Sample Resume Writing

How To Write A Resume Cover Letter That Will Get Your Resume Read

A Resume Cover Letter has only one purpose - to stimulate the recipient of your resume to review your resume. This free resume cover letter tutorial assumes that you will be sending your resume and resume cover letter by email.

In the age of e-mail your Cover Letter should go in the message of the e-mail and not as an attachment. Hiring managers and recruiters receive too many resumes to open and read each and every cover letter that comes as an attachment to an email. The chances are very good that a Cover Letter sent as an attachment will not be opened and read and it fact the email will simply be deleted.

Keep your resume cover letter brief and to the point. Assume that the person receiving your resume is busy - very busy. They are reviewing other resumes - many. Your cover letter is introducing you to the person who could be hiring you.

So be thoughtful - keep it brief and to the point. You are not writing an essay or a novel. You are trying to communicate with someone who is very busy and you are competing for their attention. You need to help them see that opening your resume many lead them to the person - or persons - that they are looking to find.

The following pages take you step by step through the nine components necessary in a cover letter including a sample cover letter.

Maximizing your e-mail impact

For the most part, as an IT professional, you will be sending your Cover Letter and resume by e-mail. Your e-mail will be one of many in the inbox of a recruiter or employer.

Meeting you for the first time

Your e-mail represents you walking into the office of the recipient. They are meeting you for the first time.

Make it easy to read your e-mail

Remember the goal is to make it as easy as possible for the recipient of your e-mail to decide to open your e-mail, read your e-mail and then open and read your resume.

Your Cover Letter is going into the message or body of the e-mail delivering your IT resume.

Let's take the example of an employer or recruiter who is looking to fill the position of a "SCO UNIX Support Technician".

Be clear and concise

Be clear, concise and specific in the Subject Line and use the Job Title found in the advertisement or job posting plus your name:

Subject line :

SCO UNIX Support Technician job application by J. Itguru

Now let's look at the nine (9) components of a Cover Letter that goes into the Message or Body of the e-mail.

Writing a good Cover Letter requires following some basic steps such as the 9 steps that follow.

The Cover Letter goes into the body or message of the email attached to your resume and uses the following nine(9) components:

1.Your name, telephone number and e-mail address at the top of the Cover Letter.

2. Address the letter to someone in particular, if you can, or use To Whom It May Concern.

3. Name the position that you are applying for unless a file reference number is requested, then use the file reference number.

4. Briefly give an overview of your experience as it relates to the position being applied for.

5. In point form list the 3 or 4 most career highlights that relate directly to the job according to the ad that you are responding to.

6. Tell them that you have attached your resume that provides a detailed overview of your skills, experience, education, training and achievements.

7. Thank the person reading your resume.

8. Sign the e-mail with your name, home telephone number and personal e-mail address.

9. Add a PS to the note telling the recepient that you check your voice mail and email on regular daily basis.

Take action and write a resume cover letter to introduce your IT resume. Just follow the steps in this tutorial and write a cover letter that works for you.

Let's review the basics so you can get started:

- use the Job Title found in the job advertisement in the Subject of the email;

- the Cover Letter goes into the body or message of the email attached to your resume;

- there are nine (9) components that make up the Cover Letter.

Resume Cover Letter Action Steps

Now print off a copy of the Cover Letter and write your own using Notepad or some other text editor.

When you are finished you can easily cut & paste into any email that you then send.

Richard E. Ward, the IT Job Coach, has many years experience as an IT Headhunter and provides IT professionals personal coaching through ITJobCoach.com. Review our online tutorials at IT Job Coach Online Tutorials

MORE ARTICLES:

Six of the Best for a Winning Resume
1. Be CompleteMake sure that your resume includes EVERYTHING your prospective employer would need to know to be able to offer you an interview.

TMI: The Resume Destroyer
"They say my résumé should be only one page long. Is that correct?"Not necessarily.

Resume Software – The Hidden Pitfalls
Disadvantages of Resume SoftwareFormat A large majority of software requires the use of their format; most commonly using the chronological resume style. While the chronological style is certainly the most traditional manner to write a resume, it is not always advantageous for everyone.

History Reports: When Your Resume Equals, I Did This, I Did This, I Did This
Do these sound familiar?"I worked for..

Rewriting Your Resume? 7 Easy Ways To Give Yourself An Upgrade
In today's competitive job market, a first class resume is an essential tool for winning an interview. The way in which you present your skills, achievements and experience on paper will profoundly affect the way in which a hiring company considers your application.

Resume Writing and Preparation is Free Online
Creating a strong resume is a very important part of applying for a job, either online or off line. There are many resume writing services that will help you build an impressive resume for job interviews.

Talent Technology, The Global Leader In Resume Extraction Launches Next Generation Resume Mirror? Extraction Platform
Talent Technology?s Platform To Support Multiple Languages For Global Recruiting Needs

CollegeRecruiter.com First Major Job Board to Kill Resume Searching
CollegeRecruiter.com, the leading job board for college students searching for internships and recent graduates hunting for entry level jobs and other career opportunities, today announced that it will no longer offer resume searching to its clients because of the identity theft and other security concerns affecting the job board industry.

ResumeEdge Annual Career Survey Indicates Serious Job Seekers Keep Resume Ready at All Times
The results of a recent survey conducted by ResumeEdge.com show that people update their resume more frequently today than they did a year ago.

The Interviewable Resume
It is rumored that the only word William Shakespeare wrote on his resume was "Available." We'll probably never know if that is true.

Resume Layouts ... The Hidden Pitfalls
Options for Resume LayoutsThere are many options of available to today's job seeker. With a quick change of graphical elements such as fonts and style, the feel of a resume can change from traditional and conservative to creative and modern.

Ten Tips to a Powerful Resume
A new resume can jump-start your career. Your network contacts may ask for a resume and some industries absolutely, positively demand a resume as the price of admission.

Do You Have a Hotsy-Totsy Resume?
I begin this article with a bit of slang description. What do I mean by a "hotsy totsy" resume? I mean one that does the following for you, the job seeker and a possible employer.

Talent Technology Releases New Version of its Market Leading Resume Extraction Technology
Updated version of resume extraction engine delivered with new customer-driven features, enhancements and improved internationalization capabilities. Product continues to set industry benchmark for features, extraction accuracy and robustness.