The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Perfect Cover Letter

by Ireland, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780028619606
• ISBN10: 0028619609
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-09-01
• Publisher: Alpha Books

Summary

You're no idiot, of course. You read the classifieds every day, call your career counselors by their first names, and even help your friends write winning resumes. But when it comes to composing a fantastic cover letter, you feel like someone just slammed the job-opportunity door on your foot. Don't give up yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Perfect Cover Letter shows you how to write a cover letter taht convinces employers to call you for an interview. In this Complete Idiot's Guide, you get:

Author Biography

Susan Ireland is the owner of a consulting firm specializing in helping job seekers keep pace with the job market. She is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Perfect Resume.

Table of Contents

Before You Start	p. 1
You Gotta Have a Strategy	p. 3
What "Flavor" Letter Works for You?	p. 4
The Buddy System	p. 4
Solo Performance	p. 7
Pros and Cons	p. 9
Looking Through the Employer's Eyes	p. 9
Know Thyself	p. 10
Making Up Your Mind	p. 11
The Least You Need to Know	p. 11
Winning Concepts	p. 13
Four Rules of the Road for Writing a Dynamite Job
Search Letter	p. 14
Establish a Connection	p. 14
Who Do You Know?	p. 15
Show Personality	p. 18
Optimizing the Positive	p. 19
Spinning a Negative Into a Positive	p. 23
Initiate Action	p. 25
Make It Quick and Easy to Read	p. 25
It's All About Sales!	p. 26
Hmm, This Looks Interesting!	p. 26
Following the Rules	p. 27
The Least You Need to Know	p. 29
Research Smarts	p. 31
What's the Company Up To?	p. 32
Who's Who?	p. 33
Pulling It All Together	p. 33
Getting to Know You	p. 35
Making a List and Checking It Twice	p. 39
Now What?	p. 43
The Least You Need to Know	p. 43
Your Resume Booster	p. 45
The Power of a Cover Letter	p. 47
The Big Deal About Cover Letters	p. 47
Get Noticed	p. 48
The Perfect Resume Marriage	p. 48
The Start of a Beautiful Relationship	p. 50
The Winning Personality	p. 50
Get the Job Done	p. 50
Carry an Umbrella So It Won't Rain	p. 51
Cover Your Bases	p. 51
Going Through Human Resources... or Not	p. 54
Go Straight to the Top	p. 54
"cc" You Later	p. 54
Dear Ms. HR	p. 55
The Least You Need to Know	p. 56
Step One--Set the Stage	p. 57
To the Letterhead	p. 58
My Name Is	p. 58
I Don't Live in a P.O. Box	p. 59
Contact Me	p. 59
Format Matters	p. 63
Around the Block Format	p. 63
Sorta, Kinda, Semiblock Format	p. 63
What a Deal: The Full Block Format	p. 64
What Could Be Simpler Than the Simplified Format?	p. 64
Make an Executive Decision	p. 69
When and Where	p. 69
Greetings and Salutations!	p. 69
The Least You Need to Know	p. 70
Step Two--Follow My Lead	p. 71
What's It All About?	p. 72
A Well Baited Line	p. 72
Name Dropping	p. 73
Spring the Big Question	p. 75
Wake Up Call	p. 77
Quotable Quotes	p. 79
Mind Your Manners	p. 82
For Starters	p. 84
Write to the Point	p. 87
The Least You Need to Know	p. 88
Step Three--The Pitch	p. 89
What Are You Pitching?	p. 90
Employer's Wish List	p. 90
Measuring Up	p. 91
One Plus One	p. 93
The Eye Catcher	p. 94
Bullet Points That Hit the Mark	p. 95
So, You Want to Be a Columnist?	p. 98
Make It Snappy	p. 101
The Least You Need to Know	p. 103
Step Four--Closing the Sale	p. 105
Gotta Say "Thank You"	p. 106
The Closer	p. 108
Don't Call Me, I'll Call You	p. 108
Uh Oh, No Phone Number	p. 109
Finishing Touches	p. 113
Complimentary Close	p. 113
What's Your Name Again?	p. 113
One Last Thing	p. 114
The Least You Need to Know	p. 114
Getting the Right Message Into the Right Hands	p. 115
Sticky Situations	p. 117
Let's Talk Money... or MayBe Not	p. 118
Take a Risk	p. 118
Walking on Golden Eggs	p. 118
Know Your Stuff	p. 121
New Beginnings	p. 123
Closing Your Eyes to Change	p. 123
Touting Your Career Change News	p. 125
Speaking of Unemployment	p. 127
Leaving Home.. for the Second Time	p. 130
A Woman's Work Is Never Done	p. 130
Volunteerism Pays Off	p. 131
It's Not Fair--Age Discrimination	p. 134
How to Look Younger	p. 134
Creating an Older Image	p. 136
