Recently I was asked to put together a cover letter for a customer. “Can you please supply the contact details and address of the employer?” I emailed.
The reply came back shortly thereafter: “None - it’s a general cover letter I’ll send to everyone.”
Ulp.
It got me thinking. My first response is pretty simple, and strong: generic = wrong. I know in my years running a graphic design consultancy, I intensely disliked receiving letters begging for work addressed to ‘To Whom It May Concern’. I mean, if you can’t spend 5 minutes online or on the phone to find out who I am or what my company is about, what makes you think you’re right for my business?
Moreover, what does this say to ME about YOU? For me, it says you’re the opposite of the kind of person I’d like to work with: it says you cut corners, lack initiative, and might even be downright lazy.
But then I wondered - is this just my own stubborn belief, or do employers really think the same thing? So I’m going on a wee mission to find out. I’m going to talk to my usual suspects and find out what THEY think of the generic cover letter.
As of now, I’m sticking with my original opinion: if you can possibly avoid it, DO NOT send out generic cover letters. Take the time to call HR for a name and address. Look online. Do what you can to get specific.
And check back in a couple of weeks to see the survey results. Meanwhile, happy job hunting!
>> Kristin
April 17th, 2009
Well, I was going to try for a whole year between posts, but things being what they are…I couldn’t help myself.
Since my last post, I’ve had a baby, made approximately 2 gigalitres of baby food, changed 4.1 million nappies, recreated and rebalanced our household budget, and played My Little Pony far too many times with my 4-yr old. That’s a whole lot of activity….but does any of it translate onto a resume?
That is the question. Whether tis nobler to skip reasons for an ‘absence’ from the workplace, or suffer the slings and arrows of prospective employers raising their eyebrows….William Shakespeare notwithstanding (one wonders if The Bard himself ever had a spot of non-work to account for), it bears pondering.
Look, no one wants to hear more verbage about the financial crisis, but I can’t ignore the fact that in an uncertain time, there’s a good chance that those who have been on the sidelines are probably warming up to get back into the employment game.
If you’re new or returning to the playing field, here are a few hints:
1) Absences. The general rule of thumb is NOT to mention a period away from employment in your resume. If you feel that the year you took off to travel the world, care for a relative, have a baby, or simply ‘find yourself’ needs to be addressed, do so in your cover letter.
2) Rookies. There are lots of young people - and some older, too - who probably don’t have very many jobs (if any!) to fatten out their Work Histories….like Jessica, who recently emailed with just this problem. One suggestion: look at the specific classes you’ve taken, and include them (rather than simply saying ‘graduated from High School, 2008.’) More on this in my next blog.
3) Comeback Kids. If you’ve spent years lost in the land of My Little Pony as you raise your kids, renovating your resume might feel downright depressing. How can you possibly explain a 1, 2 or 10 year gap to raise kids? Look carefully at your time away from the office, and think laterally. Did you help in your kids’ classes/tuck shop? Were you part of any committees at school? Did you replan your household budget when the global crisis hit (as I did)?
These seemingly non-jobby activities contain valuable skills/activities within. Delve deep to find a few gems to add to your resume. Basic accounting/financial planning/working within a budget are valuable skills, as are operating a till/ordering stock (for those who helped in tuck shop) and working well within a team/leading a team (school committees). And none of these things would look like a stretch on a resume. In fact, they’re all the same sorts of skills a currently employed person might list.
Ok, so maybe some things, like playing My Little Pony, will just have to stay off your resume. But Researching, Planning and Leading Age-Appropriate Enrichment Activities might.
Happy job hunting!
–> Kristin
March 27th, 2009
I was talking to my friend B the other day. Her builder husband has been off work with a broken arm (ok, it’s really a smashed arm, but let’s not go there…) for almost a year - it’s kind of hard to build with just one arm - and he’s just starting to think about applying for jobs instead of working for himself. The last year had been pretty brutal for them: a new baby, B off on maternity leave, and then he had to stop working. Money’s been tight, and they’re all feeling the crunch.
