This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Diane writes: I would like to send my resume with a cover letter to recruiters/employment agencies. The career development office I’m working with advises that it is better to have someone’s name to address the cover letter to. Since it would require a great deal of time to try and get a staff member’s name for each agency, would it be acceptable to use a generic salutation, such as Dear Recruiter?
The Career Doctor responds:
The rules of cover-letter writing are a bit different when writing letters to headhunters than when writing letters to employers, but the one rule of all cover letter writing is that the job-seeker must — as best as possible — address the letters to named individuals. Think about it, when was the last time you read (junk mail) addressed to “Dear Homeowner” or “Dear Pet Owner.” If you don’t read these kinds of letters, why should busy professionals? Job-seekers must always take the time to get names and titles for cover letters.
Before I get to the differences in content, let me also address one other red flag
in your question. Why would you be sending off so many letters to recruiters?
Take the time to research the recruiting agencies that specialize in your field
and in your preferred location — and contact only those recruiters. Don’t waste
your time — and the time of those recruiters — by writing to recruiters who don’t
work in your area.
One other comment about strategy. The majority of recruiters say that the resume is the single most important document they look at when evaluating job-seekers; cover letters are a distant second. The message here? Make sure your resume is exceptional.
Your cover letter to a recruiter should focus on these elements:
- Contact information
- Why you are on the job market
- Job titles and industries of interest to you
- Salary history and salary expectations
For more information about this topic, please read the article published on Quintessential Careers written by my partner Katharine Hansen: Cover Letters to Recruiters Require Special Handling.
You can also follow this link to a sample cover letter to a recruiter.
And don’t forget to follow all the other guidelines for good cover letters — especially avoiding typos and misspellings and always being truthful. Find more resources in this section of Quintessential Careers: Cover Letter Resources.
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:
Diane writes: I would like to send my resume with a cover letter to recruiters/employment agencies. The career development office I’m working with advises that it is better to have someone’s name to address the cover letter to. Since it would require a great deal of time to try and get a staff member’s name for each agency, would it be acceptable to use a generic salutation, such as Dear Recruiter?
The Career Doctor responds:
The rules of cover-letter writing are a bit different when writing letters to headhunters than when writing letters to employers, but the one rule of all cover letter writing is that the job-seeker must — as best as possible — address the letters to named individuals. Think about it, when was the last time you read (junk mail) addressed to “Dear Homeowner” or “Dear Pet Owner.” If you don’t read these kinds of letters, why should busy professionals? Job-seekers must always take the time to get names and titles for cover letters.
Before I get to the differences in content, let me also address one other red flag
in your question. Why would you be sending off so many letters to recruiters?
Take the time to research the recruiting agencies that specialize in your field
and in your preferred location — and contact only those recruiters. Don’t waste
your time — and the time of those recruiters — by writing to recruiters who don’t
work in your area.
One other comment about strategy. The majority of recruiters say that the resume is the single most important document they look at when evaluating job-seekers; cover letters are a distant second. The message here? Make sure your resume is exceptional.
Your cover letter to a recruiter should focus on these elements:
- Contact information
- Why you are on the job market
- Job titles and industries of interest to you
- Salary history and salary expectations
For more information about this topic, please read the article published on Quintessential Careers written by my partner Katharine Hansen: Cover Letters to Recruiters Require Special Handling.
You can also follow this link to a sample cover letter to a recruiter.
And don’t forget to follow all the other guidelines for good cover letters — especially avoiding typos and misspellings and always being truthful. Find more resources in this section of Quintessential Careers: Cover Letter Resources.
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:
Mark writes:
I have been with a company for 6 years, in which time the owner has made frequent changes to the direction of the company. I have had 4 job/titles and assignments during this time. I would like to leave this company, but I am concerned that a potential employer will negatively look upon the frequent changes in job assignments/title. My title has always included the word “manager” of such-and-such program, but my assignments were very different.
I have wrestled with how to best portray this “busy” work history with this company on my resume. Can you offer any advice?
As a side note, I was with another company for over 20 years prior to taking a job with this company. In those 20 years, I held 3 positions.
The Career Doctor responds:
I would not worry at all that prospective employers might think twice about your different job titles. Over the last couple of years, many organizations have reorganized at least once, and numerous workers have had new or multiple titles to compensate for employees who were fired and not replaced.
I think your resume will show two strengths: the first that you are someone whom management at your two employers greatly respects, and the second that you are a loyal, long-term employee.
The only problem I see with your situation is that your resume might look a little cluttered if you are not too careful. You have two options. You can have separate bullet points for each of the four job titles you have held with your current employer, or, you can simply show the different job titles and do one set of bullet points for your entire tenure there. The method you choose will depend on how different the jobs are — and how different the work and accomplishments are.
You can also showcase your versatility in a qualifications summary section that goes at the top of your resume (after your contact information). The qualifications summary includes the three or four things that make you a better candidate than anyone else — your competitive advantage. I like to think of the qualifications summary as the “executive summary” of your resume; another way is to think of it as your key selling points.
Finally, remember that someone with your experience can obviously have a two-page resume. And remember to leave off the dates from your education, and do not include any other job or employer other than these two — because they are already dating you.
For more resume advice and tools, go to this section of Quintessential Careers: Resume and CV Resources for Job-Seekers.
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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