[no subject]

["Smith, Amy" <Amy -dot- Smith -at- FMR -dot- COM>]

Robert Plamondon wrote:

>As a writer, I refuse to write empty, useless documents.  I many
>cases, where I don't know much about the company, I have zilch
>to say in a cover letter.  (Many ads conceal the company's identity,
>and give no contact person, so it's hard to do anything about this
>knowledge gap.)  Rather than write a puffy, meaningless,
>empty waste of paper and time, I don't include a cover letter at all.

I disagree. Here's my $.02 worth:

I've been called for interviews because of my cover letters (so I've been
told). One interviewer went so far to say that the cover letter I sent to
her was "great - one of the best I've seen."  She obviously reads them.

Cover letters are not puffy, meaningless, empty wastes of time. I use them
to:

o talk about career objectives [I'm told that the current fashion in resumes
is not to have a career objective statement, which is fine by me because I
need the room. :)]. And I don't mean the "want a rewarding career in
technical writing" kind of statements. I mean "My next career goal is
...(whatever) " kind of statement.

o MAYBE a blurb about why I'm switching jobs. They'll probably ask anyway,
so it helps to head them off at the pass.

o Throw in things that didn't make the resume (Example: As the newly
appointed head of our cabling standards committee, my task is to develop the
....)

o I make a point to try to find out about the company, as much as possible,
and say why I'd like to work for them. I recommend a business library, such
as Boston's Kirstein Library. This is Job Search 101, but it's true - you
make much more of an impression if you attempt to be prepared.

IMHO.

Amy Smith
Fidelity Investments
amy -dot- smith -at- fmr -dot- com