This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Lorraine writes: I have a query. My husband was retrenched almost 8 months ago now, and I want to send his CV to as many printing companies that I can find in South Africa. I also want to send a covering letter attached with his CV explaining that he was retrenched 8 months ago and would like to know if any of these companies have any vacancies. Please help me with the wording of this letter as I am at a loss?
Your help would be greatly appreciated.
The Career Doctor responds: Certainly one of the key components of a job search should still be cold contact, where the job-seeker sends his or her cover letter and resume (or CV) to companies that might have job openings. The critical factor with this strategy is getting the name and title of the hiring manager for your area of expertise and then writing a powerful cover letter. Why does cold contact work? It works because of the large hidden job market; the vast majority of job openings never get advertised or posted, so cold contact is a way of applying for positions that may in fact be open.
I assume that while you are writing the letters, that they will actually be signed by your husband. The cover letter is critical — its function is to spark enough interest so that the employer then looks at your resume (or CV). Think of the cover letter as a sales pitch letter, where the item you are selling is yourself — your mix of skills, accomplishments, and education. You NEVER want to put anything negative in your cover letter. And while many folks are being retrenched or rightsized or re-engineered out of jobs, it’s still a negative. Employers want to see job-seekers who are (or appear) gainfully employed. So, please, say nothing about the retrenchment in your cover letter; saying anything will only harm your husband’s chances. Read more about writing cover letters in the Quintessential Careers Cover Letter Tutorial.
Finally, please remember that your efforts are not complete once you mail the cover letters and CVs to the printing companies. The last paragraph of your cover letter should request action — an interview — and after a reasonable amount of time (1-2 weeks), you MUST follow-up and contact each company — each hiring manager — and ask for the interview. If you don’t follow-up, you are wasting your time even sending the cover letters and CVs.
A note to all job-seekers: Please don’t wait eight months after being downsized to start job-hunting. Take some time to reflect and consider whether it’s time to change careers — but even if you get a big severance package, you should get right back out there on the job market. The longer you wait to start job-searching, the harder it will be for you.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Anonymous writes:
I have a question that is plaguing me. I published several research works under my married name and now I am divorced. I need to list my publications on my new resume (or CV) and the names do not agree. Moreover, i am loathe to disclose my former marriage. Can I use my maiden name in my publications? It is, after all, me. Or must i use a one-liner disclosing my prior name? If so, where do i do this?
The Career Doctor responds:
Please, whatever you do, do not change your name in your publications to your maiden name because if a potential employer were to look up the article and find a different name, the immediate assumption may be that you are lying on your resume or vitae, and that’s the end of your chance with that organization.
I suggest one of two simple remedies. First, and perhaps the easiest, is to simply include your maiden name in parenthesis, so, for example, if you were Mary Smith when you published those research works and you now go by Mary Jones, simply add the Jones on your vita, such as Mary (Jones) Smith. Second, you could do the same thing on your resume as you would if an organization you worked for changed its name. Under your name at the top of your vitae, you could place, in smaller type, your former name … thus Mary Jones in large type, (formerly Mary Smith) in smaller type directly underneath.
Employers have no reason to ask you about the name change, so I think you are worried for nothing. Just make one of the simple changes mentioned above and be done with it.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Janet writes:
Enjoying your site but no luck finding info on preparing a ciruculum vitae (spelling may not be perfect). I was hoping you could direct me to an example of one. I’m applying for a speaking certification and was told this would be more relevant than a resume. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Curriculum vitaes, or CVs or vitaes for short, are basically resumes, used most often by academicians and scientists. They are also often required when applying to graduate or professional programs, and when applying for international employment.
They contain all the basic information that a resume contains — name, address, work experience, education, certifications, awards and honors — but usually also contain other pertinent information, such as scholarly activities (such as papers in journals, presentations and workshops, creative projects, etc.), professional development, patents, teaching/course evaluations, service to the profession. Vitaes also do not have the short (1-2) page requirement of resumes.
Read my article published on Quintessential Careers: Preparing a Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Lorraine writes: I have a query. My husband was retrenched almost 8 months ago now, and I want to send his CV to as many printing companies that I can find in South Africa. I also want to send a covering letter attached with his CV explaining that he was retrenched 8 months ago and would like to know if any of these companies have any vacancies. Please help me with the wording of this letter as I am at a loss?
Your help would be greatly appreciated.
