Since many of the jobs for which I’ve applied involve some form of marketing communications, wouldn’t it make sense that I would want to ensure my cover letter is written not only flawlessly but also strategically?My husband thinks I spend entirely too much time customizing my cover letter and resume. I love him dearly, but I disagree. I realized last weekend that he had discussed the topic with a family friend. When our friend called and asked me to look up information online for him, I mentioned I was working on a resume. He kind of laughed and said something about my tweaking it to perfection.
OK, maybe I am a perfectionist. However, when I’ve been involved in the interviewing of job candidates, I definitely was turned off by those with typos in their cover letter or resume. I see the sloppy work as being indicative of their future job performance.
I’ve discovered my own typos after submitting a resume, and I felt absolutely ashamed. I understand the difficulty in having someone available to proofread every cover letter for every job application. I’ve had my mother or daughter review some for me, but I wouldn’t think of asking them to look at every single one. On the flipside, proofreading one’s own work is necessary but also difficult. So, maybe I should cut some slack when I’m reviewing an applicant’s resume. We’ll see. I need to find my own job first.
I appreciate my family and friends for wanting to help me in my quest. Another aspect that poses a challenge, though, is that not all of them understand what exactly I do. My skills are certainly broad but not always easy for them to comprehend. Many don’t understand that my marketing experience does not equate to hard-core sales experience. Or that having been an account executive in an ad agency doesn’t make me an expert in accounting. And I get the impression that some perceive public relations and customer service as being one in the same. I don’t doubt that I could do any of them, but with so many people out of work right now, I need to focus on the best possible match-ups.
I also have family members who think I should flood the market with my resume, sending it to anyone and everyone. I have a real problem with that. Why should I waste the employers’ time and my own when they don’t have positions for which my experience is suited? I know: Perhaps they’ll realize I’m the perfect candidate for a position they’ve yet to advertise.
On a couple of occasions, I have landed an interview for an unadvertised position as the result of my application for another. In fact, I’m actually in the process of wooing a prospective employer who’s in need of a “communications rock star,” a position that the organization has not yet created nor accounted for in its present budget. I love a challenge!
1 comments:
Your family may be on to something with the "flooding" suggestion. After all you are advertising your self and if you were a product and I were a merchant using the direct response approach - I would start off with a very low assumption that I'd receive 1 job offer for every 100 potential employers I advertised you to. If I put you infront of 500 employers per day you would likely have 5 job offers comming in each day. It's a numbers game that works.
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