Your application letter is one of your most important job-search documents. An effective letter can get you a phone call for an interview, but a poorly written application letter usually spells continued unemployment. The difference can be a matter of how you handle a few key points. The following are some tips to help you develop effective application letters.
Individualizing Your Letter
Give your readers some insight into you as an individual. In the example below the writer chose to describe particular experiences and skills that could not be generalized to most other recent graduates. Draft your letter to show how your individual qualities can contribute to the organization. This is your letter, so avoid simply copying the form and style of other letters you've seen. Instead, strive to make your letter represent your individuality and your capabilities.
Addressing a Specific Person
Preferably, the person you write to should be the individual doing the hiring for the position you're seeking. Look for this person's name in company publications found at the University Placement Service, the Krannert Business Library, or the Reserve Desk in the Undergraduate Library. If the name is unavailable in these places, phone the organization and ask for the person's name or at least the name of the personnel manager.
Catching Your Reader's Attention
Your introduction should get your reader's attention, stimulate interest, and be appropriate to the job you are seeking. For example, you may want to begin with a reference to an advertisement that prompted your application. Such a reference makes your reason for contacting the company clear and indicates to them that their advertising has been effective. Or you may want to open by referring to the company's product, which you want to promote. Such a reference shows your knowledge of the company. Whatever opening strategy you use, try to begin where your reader is and lead quickly to your purpose in writing.
First Paragraph Tips
Make your goal clear.
• If you're answering an advertisement, name the position stated in the ad and identify the source, for example: "your advertisement for a graphic artist, which appeared in the Chicago Sun Times, May 15, 1998,..."
• If you're prospecting for a job, try to identify the job title used by the organization.
• If a specific position title isn't available or if you wish to apply for a line of work that may come under several titles, you may decide to adapt the professional objective stated in your resume.
Additionally, in your first paragraph you should provide a preview of the rest of your letter. This tells your reader what to look for and lets him or her know immediately how your qualifications fit the requirements of the job. In the example letter, the last sentence of the first paragraph refers to specific work experience that is detailed in the following paragraph.
Highlighting Your Qualifications
Organize the middle paragraphs in terms of the qualifications that best suit you for the job and the organization. That is, if your on-the-job experience is your strongest qualification, discuss it in detail and show how you can apply it to the needs of the company. Or if you were president of the Marketing Club and you are applying for a position in marketing or sales, elaborate on the valuable experience you gained and how you can put it to work for them. If special projects you've done apply directly to the job you are seeking, explain them in detail. Be specific. Use numbers, names of equipment you've used, or features of the project that may apply to the job you want.
One strong qualification, described so that the reader can picture you actively involved on the job, can be enough. You can then refer your reader to your resume for a summary of your other qualifications. If you have two or three areas that you think are strong, you can develop additional paragraphs. Make your letter strong enough to convince readers that your distinctive background qualifies you for the job but not so long that length will turn readers off. Some employers recommend a maximum of four paragraphs.
Other Tips
• Refer to your resume. Be sure to refer to your enclosed resume at the most appropriate point in your letter, for example, in the discussion of your qualifications or in the closing paragraph.
• Conclude with a clear, courteous request to set up an interview, and suggest a procedure for doing so. The date and place for the interview should be convenient for the interviewer. However, you're welcome to suggest a range of dates and places convenient to you, especially if you travel at your own expense or have a restricted schedule. Be specific about how your reader should contact you. If you ask for a phone call, give your phone number and the days and times of the week when you can be reached.
• Be professional. Make sure your letter is professional in format, organization, style, grammar, and mechanics. Maintain a courteous tone throughout the letter and eliminate all errors. Remember that readers often "deselect" applicants because of the appearance of the letter.
• Seek advice. It's always good idea to prepare at least one draft to show to a critical reader for comments and suggestions before revising and sending the letter.
Sabtu, 26 Desember 2009
Prosedur menulis CV dalam bahasa inggris
The Successful CV
A successful CV is the product of careful thought and planning. The employer is looking for an applicant who has the right experience, skills, and personal qualities for the job. The person appointed is likely to be the one who not only possesses all these but also presents them in the most attractive way. The only way in which you can achieve this is by thinking very carefully about yourself and what you have done in the past and believe you could do in the future, given the right opportunity.
