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I apologize to the list for not having had a subject line on an earlier
post, especially in light of recent discussions re: access. I had started
to change it and was interrupted. Project management by time-slicing! :)
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From: Smith, Amy
To: Internet
Date: Thursday, September 21, 1995 9:14AM
Robert Plamondon wrote:
>As a writer, I refuse to write empty, useless documents. I many
>cases, where I don't know much about the company, I have zilch
>to say in a cover letter. (Many ads conceal the company's identity,
>and give no contact person, so it's hard to do anything about this
>knowledge gap.) Rather than write a puffy, meaningless,
>empty waste of paper and time, I don't include a cover letter at all.
I disagree. Here's my $.02 worth:
I've been called for interviews because of my cover letters (so I've been
told). One interviewer went so far to say that the cover letter I sent to
her was "great - one of the best I've seen." She obviously reads them.
Cover letters are not puffy, meaningless, empty wastes of time. I use them
to:
o talk about career objectives [I'm told that the current fashion in resumes
is not to have a career objective statement, which is fine by me because I
need the room. :)]. And I don't mean the "want a rewarding career in
technical writing" kind of statements. I mean "My next career goal is
...(whatever) " kind of statement.
o MAYBE a blurb about why I'm switching jobs. They'll probably ask anyway,
so it helps to head them off at the pass.
o Throw in things that didn't make the resume (Example: As the newly
appointed head of our cabling standards committee, my task is to develop the
....)
o I make a point to try to find out about the company, as much as possible,
and say why I'd like to work for them. I recommend a business library, such
as Boston's Kirstein Library. This is Job Search 101, but it's true - you
make much more of an impression if you attempt to be prepared.
IMHO.
Amy Smith
Fidelity Investments
amy -dot- smith -at- fmr -dot- com