CareerLab - 200 Cover Letters for Job Hunters

The word resume means "summary," and resumes began as biographical sketches. They listed hobbies and interests, and things like your height and weight.

Today, resumes are more sales- and marketing-oriented. They have become sales tools. Some are so accomplishment-oriented ("at my last job, I worked a miracle") that they bear almost no resemblance to the modest resumes of the past. If you have an accomplishment-oriented resume, it's easy to cut and paste a marketing letter. The two-step formula for this letter is:

I hit triples and home runs at my last job, so . . .
I can hit triples and home runs for you.

Here is the text of an excellent accomplishment-oriented letter:

Maurice M. Bordeaux
4421 Oak View Road | Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57103
C: 919-555-1212 | F: 919-555-1213 | mbordeaux@msn.com

May 24, 20—

William S. Frank
President/CEO
CareerLab
304 Inverness Way South, STE 465
Englewood, Colorado 80112-5827

Dear Mr. Frank:

For some time my wife and I have been discussing a move from the South Dakota prairie to Colorado, and my research shows CareerLab to be active there. In eleven years with Northern Bank, I have developed skills in managing people, budgets, products, and services. These skills work well in any organization or profession.

Here are some of my accomplishments:

As Director of Consumer Loans, I successfully managed 20 loan officers in 8 locations. In four years we tripled our outstandings ($15,000,000 to $45,000,000) and profits, while keeping our delinquencies at the same low of 1.0%-1.3%.
As Retail Manager of our largest branch, my staff was motivated to increase deposits 30% ($73,000,000 to $90,000,000) over the last three years. I accomplished this with measurements, rewards, and enthusiastic training sessions.
In the last three years I reduced my branch staff from 30 to 23 (23%) by implementing automation and reorganization. This saved us $70,000 annually.
I developed our large line revolving credit product and also developed new fee income which is now 20% of total fee income.

Since my training has been in the banking profession, that is where I will concentrate my search. However, I think you will agree that the skills I have developed are adaptable to other situations. I will be home for two weeks beginning May 24th. I would like to visit with you and look forward to hearing from you some time then.

With best wishes,
Maurice M. Bordeaux

Maurice crafted a thoughtful, persuasive letter. I could tell by reading it that he got some phone calls. Well-written letters always do.