The Career Doctor responds: Certainly one of the key components of a job search should still be cold contact, where the job-seeker sends his or her cover letter and resume (or CV) to companies that might have job openings. The critical factor with this strategy is getting the name and title of the hiring manager for your area of expertise and then writing a powerful cover letter. Why does cold contact work? It works because of the large hidden job market; the vast majority of job openings never get advertised or posted, so cold contact is a way of applying for positions that may in fact be open.
I assume that while you are writing the letters, that they will actually be signed by your husband. The cover letter is critical — its function is to spark enough interest so that the employer then looks at your resume (or CV). Think of the cover letter as a sales pitch letter, where the item you are selling is yourself — your mix of skills, accomplishments, and education. You NEVER want to put anything negative in your cover letter. And while many folks are being retrenched or rightsized or re-engineered out of jobs, it’s still a negative. Employers want to see job-seekers who are (or appear) gainfully employed. So, please, say nothing about the retrenchment in your cover letter; saying anything will only harm your husband’s chances. Read more about writing cover letters in the Quintessential Careers Cover Letter Tutorial.
Finally, please remember that your efforts are not complete once you mail the cover letters and CVs to the printing companies. The last paragraph of your cover letter should request action — an interview — and after a reasonable amount of time (1-2 weeks), you MUST follow-up and contact each company — each hiring manager — and ask for the interview. If you don’t follow-up, you are wasting your time even sending the cover letters and CVs.
A note to all job-seekers: Please don’t wait eight months after being downsized to start job-hunting. Take some time to reflect and consider whether it’s time to change careers — but even if you get a big severance package, you should get right back out there on the job market. The longer you wait to start job-searching, the harder it will be for you.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Anonymous writes:
I have a question that is plaguing me. I published several research works under my married name and now I am divorced. I need to list my publications on my new resume (or CV) and the names do not agree. Moreover, I am loathe to disclose my former marriage. Can I use my maiden name in my publications? It is, after all, me. Or must I use a one-liner disclosing my prior name? If so, where do I do this?
The Career Doctor responds:
Please, whatever you do, do not change your name in your publications to your maiden name because if a potential employer were to look up the article and find a different name, the immediate assumption may be that you are lying on your resume or vitae, and that’s the end of your chance with that organization.
I suggest one of two simple remedies. First, and perhaps the easiest, is to simply include your maiden name in parenthesis, so, for example, if you were Mary Smith when you published those research works and you now go by Mary Jones, simply add the Jones on your vita, such as Mary (Jones) Smith. Second, you could do the same thing on your resume as you would if an organization you worked for changed its name. Under your name at the top of your vitae, you could place, in smaller type, your former name … thus Mary Jones in large type, (formerly Mary Smith) in smaller type directly underneath.
Employers have no reason to ask you about the name change, so I think you are worried for nothing. Just make one of the simple changes mentioned above and be done with it.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Janet writes:
Enjoying your site but no luck finding info on preparing a ciruculum vitae (spelling may not be perfect). I was hoping you could direct me to an example of one. I’m applying for a speaking certification and was told this would be more relevant than a resume. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Curriculum vitaes, or CVs or vitaes for short, are basically resumes, used most often by academicians and scientists. They are also often required when applying to graduate or professional programs, and when applying for international employment.
They contain all the basic information that a resume contains — name, address, work experience, education, certifications, awards and honors — but usually also contain other pertinent information, such as scholarly activities (such as papers in journals, presentations and workshops, creative projects, etc.), professional development, patents, teaching/course evaluations, service to the profession. Vitaes also do not have the short (1-2) page requirement of resumes.
Read my article published on Quintessential Careers: Preparing a Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Yuanjie writes:
I am now writing my resume and cover letter based on your online advice. I am a student and will get my PhD degree in mechanical engineering soon.
My resume is slightly more than one page. Do I have to compress it into one page?
The Career Doctor responds:
I’m glad you are thinking ahead and working on your job-search materials. What do you plan to do after you receive your Ph.D.?
Do you plan to go into business/industry? If so, then you probably do want to write a resume. In this case, I would guess your resume will be longer than a page — just based on your education alone. I believe it’s almost always best to go to a two-page resume than to reduce font size and margins (and readability) just to get your resume to fit on one page. Remember the rule that if you go to a second page, that the second page should have enough content to fill at least half a page.
Or do you plan to go into academia? If so, then what you really need is a curriculum vitae, which shares some attributes with a resume, but which tends to be longer because there is more information is included in a CV. An academic CV would include information beyond your education and experience, including scholarly contributions, professional development, teaching, and service.
That said, the goal of a resume and CV is the same. These are marketing documents designed to help you get to the next step in the job-search process — the job interview.
Learn more about CVs by reading this article published on Quintessential Careers: Preparing a Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
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