Winning Cover Letters

by Robin Ryan

Overview

"Robin Ryan is the hottest career expert in America today."
—Susan Cowden, TV anchor, NW Cable News

LAND YOUR DREAM JOB WITH THE PERFECT COVER LETTER

With the expert advice of Robin Ryan, one of America's top career coaches, thousands of job hunters have beaten the competition and landed their ideal jobs. Her innovative and simple step-by-step plan incorporates the results of an extensive, nationwide survey of hiring managers and human resources personnel to offer proven, world-class job hunting techniques and strategies.

You'll create powerful, attention-grabbing letters, avoid costly mistakes, and learn to sell yourself and your skills to the employers you want to work for. With Ryan's popular and highly effective Power Impact Technique(TM), you'll have employers hunting you. This newly updated Second Edition features even more Winning Cover Letters, examples of what not to do, and new chapters on using the Internet, marketing yourself, and much more:
* Fatal mistakes to avoid as viewed by human resources professionals who've seen it all
* World-class cover letters that landed interviews and jobs
* Exercises to help you assess your skills and accomplishments
* The writing technique selected by 96% of hiring managers as their preferred style
* A new, special section for top executives-including CEOs, presidents, and vice presidents
* New advice for those in the creative arts, new graduates, volunteers, and career changers
* Tips on writing target letters to catch the eye of the employers you want to work for


"This book is a major breakthrough,teaching you how to easily write effective cover letters that employers will respond to."
-Mark Tranter, founder, America4Hire

"By far, this is the best book ever written on writing cover letters."
-Sandy Dehan, HR Manager, Fortune 500 company

"My dream job called after I mailed my first cover letter. I landed the job and owe it all to Robin Ryan's effective techniques."
-Marianne Jones, client

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471263647
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	10/18/2002
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.99(w) x 10.04(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

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.

Read an Excerpt

Click to read or download

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 11

Chapter 1 A GREAT COVER LETTER IS A KEY ELEMENT IN LANDING THE PERFECT JOB 15

The Importance of Cover Letters 16

Our Hiring Managers’ Survey Results 17

Why Use The Power Impact Technique™? 18

Acknowledged Difficulties in Getting Employers’ Attention 19

A Guarantee 20

What’s Ahead 20

Chapter 2 COVER LETTER MISTAKES HIRING MANAGERS SAY TO AVOID 23

Mistakes You Should Not Make 25

1. Don’t Start Your Letter with: “I’m Applying for the Job I Saw in Sunday’s Newspaper” 25

2. General Letters Are Worthless 26

3. Do Not Ignore the Stated Criteria 27

4. Don’t Let Careless Errors Torpedo You 28

5. Clueless About My Company 29

6. Paying Little Attention to Format or Style 30

7. Sloppiness 31

8. Poor Salutations Start You Off on the Wrong Foot 32

9. Negatives Are a Major Turnoff 33

10. Just Wanting It Is Not Enough 34

11. Don’t Specify the Salary or Benefits Desired 35

12. Phone Etiquette Doesn’t Exist 36

13. The Meat’s In the Resumé 37

14. They Could Do My Job 37

15. Can’t Do the Job 38

16. Can’t Work the Hours Requested 39

17. Long Letters Are Losers 41

18. Unsubstantiated Bragging Backfires 41

19. Not Showing a True Interest 42

20. Don’t Expect the Employer to Find a Need for You to Fill 42

21. Using Buzz Words Can Backfire 43

22. Don’t Include the Employer’s Want Ad 43

23. Gimmicks Rarely Work 44

Bad Cover Letter Example 44

Summary 48

Chapter 3 THE POWER IMPACT TECHNIQUE™ 49

Success Stories 52

Summary 80

Chapter 4 MORE SUCCESSFUL COVER LETTERS 81

Proven Cover Letter Examples 82

High-Level Executive Cover Letters 95

Terrific Job Search Resources and Advice 106

Internal Promotions 107

Targeting Your Skills to Different Types of Organizations 109

Referral 113

Insider Information 117

Volunteer Experience/Reentry 119

New Graduates 122

Bachelor’s Degree 122

The MBA Challenge 124

Career Changing 129

Special Notice for Those in the Creative Arts 133

More Examples of The Power Impact Technique at Work 135

Salary History Requests 142

Summary 144

Chapter 5 WRITING YOUR COVER LETTERS 145

The Writing Technique 146

Paper, Printing, and Envelope Recommendations 155

Creating Your Marketing Package 156

Chapter 6 SPECIAL LETTERS THAT CRACK THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET 159

Prospect Letters 160

Highly Competitive Fields 166

Informational Interview Request 173

Chapter 7 WRITING SELF-MARKETING LETTERS 179

Prospect Letters 179

When You Have a Referral 183

Informational Interview Letters 186

Chapter 8 INTERNET, FAXING, SCANNING, AND E-MAILING 189

Faxing 196

Netiquette 199

Chapter 9 THANK-YOU LETTERS THAT CAN LAND YOU THE JOB 203

The Strategic Note 205

The In-Depth Letter 207

Chapter 10 THE ACCEPTANCE/EMPLOYMENT LETTER 215

Chapter 11 THE EASY TRACKING SYSTEM 219

Hot Leads 222

High-Impact Words and Phrases 222

Notable Abilities 224

Guidelines to Follow When You Have a Full-Time Job 225

Guidelines to Follow When You’re Not Working 226

Chapter 12 BE A SUCCESS STORY 227

MORE CAREER HELP AVAILABLE 231

Index 233

About Robin Ryan, Author, National Speaker, and Career Coach 239