA. This blog is designed to compliment my efforts at writing the Ultimate Job Search Guide for release on Amazon.com as an ebook this fall. In my research I have learned that 1 in 3 working people dislike their current job, and if you add that to the millions of unemployed and under employed in the US jobs marketplace, there are a great many people who could use some help. Given enough time the blog will cover most if not all of the points and lessons that are in my book, and it will be a place to report ' what not to do on your search'. So...

Mikes Rule: Resumes are supposed to be an accurate and true representation of your qualifications for a job. Make sure you run spell check, and also have a friend proofread it before you send it to the potential employer or you might get disqualified before they even examine your qualifications. Also make sure you name the resume something that identifies it as belonging to you. At least 1/3 of the resumes that cross my desk are word documents titled "Resume", or some other common phrase.