Preparation
Begin by thinking about these four areas:
• experience
• interests
• skills
• personal qualities
There are various ways in which you can do this. What follows is only one possibility. Whichever approach you choose, however, make sure that you make detailed notes of your ideas – even if you think they may not be relevant. Also, keep all your lists and sheets of notes ‘open’; go back to them from time to time and make sure that you haven’t missed anything out. This preparation stage is essentially one of brainstorming. Selection and ordering come later.
Experience: Many people find it easier to start with this, because it is the most concrete. Begin by thinking of your life as divided into a number of stages. What these are depends on you – the divisions between the stages may be marked by changes of job, moves from one place to another, or by key events in your life – marrying, having children, buying a house, and so on. Your notes on your experience should certainly include:
• education
• any professional training
• periods of employment – include part-time jobs and those which didn’t last very long, as well as ‘proper’ jobs
• other extended periods in which your life focused on a particular activity (for example, periods of foreign travel)
• any voluntary work you have done
Interests: You might question why you should consider your personal interests when preparing a job application. After all, these are the things you do in your spare time when you are not working. Interests are relevant for a number of reasons:
• They are one of the ways in which your personality can be defined; and your personality is very relevant indeed to a job application.
• They frequently indicate skills you have which are not currently used at work. See 'Skills' below.)
• They often have a bearing on why you are interested in particular types of employment.
• They may point the way to other kinds of employment that you had not previously thought of.
Skills: Your notes on your experience should provide you with useful prompts when it comes to listing your skills. Look at each of the different stages of your life and ask yourself:
• Which skills did I use here that I already had?
• Which skills did I improve on or consolidate?
• What new skills did I learn?
In addition, think about your leisure time interests: perhaps these also entail useful skills which may be relevant to a job application.
Make sure that you include not only skills related to your trade or profession, but also personal skills, for example:
organizing events training staff
interviewing giving advice
chairing meetings making presentations
supervising trouble-shooting
meeting the public
Don't be too concerned at this stage about whether the skills you list are relevant. That can come later. For now write them all down.
When you have finished, look back through the list and consider whether each item is one separate skill, or, in fact, a bundle of skills that should be separated out. For example, you may have written ‘communicating’, when it may be preferable to list:
• simplifying technical subject matter
• writing simple technical manuals
• training non-specialist workers.
Personal qualities: This is the area that many people find most difficult; they are unhappy talking about themselves and their qualities because they feel it is big-headed or ‘pushy’. They may also find it quite difficult to step back and look at themselves objectively. On the other hand, if you don’t tell a potential employer about your personal qualities, who will?
It is sometimes difficult to begin such a list, so here are some qualities to start you off. Write down any which you think apply to you, and then add others of your own. For each one you choose, make sure that you can think of incidents in your own life and work experience that bear them out.
accurate independent worker
adaptable lively
astute logical
can work under pressure loyal
careful methodical
committed meticulous
competent orderly
cooperative organized
courteous positive
decisive practical
dedicated receptive
energetic relaxed
extrovert reliable
flexible self-confident
friendly self-motivated
get on well with other people sensitive
good communicator thorough
good sense of humour thoughtful
good time-keeper vigilant
hardworking works well with others
imaginative
Turning your notes into a CV
You should by now have a full set of rough notes. (It doesn't matter how rough they are, provided they are as detailed as possible.) The next stage is to decide how you want to order your CV. This can be done in one of two ways:
• chronologically
• functionally
Chronological: A chronological CV presents your education and work experience either in the order in which they happened, or in reverse order, with your most recent experience first. Since recent experience is probably of most interest to an employer, this latter method is now widely used. The advantages of a chronological CV are that it emphasizes the companies or organizations you have worked for (and the periods of time involved) and your continuity of employment. The disadvantage is that if your career has had ups and downs, especially if it includes periods of unemployment, these show up very clearly. The employer who is looking for a steady and reliable employee will probably favour this approach.
Functional: A functional CV is organized by skills and qualities. If, for example, your experience is in motor-parts sales, both as a representative and in head office, the functions you could use as headings might be:
• presenting the product range
• customer care
• information technology
Under each one you can provide further details of specific experience. The advantage of this approach is that you can focus on you strengths without having to spell out relative inexperience or periods of unemployment. The disadvantage is that it may not make clear important periods of employment with impressive employers. The employer who is looking for applicants with particular skills and capabilities will find the functional CV more helpful than the chronological.
A successful CV is the product of careful thought and planning. The employer is looking for an applicant who has the right experience, skills, and personal qualities for the job. The person appointed is likely to be the one who not only possesses all these but also presents them in the most attractive way. The only way in which you can achieve this is by thinking very carefully about yourself and what you have done in the past and believe you could do in the future, given the right opportunity.