I was really happy to help him rewrite his resume, and we did a superb job promoting his strengths and skills. The end result looks - and is - great.
But after we created this excellent high-achieving resume, B tells me that he’s looking at maintenance positions. “He’s just so desperate to get something that he’s thinking of applying for anything,” she said. “But I told him ‘there’s no use applying for a crappy job that you’re going to hate within a week. You should aim higher - look hard for that great job that you’ll be good at and want to do for the long term.’”
Words of wisdom! I don’t think the message is to hold out for the ‘perfect position’ - not at all, in fact. It’s more like beware of the ‘tide over’ job. It might seem like a good idea just to get something, but tide-over jobs have a way of sucking you in like quicksand.
And what happens when a truly good job comes along, and you’re already employed? Will you be able to get the time off for an interview - or even to prepare an application? How will a succession of short-lived, random jobs look on your resume?
The best advice is this: think hard about where you want to go, and aim high. Sure, it’s tempting to take the first gig that comes along, but think of it this way: the time you would spend at a go-nowhere job might be better spent finding a go-somewhere job.
As for B’s husband? Well, he’s rethought it, and the first application he put in was for a Senior Project Manager. I think he’s in with a real chance. And let’s face it - for him, it beats the heck out of maintaining an apartment complex any day!
Happy job hunting (and sight-setting)!
Kristin
June 24th, 2008
I came across a really interesting article on a major job-hunting website yesterday. It talked about the importance of crafting a resume that’s concise and precise. No one has the time or patience to wade through 5 pages of wall-to-wall words!
Part of what was nice about this article was that it mirrors everything we here at Ready Resume have been saying for the past few years. Nothing quite as satisfying as being right, is there? 
But in addition to that, it just reminded me of how important the concise-and-precise message is. So what can you do to make your resume concise?
Chop, chop, chop!
Cut out the dead wood from your resume and make it lighter, tighter and easier to read. Think of it as crafting the Gary Coleman of resumes - short and sweet! Believe me, I know it ain’t easy; remember, only last year I was ‘test applying’ for jobs just to see what it’s like to be in the marketplace. And I’ve just finished whittling a customer’s resume down from 4 very full pages to a fit-n-trim 2 pages.
Where to apply the hatchet
One place it’s easy to accidentally ‘bulk up’ your resume is your Work Experience section. But don’t despair - trimming the excess flab from your job entries isn’t hard. Here are a few pointers to help you cut out that loitering lumber lurking in your resume!
> Highlight recent positions and positions with specific achievements. If it was an unremarkable or irrelevant job, don’t laundry-list everything you ever did there to give it ‘bulk’. Write a simple 2 line paragraph summarising it and move on.
> If it happened more than 10-15 years ago, consider skipping it.
> Divide your work history: ‘Recent Experience’ and ‘Other Experience’. Jobs that are recent or relevant can be detailed and placed under the first header. Then, strip the detail off the older jobs (leaving only position, dates, company and a very brief summary) and place them under ‘Other Experience’. It will still show the breadth of your experience without taking up as much space.
> If you performed similar tasks in more than one job, don’t repeat them. Mention them once only.
Add extra sparkle to your resume
And one more thing that gives your resume sparkle: numbers. Specifics about staff numbers, turnover, budgets, etc. I just finished helping a customer rewrite his resume, and I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to see specifics about his achievements: doubling profits to $100K a month, supervising up to 7 staff, reducing office running costs by 15%. The numbers don’t just jump off the page, they give a credibility to the resume that little else can.
So go on - get chopping. And happy job hunting!
> Kristin
June 6th, 2008
Ahh yes, the miracle of baby steps. At last, I have done some research and I can share the cool online resume writing resources I’ve unearthed!
Word up. We’ve all been there. You read your resume and suddenly realise you’ve used the word ‘professional’ four times in the same paragraph. Need a new word - like proficient, masterful or skilled? Then you need a thesaurus - an archive of different words that mean the same thing. I like thesaurus.com - it’s easy to use, and takes its results from several reputable word experts.
