The advice useful when sending a cover letter with a resume

1. Your name, address, phone number and email address. 2. Date 3. Contact and address 4. Salutation 5. Introduction Paragraph 6. Body Paragraph 7. Closing Paragraph 8. Signature 9. Name 10. Enclosure. The following advice is useful when sending a cover letter with resume: * Your resume/CV and cover letter should match in both style and appearance. * Fold them together and mail in a matching envelope. * If you are e-mailing resume as an attachment, it's not necessary to also attach a cover letter. The e-mail message itself serves as a cover letter. Write it accordingly. * Address the letter to a specific individual. * Keep in mind that your cover letter is also a writing sample, just like your resume. Use it to demonstrate your best "simple and direct" writing style. * Cross-check your information before final submission. * Make a copy for your file.

The application or cover letter

When applyiny for a job vacancy, or making a speculative application to a company where you would like to work, your CV must always be accompanied by an introductory letter. If you are sending a hard copy of your CV, the letter will be printed out and sent along with the CV. When e-mailing your CV as an attachment, the latter will form text part accompanying the e-mail. The quality of the letter should be high as it provides an opening shot; it creates the first impression about you. An impressive letter can sometimes overcome the odd weakness in a CV; conversely, a poor letter might cause a perfectly good CV to be thrown into the trash can.

Guidelines for writing a winning CV

1.Be careful to avoid errors, typos and poor grammar. 2 Ensure that the right dates are included in appropriate places. 3 Spend a bit extra to ensure that your CV is in an appropriate envelope, so that it looks as good as it did when you printed it out. 4 Avoid long resumes. The majority of CVs are prepared on three A4 pages, except when you have some comprehensive amount of information. 5 When using on-line application, ensure that you use a format that your recipient specified and can easily retrieve. 6 When using a CV Bank, ensure you paste your CV in the appropriate box on the website. 7 Avoid including personal information that are not relevant to the job. 8 Avoid poor formatting; Boxes, templates, tables, use of headers and footers. 9 Keep things simple and honest. Aggrandizing your job experience makes you sound silly. 10 Make sure the name of the company you worked in is clearly listed as well as the position you held there. One doesn't work without the other. 12 Use a few figures to put your accomplishments in context. If you helped grow sales, by what percentage? If you slashed operating costs, how much did it save the company? 13 Avoid being misleading about your education. If you attended business school but did not earn an MBA, make sure it doesn't look like you're implying that you did. 14 You want your resume to convey your solid character. Omit anything that might smear it, such as dubious awards, memberships in controversial organizations, or an affiliation with a political party(unless, of course, you work in politics).

The Application or cover letter

The design of your CV should ultimately reflect your personality and your suitability for the job for which you are applying. Your CV Should be typed on a computer using appropriate fonts and style. It is advisable that you keep a copy on a compact disc so that you can always adapt it to each occasion. When applying for a job vacancy, or making a speculative application to company where you would like to work, your CV must always be accompanied by an introductory letter. If you are sending a hard copy of your CV, the letter will be printed out and sent along with the CV. When e-mailing your CV as an attachment, the letter will form the text part accompanying the e-mail. The quality of the letter should be high as it provides an opening shot; it create s the first impression about you. An impression letter can sometimes overcome the odd weakness in a CV; conversely, a poor letter might cause a perfectly good CV to be thrown into the trash can.

Applying for a job

A good CV or Resume should have the following descriptive headings: 1 Name and Address: There should be name, email, telephone and contact address on the CV which should be current and in line with other documents. 2 Career Objective: This is a brief description of your career expectations. 3 Work Experience: Past work with various employers, functions/responsibilities, dates, special projects undertaken. 4 Training: Relevant training attended and dates. 5 Educational Qualifications: Institutions attended with dates, qualifications and awards 6 Membership of professional bodies: Indicate membership of relevant professional associations. 7 Skills: Indicate special skills that may aid the employer's decision about you. 8 Interests: Indicate special hobbies or recreational interests 9 Bio-data: Names, Age and Marital Status 10 Referees: Make mention of people that can give an objective and best appraisal of your abilities.

The packaging of your abilities

The term CV is commonly used in united kingdom, while Resume is widely used in the United State of America and many other parts of the world. They both communicate the same idea about the applicant and are often used interchangeably. However, while a resume tends to be more detailed about the personality of the applicant, a CV tends to focus on just the qualification and job history of an applicant. Resume or CV can be written in Chronological or Functional formats. A combination of the two descriptions is most widely used. 1 Chronological ¡. Lists your work history in reverse chronological order(most recent first) ¡¡. This is the format preferred by many employers. ¡¡¡. Works best for those who have progressed in titles and have a good work history. 2 Functional ¡. Centers around skill areas that relate to the position for which you are applying. ¡¡. Works well for those with limited education, significant employment gaps, lack of work experience, or experience in a different field. This format can be used by both recent graduates and career changers.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

The application procedure for a job will vary depending on how you learnt or got information about the job; it is therefore necessary to plan for various approaches. A job search file should be maintained and it should contain updated documents about you. This ensures a better organization and ability to react to any and all job leads that may come to your attention. Applying for a job is usually done through two major important documents: 1. Resume or Curriculum Vitae(CV) 2.The Application or Cover Letter. RESUME OR CURRICULUM VITAE(CV) Resume or CV is a document that helps you to package yourself for prospective employers. This is a critical aspect of a job search process because it is the first impression you will make to an employer, and there is never a second chance to make a first impression. Your CV or Resume is the packaging of your abilities in the market place. It is the powerful impression you radiate when a prospective employer meets and discusses with you. Your CV should be a concise, factual and attractive document.

Properly document the job search effort

I

It is important that you create a file or journal to record all your job search efforts in such a way that information can be easily retrieved. This will help you in your preparation for an interview. Poor information management has been the bane of most intelligent applicants. A lifetime opportunity can be lost by a careless misrepresentation of information due to poor recording of facts. Always remember that a paper and pen is smarter than the sharpest human mind. This is because it does not forget. Write down all relevant information within the first ten minutes of hearing them. Store important information about opportunities in places you can easily retrieve them. This is not an expensive exercise, it only requires being conscious of your need to track information as they come to you.

Properly document the job search effort

Determine the cost of job search

Searching for a job is a full time job in itself; requiring the use of time and resources. Most people hardly give thoughts to the expenses involved in job search in terms of physical, material emotional and financial resources (transportation, telephone calls, stationery, photocopying, postage, and dressing). The important thing to note here is the effective management of time and resources in the course of your job search.