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As a
rule, I hate reading cover letters. Nearly all are
what I call, 3B: Bland, Boring and Banal.
In fact,
most cover letters are such formulaic exercises in
boredom that I suggest you stop sending them
altogether.
That's
right. Don't send a cover letter. Send a sales
letter instead.
After
all, your goal in writing to employers is to "sell"
them on hiring you, right?
With that
in mind, here's a recent success story that will
help you stop sending cover letters, and start
sending sales letters that get job interviews.
Paul D.
from White Bear Lake, MN writes: "I met you at the
Star Tribune job expo and I wanted to comment on
your tip to write a sales letter rather than a cover
letter. I took your advice and, after sending the
new cover letter to apply for two jobs online, I had
one call the same day for an interview! The other
call came the day after."
So, Paul
batted 1.000 with the two cover letters he sent out.
Better yet, he emailed me his cover letter, which
offers three lessons that can get you hired ...
1) Get Attention by Asking a Question
You must
get employers' attention at the start of your letter
and compel them to read. Otherwise, your letter
won't have any effect. Because bored readers will
skim over the document, then rush off to your
resume.
An easy
way to get attention is to ask a question. Why?
Questions are hard to ignore -- they engage and
involve readers.
This is
what I suggested at the job search expo Paul
attended. He took my advice and wrote a new cover
letter that began like this:
Dear
Mr. Peterson:
Are
you looking for a professional marketing person
who has demonstrated analytical and
problem-solving ability, practical project
management skills and excellent written and
verbal communication skills?
Paul's
question gets attention and causes the reader to
answer, Yes. And if you can get employers to nod in
agreement while reading your "sales letter," you've
taken a giant leap toward getting hired.
2) Emphasize Specific Results
Which of
the following statements is more interesting?
A) I'm a
hard worker, honest and reliable, with excellent
attention to detail.
B) I
saved my last employer more than $1,000.
It's B,
of course. B makes a specific claim, while A is a
list of generalities. All things being equal, the
candidate who sprinkles results throughout his/her
"sales letter" is more likely to get hired. Because,
employers think, if you've delivered the goods
before, you'll likely do so again.
That's
what Paul did in his letter -- he included specific
results like these:
My
attention to detail saved my company more than
one thousand dollars in incorrect registration
forms over six months.
Now, that
isn't perfect. I would use numerals (not words), put
the numbers first, and include a dollar sign, all of
which makes the results more obvious. Like this:
I
saved more than $1,000 for my company in 6
months, by finding and correcting registration
forms.
3) End with a Provocative P.S.
Here's
where Paul hit it out of the park.
Remember,
you want to send a sales letter, not a cover letter.
And what do all sales letters have? A P.S. at the
end. (Go read your junk mail right now to verify
that I'm right. I'll wait....)
Good
sales letters have a P.S. because good copywriters
know the P.S. always gets read. Why? That's not
important now.
What is
important is for you to include a P.S. in your
"sales letter" that's so intriguing, employers will
have no choice but to call you to learn more.
That's
what Paul did. Here's the P.S. he wrote, following
my advice:
P. S.
- Please call me if you would like to learn how
I produced over $70,000 in grant money for the
Minnesota Trucking Association last year.
This is
simple and brilliant. Just as the opening question
of Paul's letter forced readers to nod and answer
Yes, the P.S. forces them to say, Huh? Then, pick up
the phone and call.
In Paul's
case, he got two calls in two days, from two "sales
letters." And one new job. Here's the rest of his
letter to me:
"I
finished the second interview yesterday and was
offered the job the same day! Best of all, I was
able to negotiate a raise and I am convinced
that if I had not rewritten my cover letter it
would have never happened. Thank you!"
So, if
your job search is sputtering, stop sending cover
letters and start sending sales letters. Follow
these three tips: open with a question, emphasize
specific results, and include a P.S.
Now, go
out and make your own luck!
Kevin
Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and
creator of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has
provided job search assistance to more than 10,000
people. Author of "51 Ways to Find a Job Fast --
Guaranteed," Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and
others. His latest product, The Instant Job Search
System, is available at
www.gresumes.com/instant.
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