Get the power. I’ve mentioned the importance of action words and active voice in earlier blogs. Well, if you’re finding it tough to ‘get active’, Ready Resumes is here for you! We’ve got a list of more than 200 ‘power words’ that really appeal to recruiters and prospective bosses. Check ‘em out right here on the Ready Resumes website!
Defining moments. Of course, sometimes it’s nice to put a few zinger words in your resume to show you’re no dummy. Just make sure you know what they mean…and how to spell them. For a reasonable online dictionary, try www.m-w.com. The good folk at Merriam Webster produce one of the larger and more popular American lexicons. Just remember - it’s American, so if you’re in a Brit-English speaking country, check the spellings!
Spellbound. Yes. There are spell checkers in Word and just about every other program. But just in case you want another one, check out spellcheck.net. This cool little program gives you character and word counts, AND provides drop-down menus full of alternate spellings for misspelt or questionable words. And you can cut-n-paste documents with up to 20,000 words. Cool indeed!
Know of any other invaluable resources? Email us with your recommendations - after all, you can never be too rich, too thin or have too much help.
Happy job hunting!
>> Kristin
May 30th, 2008
It’s about 2 1/2 weeks since my last post. In the intervening time, lots has happened - new projects being started, meeting the neighbours on the block where we’ve just moved, a sick kid, a hilarious garage sale - in other words, life.
And so, despite my intentions to write a great blog about online resources (which I’m sure will be spectacular when I finally DO write it!), I find 2 1/2 weeks later that neither have I done the research, nor the blog. And guess what: this entry is NOT the entry I wanted to write….because I STILL haven’t found the time to start the research, let alone finish it!
This brings me to an actual point: life takes over, despite your best efforts. Saying ‘I’ll work on it later tonight’ or ‘I’ll have time over the weekend’ will just set you up to feel crummy when you realise you’ve put off working on your resume yet again in favour of mowing the lawn, going shopping….or even watching an old episode of ‘ER’ for the hundredth time.
Don’t wait till you have a big juicy chunk of time to work on your resume, because you’ll probably never have one. Instead, chip away at your resume little by little. Give yourself small ‘baby step’ goals: working on your Objective during a coffee break, for example, or looking up some new action words online.
Within a few days, you’ll find that the ‘chipping away’ has given you a great head start - and may even have gotten you tantalisingly close to finishing your resume. And all without having to give up a weekend to do it.
As for me - well, I’ve just started compiling a list of resources. There’s only 2 on the list so far. But tomorrow I’ll try to get a couple more, and another few in the next day or two…so that by next week, my post will be ready to go!
Happy job hunting!
> Kristin
May 15th, 2008
Like zillions of other web-wanderers, I’m on Facebook. I don’t use it much, mind you - I keep forgetting how to add stuff and alter my image. Yes, ok, fine - I have to admit I’m ’social website’-challenged.
Not like my friend Kelly. Her page is long and chock-full of all kinds of photos, questions and bells-n-whistles. It’s like looking at a very neat online scrap-book, which in a way, I suppose is what Facebook is all about.
But beware, job seekers! As with most time-wastin’ fun on the internet, there is a dark cloud over this holly-jolly glimpse into your personal and/or private life. I just read an article about how employers are now checking up on job applicants on social sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace in an effort to see what kind of person they’re REALLY hiring.
That’s fair enough for most people, who have nice benign little pages, but spare a thought for the people who thought their MySpace/Facebook/Blogs were like little private diaries until they found out otherwise the (very) hard way: the cranky guy who wrote a scathing entry about his boss/workplace and was promptly sacked; and the chick with the drunken party photos on her page whose employers showed her the door.
For the few documented cases like these, no doubt there are countless examples of applicants whose resumes are shown the bin after employers discover strange and disturbing content on their Facebook pages.
