The biggest thing I took from this week’s readings on writing your cover letter really taught me how situational factors can affect writing your resume. I will admit, I haven’t reached that 50 resume count, nor have I surpassed one. So sitting somewhere in cyberspace on my computer is your average generic cover letter that will work for almost any company, in the most negative way that is! So after reading these articles, I found it absolutely to approach this with a new mindset. First and foremost, do your research. Secondly, be specific about what you’ve accomplished that applies to this job, how you accomplished it, and how it could be applied to this possible job.
Doing your research can go a far way. Teena Rose did a great job of outlining how important it is now more than ever to really show how you can cater yourself to a company. Teena explains, “Focus your energies on the company's wants and needs, not on your own. With a less than favorable job market, we're definitely in a company market versus a jobseeker's market from the 1990s.” I feel now more than ever job-seekers need to make themselves stand out from the others by finding out what this company is really in need of and showing them how you would fulfill these needs.
Now, when I say show how you would fulfill these needs, I mean you really need to paint a picture in the readers head on how you would be the fit for this position. As Nathan mentioned in his blog post, you need to reference the keywords used in the company's job ad. This will show that you have considered what they need and hopefully you would use these words to explain how you would be qualified for these outlined needs, or requirements per se.
There’s so much to take into consideration when writing a cover letter. The biggest factors that stuck out to me are to do your research, and paint that picture of how you would be able to fulfill the company’s needs. I plan on taking these two factors into full consideration so hopefully I can keep adding to that cover letter collection of mine that is oh so sad right now.
Research is key.
I agree with you when you say that we are in a “company market”. There are a lot more people out there applying for jobs than there are jobs to be applied for. I am attending a job fair Friday that has about a third of the normal amount of companies coming compared to last semester. This means we as job seekers need to take advantage of the skills we learn in these readings to polish up out cover letters to meet the needs of the companies. To do so, we need to do as much research about the company as possible and try to answer all their wants and needs in the cover letter.
Cheese and Rice!
Only one-third the normal amount? Reason enough to polish those employment documents!
Generic Resume
Just like you Matt, I have always stuck with one generic resume. When I originally wrote it, I did so in a manner that I felt would cater to the types of companies that I would be applying to. Upon reading these articles, it is clear that I have been getting lucky by getting by with these generic resumes. In the future, especially with the current state of the job market, I will be tailoring not just my cover letter but also my resume for the specific job that I am applying for. With this additional effort, I can only hope that my resume will stand out amongst the others submitted.
Career Advancement
You will find that as your career advances (as you apply less for entry-level positions and more for positions higher-up the proverbial food chain) you will need create more tailored and specific employment documents. You will also have to make tougher and tougher decisions about what to include and what to highlight. As Jeremy and I can attest to, some our job market materials completely ignored work we had done (and that we thought was very cool). It gives you a real sense of how specific a portrait of yourself you are painting when such large pieces are left out.
Never really considered that...
Nathaniel, I was very interested in reading your comment. I've always assumed my "cover letter collection" would grow with my career. However, what surprised me was how you explained that it may become a little more of a challenge to choose what I'll be including in my future cover letters.
I suppose as ones career advances, they obviously gain more experience. I would think that writing your cover letter would become more easy. However, I do see where you're coming from. It could become difficult to decide what is to be included in your cover letter with so much to choose from. My view is that as one advances in their career, they know which specialty they would like to work in more and more. So with this, you would be able to describe your experiences in this area more and more tailored to your future interests.
Standing Out
It is clearly becoming more and more important that you be able to stand out from the crowd when you are applying for a job. With the economy the way it is, companies are probably going to want o hire someone that they are sure will help to improve their business. Even though I always thought cover letter to be somewhat pointless it is obvious that it is an important part of separating yourself. Even though a lot of cover letters never even get read, I think it is a necessary risk. You never know what can peak the interest of a recruiter.
research
A lot of the points you hit on in your response have to do with the first major point you mentioned. Researching the companies you are applying for will make it easier to write a cover letter, in doing so, catering your cover letter to specific companies. Adding key terminology and phrases will be easier after research. A basic understanding of the employer will come off in your cover letter and can only benefit you.