Dear Mr. Walberg: I enjoyed your recent column about cover letters, and it helped me a lot, but I still have a question. How do you end a cover letter effectively? Should I write, “I am looking forward to hearing from you” or just sign off? A couple of companies I want to contact say “no phone calls” in their postings, so I can’t say that I will phone them for an appointment. — R.S.
Dear R.S.: You’ve brought up a very important point and your request for information will help others.
Many years ago, someone said that if you send out resumes and do not follow up, you might as well climb to the roof of your city’s tallest building and toss your resumes to the wind. The result would be about the same.
I tend to agree. In today’s workplace, employers receive hundreds of resumes from people with varying degrees of qualifications, all basically wanting a job. To be noticed and, with luck, interviewed and hired, you must first be qualified for the job, and then make sure your resume and cover letter get noticed.
Do all the right things to polish the content of your resumes and cover letters. Then, no matter how you made initial contact with the employer, follow up within seven days after sending a resume.
If an employer says “no phone calls” in a posting, send a follow-up letter via email or snail mail. If you’re brave, go knock on the door. Just follow up.
If you don’t get any response, wait a few more days and then do it again. You must make yourself noticed and show the employer that you don’t give up when you’re working on a project — and, your job search is a pretty important workplace-like project
Never say that you are looking forward to hearing from the employer. Be assertive: Make things happen for you. Follow up on every resume you send to employers, and keep networking with everyone and anyone. Networking helps eliminate competition and puts you one-on-one with employers.
Whatever you do, do what others fail to do.
Marvin Walberg is a job-search coach based in Birmingham, Ala. For contact information, see marvin-walberg.com.
orange5 posted at 9:21 am on Mon, Sep 3, 2012.
If the instructions say do not call, DO NOT CALL!!! DO NOT STOP IN!!! DO NOT EMAIL!!! I work in human resources and we literally receive hundreds of applications daily. We are short staffed, as our departments have been cut and cut over the years. I have 1000 employees, and there are three of us to do everything from hiring to holding the employee's hand and helping them through hard times when a family member passes away. If you call and email and stop in, you will irritate us, and your information will go to the bottom of the pile. We know you want a job, and we may want to hire you, but don't do things that will get you noticed in a bad way.
If you want to get noticed, follow all instructions in the posting to the letter. If the posting says attach a resume, attach a professional, well written resume.There are thousands of websites available for creating a resume, use one of them. The application needs to be filled out completely. If there are gaps in your work history, explain them. If there's an assessment or a test, complete it. If the posting says include a cover letter, include one. Do not tell us what you want the company to do for you, tell us what you can do for us. Make sure you meet the minimum qualifications before applying. DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPITALS or all small letters. Use correct punctuation. Make sure your email is professional, and not something like "superchick@gmail.com" or "jaimesdad@gmail.com" Don't tell us about your personal situations or hobbies. Make sure the representative can leave you a phone message. Do not use unprofessional ringtones when we call you. Ring tones with four letter words and lyrics about skanky hoes will result in a hangup from us. Most companies now require that you complete an on-line application. Write down your log in and password!! I don't have the time to help you remember your log in or help you with a password. And for heaven's sake, don't call me and ask for help in your creating your resume because you don't know how to use Word.
If we call you for an interview, Be On Time!! I don't have time for you to be late, there's a hundred other people that want the job. Dress professionally. You have 10 seconds to make a first impression, make it count. Some of our interviews lately have come in wearing shorts and flip flops, mini skirts and tank tops with four inch heels. Look like you want a job, not a drink at a Scottsdale night club. If you don't have a professional outfit, go to Goodwill or WalMart and buy something appropriate. You don't have to spend a lot of money to look good. Get a haircut, trim your fingernails, polish your shoes. Look trustworthy. Look like a positive, steady employee who's going to show up for work every day. Bring several copies of your resume in case we want to introduce you to another manager while you're visiting us. I shouldn't have to make copies for you. Take some time to prepare and know what our company does -- every company has a website, review it before the interview. It's okay to be nervous, we understand that. We were in your shoes at one time too.
If we want you, we will follow-up. Trust me. But when we call you, remember who we are and when you had your interview. If you can't remember, get a notebook and write down the companies you applied to and when. If you can't remember us, we'll find someone who does.
Hopefully, this will help you get a job. We truly do have job openings and we want to fill them with great workers.
remo303 posted at 4:54 am on Mon, Sep 3, 2012.
What planet is this guy from? Has anyone had any luck whatsoever actually getting a face-to-face contact to submit a resume? Nearly every employer now uses data-sifting software and online applications exclusively.
An applicant would have better luck using the companies own job description and requirements withn the posting as part of the body of their resume so the parsing software picks up on the keywords of the original posting.
Of course, that would imply the employer actually has any intention of hiring new workers in the first place. Just because they post a position doesn't mean they are obligated to fill it.