| Something
happens to people when they get online. Maybe it's the instant access,
maybe it's the "I-could-be-naked" anonymity, but when people get
online they sometimes get overly casual and informal. This might
be fine when your talking to your buddy in Omaha or the sweetheart
you just met in a chatroom, but it doesn't work well when you're
trying to get business done.
Just because
you're communicating online does not mean you should consider yourself
exempt from any of the formalities of paper-based communication.
Online cover letters are notoriously awful, poorly written throwaways
of fewer than three lines whose only purpose is to say "I'm applying,
this is my resume, have a nice day."
When formatting
the cover letter, stick to left-justified headers and four-inch
wide text lines in your paragraphs. You never know when the address
you're mailing to has a small e-mail-page format that will awkwardly
wrap text around the screen. Also, many e-mail systems cannot handle
text enhancements like bolding, bulleting or underlining, so play
it safe by using CAPITAL LETTERS -- or dashes -- if you need to
make an emphasis. For more expert advice on cover letters, check
out the Vault
Job Search Survival Center.
Proper E-mail
Cover Letter Etiquette
Anil Dash,
the former chief information technology officer for an online music
video production studio in Manhattan, lost his job this January
when the company fired nearly all its employees. Since then, Dash
figures he's applied for more than a dozen jobs, contacting every
one of the potential employers - befitting an out-of-work CIO -
through e-mail.
But every time
he prepares another e-mail, he faces a choice. Should he bother
to write an e-mail cover letter, the sort of thing he'd do if he
were mailing the resume, or should he merely dash off a few lines
to the effect of, "Hi, I'm interested in your job, and I've attached
my resume as a Word file. Thanks." "I do cover letters for jobs
I really want," Dash says. "For ones I don't care about, I just
spam them."
Why cover
letters still matter
According to
recruiting experts, Dash is doing the right thing by writing extensive
e-mail cover letters. Even though cover letters came of age in the
age of pen and paper (or typewriter and paper), they still have
a place in the 21st century, when want ads, resumes, and interviews
all fly over virtual networks. "It's going over the Internet, but
it's the same product," Madeline Miller, the manager of Compu-Type
Nationwide Resume Service in upstate New York, said of e-mail cover
letters. "The cover is very important and it should be the same
quality if you were to mail it."
Since e-mail
messages generally tend to be conversational and quickly written,
many people aren't used to drafting carefully written e-mail cover
letters. But Miller said any applicant who creates a fully-fleshed
e-mailed cover letter has an advantage over an applicant with a
more slapdash cover letter.
"There is a
tendency to jot off a few lines, and people might write, "I'm applying
for this job, here is my resume," Miller said. "But if there is
a cover letter, that could put somebody over the top." But at the
same time, make sure your e-mailed cover letter isn't a chore to
read. If brevity is a virtue with conventional cover letters, it's
a necessity for e-mailed cover letters. You can find out more about
cover letters with Vault's
expert career advice.
Appropriate
cover letter length
Reesa Staten,
the research director for OfficeTeam, a staffing service firm, says
e-mailed resumes shouldn't run more than two or three paragraphs.
"You want to
include the same type of information, albeit in a shorter version,"
Staten said. "What you don't want to do is rehash your resume. There's
no need to restate what you've done in the past. What you want to
do is tell them where you learned about the listing, why you're
right for the job, and how they can reach you."
Tips for
sending cover letters and resumes
If you really
want the job, follow up an e-mailed cover letter and resume with
a hard copy you mail. Make sure this hard copy includes a cover
letter, too, that restates who you are and why you're qualified.
Somewhere in the cover letter, be sure to write, "I recently e-mailed
you my resume and I'm following up with this hard copy."
Why should
you do this? A hard copy gives your resume another chance for exposure
and makes it easier for a potential boss to pass around or file
your cover letter and resume. In cases where your e-mailed cover
letter and resume have been overlooked in someone's in-box or rendered
inaccessible by a computer glitch, a hard copy may be your only
chance for exposure.
If you're including
a resume as an attachment, first make sure the prospective employer
accepts attachments. Then, in your cover letter, mention the program
you used to create your attachment. ("I've enclosed a cover letter
written in Microsoft Word 2000.") It's also a good idea to include
a cut and paste text version of your resume in addition, in case
the person reading the resume doesn't have the software to open
your attachment.
With any resume
file you're attaching, open it first to make sure it's updated,
error free, and the version of your resume you want to send. Sending
a virus is tantamount to sealing your job-doom. Save a copy of whatever
you send by including your own e-mail address in the "BCC" field
or by making sure a copy goes to your "Sent mail" folder. This allows
you to resend the letter if a problem pops up. Lastly, don't fill
in the "to" field with the recipient's e-mail address until you've
finished writing and editing the cover letter and resume. This prevents
you from accidentally sending off the message before it's ready.
For more expert
advice on the job search, from resumes and cover letters to interviewing
and salary negotiation, go to the Vault
Job Search Survival Center
...from The Vault, a Job-Hunt sponsor and an invaluable information
resource to job seekers.
This article
originally appeared in the August 24 issue of the Online
Job Search Guide, Job-Hunt's free twice-a-month e-mailed newsletter.
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