Preparation
Begin by thinking about these four areas:
• experience
• interests
• skills
• personal qualities
There are various ways in which you can do this. What follows is only one possibility. Whichever approach you choose, however, make sure that you make detailed notes of your ideas – even if you think they may not be relevant. Also, keep all your lists and sheets of notes ‘open’; go back to them from time to time and make sure that you haven’t missed anything out. This preparation stage is essentially one of brainstorming. Selection and ordering come later.
Experience: Many people find it easier to start with this, because it is the most concrete. Begin by thinking of your life as divided into a number of stages. What these are depends on you – the divisions between the stages may be marked by changes of job, moves from one place to another, or by key events in your life – marrying, having children, buying a house, and so on. Your notes on your experience should certainly include:
• education
• any professional training
• periods of employment – include part-time jobs and those which didn’t last very long, as well as ‘proper’ jobs
• other extended periods in which your life focused on a particular activity (for example, periods of foreign travel)
• any voluntary work you have done
Interests: You might question why you should consider your personal interests when preparing a job application. After all, these are the things you do in your spare time when you are not working. Interests are relevant for a number of reasons:
• They are one of the ways in which your personality can be defined; and your personality is very relevant indeed to a job application.
• They frequently indicate skills you have which are not currently used at work. See 'Skills' below.)
• They often have a bearing on why you are interested in particular types of employment.
• They may point the way to other kinds of employment that you had not previously thought of.
Skills: Your notes on your experience should provide you with useful prompts when it comes to listing your skills. Look at each of the different stages of your life and ask yourself:
• Which skills did I use here that I already had?
• Which skills did I improve on or consolidate?
• What new skills did I learn?
In addition, think about your leisure time interests: perhaps these also entail useful skills which may be relevant to a job application.
Make sure that you include not only skills related to your trade or profession, but also personal skills, for example:
organizing events training staff
interviewing giving advice
chairing meetings making presentations
supervising trouble-shooting
meeting the public
Don't be too concerned at this stage about whether the skills you list are relevant. That can come later. For now write them all down.
When you have finished, look back through the list and consider whether each item is one separate skill, or, in fact, a bundle of skills that should be separated out. For example, you may have written ‘communicating’, when it may be preferable to list:
• simplifying technical subject matter
• writing simple technical manuals
• training non-specialist workers.
Personal qualities: This is the area that many people find most difficult; they are unhappy talking about themselves and their qualities because they feel it is big-headed or ‘pushy’. They may also find it quite difficult to step back and look at themselves objectively. On the other hand, if you don’t tell a potential employer about your personal qualities, who will?
It is sometimes difficult to begin such a list, so here are some qualities to start you off. Write down any which you think apply to you, and then add others of your own. For each one you choose, make sure that you can think of incidents in your own life and work experience that bear them out.
accurate independent worker
adaptable lively
astute logical
can work under pressure loyal
careful methodical
committed meticulous
competent orderly
cooperative organized
courteous positive
decisive practical
dedicated receptive
energetic relaxed
extrovert reliable
flexible self-confident
friendly self-motivated
get on well with other people sensitive
good communicator thorough
good sense of humour thoughtful
good time-keeper vigilant
hardworking works well with others
imaginative
Turning your notes into a CV
You should by now have a full set of rough notes. (It doesn't matter how rough they are, provided they are as detailed as possible.) The next stage is to decide how you want to order your CV. This can be done in one of two ways:
• chronologically
• functionally
Chronological: A chronological CV presents your education and work experience either in the order in which they happened, or in reverse order, with your most recent experience first. Since recent experience is probably of most interest to an employer, this latter method is now widely used. The advantages of a chronological CV are that it emphasizes the companies or organizations you have worked for (and the periods of time involved) and your continuity of employment. The disadvantage is that if your career has had ups and downs, especially if it includes periods of unemployment, these show up very clearly. The employer who is looking for a steady and reliable employee will probably favour this approach.
Functional: A functional CV is organized by skills and qualities. If, for example, your experience is in motor-parts sales, both as a representative and in head office, the functions you could use as headings might be:
• presenting the product range
• customer care
• information technology
Under each one you can provide further details of specific experience. The advantage of this approach is that you can focus on you strengths without having to spell out relative inexperience or periods of unemployment. The disadvantage is that it may not make clear important periods of employment with impressive employers. The employer who is looking for applicants with particular skills and capabilities will find the functional CV more helpful than the chronological.
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