Perfecting Your Cover Letter

O ne of the things that            instead of using your background   always amazes me is that        as a starting point, take a look   people use exactly the same     at the requirements of the         cover letter and exactly the same     position.                          CV to apply for every single job.                                                                              So, say you see an ad for a        That's not the way to go. With        software sales person and just     recruiters receiving so many          for this example let's say that    applications per advertised           that's the area you have           position the secret is to             experience in and want to work     customise.                            in. You see a position that you                                          really would like and the          Today we'll look at cover letter      requirements for the position      customisation.                        might be as follows:                                                                                        Before we take a look at what a       ▪ At least 5 years           cover letter should look like,        experience selling software to     let's go back to basics.              major accounts                                                                                              Firstly, we have to stop thinking     ▪ Record of exceeding quota  about our needs and think about       for at least 4 of the last 5       what our audience is trying to        years                              achieve. In this case it's a                                             recruiter looking to fill a           ▪ Experience selling into    position. He or she is                major accounts essential           essentially looking for a match                                          between the requirements of a         ▪ Must have sold complex     position and                          CRM enterprise software            your background. So, when                                                applying for a specific position,     ▪ Must have experience of    the full sales cycle                  itself. When doing so, keep in                                           mind that you'll need to make      Now you have the requirements         things easy for the                it's now up to you to match your      time-pressured recruiter. Your     background with the job               "cover letter" will be clear,      requirements in the cover letter      engaging and succinct.             About the Author: Robert Odhams is a former global recruiter who now runs an international business that helps executives to connect with the right executive recruiters and find more executive jobs. Executives in the US/Canada can easily connect with US executive or management recruiters at http://www.executivetrumpet.com. Executives in the UK can easily connect with UK executive or management recruiters at http://www.cvtrumpet.co.uk. Published At: www.Isnare.com