Is it fair? Not really. But I said in an earlier post, the web is a great tool for digging - for jobs, for information, and for background on employers. Obviously, that tool ‘digs’ both ways. As a job hunter, it’s up to you: run the risk of turning off an employer with personal content you have posted online, or cover your bum (literally!) and play by ‘the rules’, fair or not. So think about…
> making any dubious content - pix of you wearing naught but a bib and jackboots, video of your wild night in Vegas - private and/or only accessible by friends.
> avoiding scandalous, misinterpretable or nasty entries in your blog.
> considering adding helpful job-seeking information to your Facebook/MySpace pages.
It’s a strange and wonderful thing, this internet, letting you share everything with the world. Just be careful that stuff you’re sharing sends the right message!
Happy job hunting!
> Kristin
April 29th, 2008
We at Ready Resumes advocate proofing your resume to rid it of spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.
In writing, there’s a popular phrase: ’show, don’t tell.’ So today, I’m not going to tell you about the importance of good grammar and spelling in your resume. Nope. I’m going to let George W Bush show you, in just 3 words he spouted last week on national television:
“Childrens do learn.”
But obviously presidents doesn’t. 
Happy job hunting!
> Kristin (aka the Grammar-Nanna)
October 5th, 2007
If you want to win, wear red.
Simple, huh? That’s the advice of a group of British anthropologists who surveyed four sports at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The group concluded that competitors were more likely to win if they wore red uniforms no matter which sport they played.
“Across a range of sports, we find that wearing red is consistently associated with a higher probability of winning,” Russell A. Hill and Robert A. Barton of the University of Durham in England wrote in the journal Nature. “If color has no effect on the outcome of contests, the number of winners wearing red should be statistically indistinguishable from the number of winners wearing blue.”
The big question: why?
Barton and Hill don’t really know. “Whether red suppresses the testosterone of the opponent or boosts the testosterone of the individual wearing red, we don’t know at the moment. We’re going to look at that,” Barton told the BBC News. “My hunch is that there is a bit of both going on.”
Winning sports vs winning jobs
This study is all well and good, but you’re probably not an Olympic athlete. Can you still harness this colour’s raw power?
Absolutely, say Sue and Simon Lilly in their book ‘Colour Healing.’ According to the Lillys, a splash of red on your resume will make you come across as “a bold and dynamic person.”
And for interviews? “Wear a red scarf or a tie,” say the Lillys. “This is especially effective…(if) your confidence needs a boost, such as an interview or presentation.”
So get your resume red to get it read…and get that job!
For more tips and tricks on red, blue and every other colour, check out our resume resources at www.readyresumes.com/resume-resources.php
Happy job hunting!
> Kristin
September 27th, 2007
In keeping our focus on what employers want to see in an employee - and a resume - we talked (briefly!) to busy and dynamic entrepreneur David Hill from Queensland-based technology company TE Australia to find out what he’s looking for in a techno-nerd…and that nerd’s resume!
RR: So what does your company do?
DH: We develop impossible technologies to do amazing things while having fun!
RR: Sounds like everyone’s dream job! How did you get into the business?
DH: I had an idea and pursued it - 2 years later the R&D had confirmed that it was possible and the business has grown from there.
RR: So what kind of personality does someone in your area need?
DH: You have to be imaginative and thick-skinned, and have a never say die attitude and a sense of humour!
RR: What do you look for in a potential employee?
DH: I want someone who is honest, loyal, ethical, down-to-earth and intelligent.
RR: As a business owner, what do you like to see in a potential employee’s resume?
DH: Good academic qualifications and extensive relevant experience, served up in that order.
RR: What’s your resume pet peeve?
DH: I hate it when someone doesn’t include a cover letter and submits a totally irrelevant resume for the job!
RR: It sounds like you already have it, but what’s your dream job?
DH: I can’t decide between archeologist, astronomer or female body artist.
Check out David’s cool innovations at www.teaustralia.com.au. Till next time, happy job hunting!
> Kristin
September 20th, 2007
Previous Posts
