Effective Covering Letter & Resume Writing

Effective Covering Letter & Resume Writing

What is Covering Letter?

Covering letter includes any such additional information which is not clear from the resume and at the same time you are supposed to narrate your skills, abilities, core competencies in a nut shell.

 

Why Covering Letter?

It’s a simple check on your effective writing - employer wants to check your grammar, spelling, sentence arrangements and flow of thought etc.

 

It is a supporting letter to persuade your employers to read your attached resume which includes completely different information which is not in your resume and at the same time tells the advertiser why you are applying / or where you discovered the job opening / or which job you are applying for etc.

 

It has three parts:

1. Introductory Paragraph: Your qualification

2. Main Body: Your past performance & testimonials

3. Concluding Paragraph: Motivate the employer i.e. grant you an interview

 

What is Resume?

Before 1992 we used to prepare only ‘Bio-data’. But after 1992 when our economy was opened up and MNC’s flooded in India they came with a new concept called ‘Resume’.

 

Resume is a mandatory document for all fresher’s who is looking after career & job in the private and government companies be it small, medium, and big companies after passing final exams of any courses. This is a document which includes candidate’s complete information not exceeding in any case more than 2 pages and any fresher can use this resume for next 3 years. The information includes candidate’s education, personal details with complete address (not height, weight & complexion etc.), project reports & training, major strength, major achievements, extra-curricular activities, hobbies etc.  Resume are part of your job application letter. They are technical as well as marketing documents which present you’re past and present performance to your prospective employers so that they can assess your future potential.

 

What is Bio-data?

Now-a-days this is used only for ‘Matrimonial” purposes because it consists of information on hobbies, interest, height, weight, complexion, family background, likes & dislikes, partner’s preference, marital status, emotional condition etc.

 

What is Curriculum Vitae (CV)?

This is for experienced person (more than 3 years) who has something extra to add. In other words, we can say that it includes all information related to experience, expertise, any additional responsibilities/duties etc. This should not exceed more than 6 pages otherwise it will come under the category of ‘Profile” which may be up to 50 pages.   

 

 

Types of Resumes

There are three types of resume:

 

1. Chronological (Preferred by most employers)

This resume emphasizes your education and work experience and is most effective when such experience clearly relates to the job you are seeking. List your all entries in ‘reverse’ order, beginning with your most recent qualification and experience. Under each position, describe your responsibilities and accomplishments.

 

2. Functional

This type emphasizes individual fields of competence and is hence used by applicants who are just entering the job market, who want to redirect their careers, or who have little continuous career-related experience. In a nutshell, it demonstrates the applicant’s ability to handle the position they are applying for.

 

3. Hybrid / Combination

This includes the best features of the chronological and functional resumes. It tends to be very lengthy that is why it is not so popular.

 

4. Electronic Resume

As against the paper copy resumes which are intended to be read by humans, electronic resumes are scanned by computers.

 

A. ASCII Resumes

It stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Many companies no longer hire people to read resumes. Instead they use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software for applying their modern technique called electronic applicant tracking.

 

B. HTML Resumes

It stands for Hyper Text Mark-up Language. If you choose this form of electronic resumes, you need to create an HTML coded document that can be uploaded to the internet to post on a web page.

 

Warning!!

Do not attach and include your covering letter with the resume when sending mails; always remember you are supposed to write covering letter on the body of the email space provided by Google/Yahoo/Rediffmail etc. when you click on “Compose”.

 

Note – 1: Covering letter should not exceed more than 1 page in any case for fresh students. Only experienced students can take this up to 3 pages.

 

Note – 2: Use only ‘Times New Roman or Arial’ & Font Size only 14 for ‘heading’ and 12 for ‘sub-headings’.

(The Happy Beginnings......)