Is the Cover Letter dead?
In today's digital world, Is the Cover Letter dead?
Cover letters were very popular in the past when we used to send mail
through the Post Office.  We used to call
it  SNAIL MAIL. The cover
letter would serve as a cover to the resume
to introduce the job applicant and introduce
any information that the resume could
not address. This
Video will This Video will answer your question IS
THE COVER LETTER DEAD?
At the end of this video you will  to determine
the different circumstances under which you need to
submit a cover letter.
 
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Hello Goal Oriented Professionals! Welcome to my Channel.
My name is Yvonne Robinson, your Career strategist
and Business Coach, and I am here to guide you
through your career journey, to be successful and build
a rewarding career. The truth
about cover letters is that you do not need  them every job application.
So let us  look at 2 things that we have to consider.
Why do we need a cover letter
and how we are going to design the cover letter.
Here are the times when you may not need a cover letter.
If you are a consultant or a job applicant
sending your resume to a recruiter or to
a staffing firm in the
Ottawa area in Canada
you do not need to send a cover letter.
I cannot speak for the United States but I know
in this situation you do not need to send a cover letter,
and if the job application did not ask
for a cover letter, do not
Do not spend your time writing a cover letter
So your time will be better served
if you spend it
on your career summary
or your career profile, which comes
below your contact information
at the top of your resume.
If you do. not know how to write a career summary or
a resume summary, I have a video for that
It's called "The attention grabbing
resume summary". The attention
grabbing resume summary
or career profile that will get
your resume noticed.
There are times when it is  necessary for you to send in a
cover letter. If the job application requires it,
and other times when there
are special circumstances
And if you look on the screen, I have some
points there.  Four points to help
help you to know when you should send
in a cover letter. OK?
If there is a gap in your employment
If you have been affected by special circumstances
such as the PANDEMIC
Transitioning in your career
Sending resumes to small companies  and organizations
that require you to demonstrate your writing abilities
such as Government and agencies,
Universities, and Non Profit Organizations
Now that you have established why you need a  cover letter
let us look at the format. The cover letter should be
customized. So at the top of the
cover letter you are going to have your contact information
and following that is the Salutation
which says, Dear Hiring Manager
or if you know the name of the person
who you are sending the cover letter to.
The next thing is the body of the cover letter which has three stages
A Strong Introduction
You need to tell them
the title of the job you are applying for
and if there is a job number it is
very important that you
write the job number.  You are to show some excitement
and say why you are applying for the position
and  align it with your career goals.
The next paragraph is paragraph 2
where you are going o focus on
the description and your skills
and experience, and be positive
and say how you can
help them to solve their problems. So you are going to be
be positive and  you are going to highlight your skills and
experience and with data from the
job description
and tell them why you are the best
candidate for this job.
So you are going to keep it concise and clarify anything
that needs to be clarified that  could not
be done in the resume. For example if there were special
circumstances like there was
COVID or you lost your job during COVID or something like that
right, or if there were any gaps in your resume
that you need to explain
you may want to explain it now. Just keep it
very high level, keep it concise
and keep it upbeat and positive.
So you highlight the positive,
and you minimize the negative.
Then you get to paragraph three. So  you sum up your
qualifications, you express your interest
in the position and you provide availability
and the best way to contact you
But if you look on the Screen
You are going to start with your contact information for this,
then you go down to your salutation.
Dear Hiring Manager:
(use the name if you know it)
I am writing to express my interest
in job # 564 for an
Application Tester at Banks Company.
I am drawn to this opportunity for several reasons.
and now you are gonna  say say
why you are interested in the position, right,
you align the job description, quantifiable where
possible,
and, put your career goals and achievements.
Other things to mention, only if necessary
be precise and positive
in a separate paragraph
you can mention your special circumstances,
if you have been affected by the
PANDEMIC, if you have a gap in your employment
or if you are transitioning in your career
and then you can say,   I look forward
to sharing more details of my experience
and motivations
with you.  Thank you  for your
consideration. Sincerely,
Yvonne Robinson
Or if you are sending it by Social Media
or Messenger, you can say,  I look forward
to hearing from you
here is my contact information, right
because this is more informal, right
I look forward to hearing from you, here is
my contact information.  And you can send
your phone number, or here is my phone number. OK?
Simple as that guys, this was gonna be a
very short one.
So guys, watch my related videos! How to
get jobs using LinkedIn,
and Winning resumes that gets you the job.
And, click the link below to get access to my FREE
CAREER BOOSTER BUNDLE
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Comment and and let me know if you are having
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Thanks for watching!
