The D.L. on the C.L.

Overall, I found the readings to be helpful and I more or less agreed with the advice offered. While the concept of having a cover letter is not particularly novel to me, I would be lying if I said I did not learn a few new nuggets of knowledge concerning them.

Here is a run-down of the new things I learned:

• An employer looks at the cover letter AFTER the resume ~ Not totally sure I believe this. It is possible but the article made it seem like an absolute. Also, I fear it downplays the significance of having a good, strong cover letter if you go into it thinking it is merely going to be an "after-thought" to your potential employer

• The resume is the place to highlight me; the cover letter should focus on the company and how I can specifically meet their needs ~ Seems to be a logical point

• Mass e-mailing/posting is pointless; unsolicited people do not really stand a chance - the best they can hope for is to be filed away (not thrown away) and miraculously resurrected at a [much] later date ~ I think this came across as way too strong, absolute, and pessimisstic to be considered accurately valid. While it does help to know someone at the company, I do not believe I am destined to fail at any & all attempts of being recognized by an employed human being if I send out my resume to several businesses via the internet...

• Take time to investigate the employer and his/her business - why should they invest time in trying to get to know me if I have invested no time in trying to get to know them? I really liked this point! It was not an angle that I had previously viewed the situation from but it makes complete sense!

• A successful resume should specifically and personally address (1) What the product [me] can do for the customer [prospective employer] and (2) What the customer [prospective employer] needs to do to buy product [me] ~ Not being a business major, I had never really looked at the situation from this "marketing" stance before but I think it is a really neat way to do so and will help me keep my focus as I think about what kinds of things to include in my cover letter

• The "Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease" is alive and well in the workplace ~ While I can specualte as to the article's motivation behind making a statement such as this, I am not so sure I agree with it. I believe that it is important to "stand up in order to stand out" [so to speak] but I also know that there is a fine line between ensuring you are recognized and just being way too presumptuous and forward. If you achieve the latter while attempting the former, you will most likely not get the job. It is also important to consider the personality and atmosphere of your prospective employer - a "squeaky wheel" attitude may be valued by some and abhorred by others. In job seeking situations, it is not very often that you know enough about personality or atmoshpere to take this risk...

Taking all the articles into consideration, I would say the most helpful/useful section was defintely the Sample Cover Letter one because it is one thing to read about all the "how-to's" but it is another to actually arrive at a product that utilizes all the information you just gathered. Seeing an example helps make the final product seem less scary and more tangible!