Cover Letter Q&A
Cover Letter Q&AAnne McKinney answers some commonly asked questions about cover letters.
How do you write
a cover letter for
a career change?
Imagine that you are
a teacher in two
situations. Situation 1
is where you…
Imagine that you are a teacher in two situations. Situation 1 is where you are writing a cover letter accompanying a resume so that you can find a new teaching position at a different middle school. Situation 2 is where you are writing a cover letter accompanying that same resume except that in situation 2 you are attempting to change careers - and to complicate matters, you don't know what you want to do next. In situation 2, you need a career change cover letter in which you might say that "Although I have enjoyed the challenge of educating middle school children, I have decided that my outgoing personality and strong communication skills would be best suited to a corporate environment." Then you would highlight three things about you, giving details and accomplishments where possible, that would make the employer want to meet you.
I am considering
moving to another city and I
would like to tell the employer that I
will be in the area on a specific date
and availiable for an interview. How can
I address this information
in a cover letter?
In the last paragraph of the cover letter, you might want to say this: "Although I am excelling in my current position, I have decided to resign in order to relocate to the Wilmington area so that I can live closer to my extended family. I will be in the Wilmington area researching housing options from June 15 - June 25, and I would be delighted to make myself available to meet you at your convenience. If you would be kind enough to e-mail me at the e-mail address on my resume to suggest a good day for you, I would be happy to call you to make the final arrangements. I can provide outstanding references at the appropriate time, and I appreciate in advance your professional courtesies to me."
I am presently in the military.
I will be getting out within the
next two years. My question is how do
I prepare a cover sheet stating
only the skills I have learned from
being in the military?
A military professional needs to have his or her skills "translated" into "civilian language" so that people will understand what he/she did. Make sure your resume "translates" your experience into plain English without acronyms and words like "battalion, brigade, petty officer, deployment" and so on. In the cover letter accompanying that resume, hit the employer with three key points you wish the employer to know about you. For example, "While serving my country in the U.S. Army, I was promoted ahead of my peers to supervisory roles in which I managed up to 120 people in dozens of career specialties."
How do I sell myself in a
cover letter after choosing to
leave my career to be a stay-at-home
mom but now I must return to work
after being out of the graphics
business for six years?
The cover letter should say
something like this: “As you will
see from my resume, I am returning
to my career in the graphics field after
working as a full-time homemaker
for six years …
The cover letter should say something like this: “As you will see from my resume, I am returning to my career in the graphics field after working as a full-time homemaker for six years.” Then discuss the key accomplishments you had in your career prior to working at home. (By the way, if you have done anything to keep your skills current, go ahead and say so. For example, you might say that you have continued to work with Corel and PageMaker during the past six years since you have worked as a volunteer for organizations including the PTA.) Please note that the employer’s chief concern is that your skills will be REALLY RUSTY. (The employer doesn’t want to have to retrain you!) If you have done extensive volunteer work while working as a stay-at-home mom, show that experience in the Experience section of your resume!
I am currently
5 months pregnant.
When and how do I address
this during the
interview process?
If you get an interview and appear obviously pregnant, be prepared to initiate the discussion about how you plan to make your employment work. No employer wants to hire you now, train you for a month, then let you go on maternity leave (after which you may not come back), and then retrain you again. You’re not likely to get many jobs at five months pregnant, so you have little to lose by being very aggressive in telling the employer that you think you are the best individual for the job and would be committed to excel.
What are some
good questions to ask
the interviewer during
the interview?
You need to ask questions like, “If you had to name the three main goals you want someone to achieve in this job, what would they be?” By asking questions about the job, you seem interested in the job. And by asking questions about the job, you can find out if you really want the job. If you establish great rapport with the interviewer, don’t be afraid to ask a personal question such as, “Myra, I wonder if I could ask you how long you’ve been with this company.” You would be surprised how people will open up to you sometimes!! (Myra might tell you that she’s planning to leave the company soon. Now, that would tell you something, wouldn’t it?)
With my next job
offer I would like to
negotiate severance up
front. Do you have any
recommendations?
You can’t negotiate anything until you know the company wants you. Even after that, it’s tricky. Here are two possible ways to handle it. (1) After they make the offer, you could tell the company verbally that you are interested in accepting the position if you can be assured of minimum “job insurance” in case the company abruptly terminates your employment without cause. You can then say that you would feel comfortable with a severance package consisting of X, Y, Z. (2) Another way to handle this is to tell the company that you really want the job but are concerned about what would happen if the company suddenly terminated your employment. You might ask, “In that sort of situation, and assuming I was doing an excellent job, what sort of severance package would you offer?” The company might be willing to put something in writing. (Approach #2 is probably the better approach. It’s usually best to get the company to name their numbers first, rather than you going out on a limb.)