Shhh! My Job Search Is a Secret	p. 138
What Should be Missing from Your Missive	p. 141
Don't Play It Again, Sam	p. 141
In Reference to References	p. 141
Hey Boss, Mind Your Own Business	p. 141
The Least You Need to Know	p. 141
Wrap It Up	p. 143
Top Ten Checklist	p. 144
Hot Off the Press	p. 144
The Nuts and Bolts of Typing This Thing	p. 144
Print, Points, and Other Particulars	p. 145
Looking Classy on Paper	p. 146
Signing Your Life Away	p. 146
A Word About Resumes	p. 147
Envelope Stuffer Alert!	p. 147
Just-In-Time Delivery	p. 148
Doing the Snail Mail Crawl	p. 148
Pony Express	p. 148
Your Job Is Just a Fax Away	p. 149
E-mail: High Speed Communication	p. 150
Dear Boss, Internally Yours	p. 150
The Least You Need to Know	p. 152
Recycling Your Cover Letter	p. 153
Wow, That Was a lot of Work the First Time Around	p. 154
Sizing Up the Response--Good and Bad	p. 154
What Worked?	p. 154
What Didn't Work?	p. 155
Scoring More Hot Leads	p. 156
A Friend to Lean On	p. 157
Companies to Die For	p. 157
Lists and Lists of Jobs	p. 157
Jump On-line--Jump on the Job	p. 157
Getting Help From the Pros	p. 157
Keeping Up on the News	p. 158
Now That You're Research Expert	p. 158
Remodeling a Good Thing	p. 158
A Few Tweaks Here and There	p. 158
Ready to Go	p. 163
The Least You Need to Know	p. 163
Other Hardworking Letters	p. 165
Announcing, Announcing: Broadcast Letters	p. 167
What Is a Broadcast Letter, Anyway?	p. 168
A Sales Letter About Your Future	p. 170
No Long Paragraphs!	p. 170
Straight Shooting: Bullet Statements	p. 171
Down to Basics	p. 171
To Someone Special	p. 171
A Group Announcement	p. 173
Follow the Leader	p. 175
Body Building	p. 175
Achievements Extraordinaire	p. 175
Make Waves with Dynamite Achievement Statements	p. 175
Brain-ticklers	p. 176
Closing the Deal	p. 177
The Ball's in Your Court	p. 177
Pretty Please?	p. 179
Three, Two, One--Broadcast!	p. 181
One-on-One	p. 181
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!	p. 181
The Least You Need to Know	p. 182
Sending an SOS	p. 183
I Need a Letter to Ask Someone Out to Lunch?	p. 184
What the Heck Is an Informational Interview?	p. 184
An Interview That Works	p. 185
Who on Earth Can Help Me?	p. 186
Learning the Ropes	p. 187
A Few Questions, Please	p. 187
A Written Invitation	p. 188
Good Follow-Up Builds Bridges	p. 192
The Least You Need to Know	p. 192
Thank You Very Much	p. 193
A Round of Applause for the Job Interview	p. 194
Here's to a Good Meeting	p. 194
The Not-So-Good Interview	p. 194
The Nitty Gritty	p. 194
Muchas Gracias for Giving Me the Job!	p. 197
Thanks a Lot for the Rejection	p. 199
It's Not Over 'til	p. 199
I Appreciate Your Advice	p. 202
The Good News Letter	p. 204
The Least You Need to Know	p. 206
The ABSc of Good Writing Technique	p. 207
Good Technique Helps	p. 209
The Point of Punctuation	p. 210
The Meaning Behind It All	p. 210
Periods	p. 210
Question Marks	p. 211
Exclamation Marks	p. 211
Commas	p. 212
Semicolons	p. 214
Colons	p. 214
Quotation Marks	p. 214
Apostrophes	p. 215
Capitalizing on Letters	p. 215
Getting Possessive	p. 217
Resources That Can Save Your Life... or at Least Your Career	p. 217
The Least You Need to Know	p. 218
Style Is Everything	p. 219
You Gotta Love My Personality	p. 219
Stilted Language Spells Boredom	p. 220
Writing Between the Lines	p. 220
Be Yourself	p. 220
Confidence--The Winning Ticket	p. 221
Sincerity Shines Through	p. 222
Warning--Sentence Construction Ahead	p. 223
Don't Let Run-On Sentences Run the Show	p. 223
Hanging by a Dangling Phrase	p. 224
Anyone Find a Misplaced Modifier?	p. 224
Using Your Most Active, Passive, and Persuasive Voices	p. 225
Be Dynamic!	p. 225
Tricky Words and Phrases	p. 226
The Least You Need to Know	p. 228
Breaking Through Writer's Block	p. 229
A Stretch of the Imagination	p. 229
Testing Limits	p. 230
Sharpening Your Tools	p. 230
Tell It Like It Is	p. 230
Blurt It Out	p. 231
Polished Rendition	p. 232
Go Wild	p. 234
Tightened Up	p. 234
Dear Aunt Louis	p. 234
Now You're Talking	p. 235
In Aunt Louise We Trust	p. 237
Third Person Scripting	p. 237
From the Boss	p. 237
Blowing My Own Horn	p. 238
The Least You Need to Know	p. 240
Appendix	p. 241
Index	p. 259
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