1. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
1. --- Market yourself
2. --- Send Resume and cover letter (to employers and recruiters)
3. --- Keep track of the places you submit your resume to
4. Next day --- Fallow up with everyone you send a resume to be sure they received it.
5. --- Receive a call or email (from employer or recruiter)
6. Same day --- Send a contact Fallow up letter (to employer and recruiters)
7. --- Invitation to interview (from employer)
8. Same day --- Send Confirmation letter outlining your objectives of the interview with
portfolio attached
9. Next day --- Send a Letter of introduction (to employer)
10. --- Prepare a Portfolio for each interview
11. --- Prepare one mini Portfolio for each person interviewing you plus 3 extra portfolios
12. --- Go to the interview location the day before the interview to check it out, notice the way
people dress
13. --- The interview happens
14. Same day ---Send an Interview Fallow up letter
15. --- You get hired (Horary :)
16. Send thank you letters to the HR people, head hunters, and anyone else that helped you get
this job :>)
17. --- You don't get the job
18. Send a letter of disappointment and wish them good luck and a successful project.
Types of letters
You should write a sample letter for each type of letter. Keep them on file ready to customize to a
specific need.
cover letter
contact Fallow up letter
Interview confirmation letter
Letter of introduction
Interview Fallow up letter
Thank you letters
Letter of disappointment (I personally know people that have been hired as a direct result
of this letter)

2. Cover letters
Do hiring professionals even read cover letters for senior candidates anymore? Some say yes;
some say no, they don‟t bother unless the resume in question has grabbed their attention.
The simple answer is that you should assume your resume will merit a look at your cover letter;
always include one (either as a separate document or an e-mail that acts as one); and make it
exceptional, so you stand out from the crowd. TheLadders talked to hiring and career
management professionals to find out exactly how a good cover letter is laid out and what it
contains.
Dear who?
The salutation is your first chance to make contact with a hiring professional, but it‟s one spot
where laziness often wins out over due diligence. We‟re talking about the “Dear Sir or Madam”
approach. What this generic salutation says isn‟t positive: Namely, that the author couldn‟t be
bothered to find out the hiring manager‟s name.
Abby Kohut, president and staffing consultant at Staffing Symphony, suggests job seekers can
easily locate the right person online: “To find the name of the hiring manager, try searching on
Google or LinkedIn,” she said. “Even a good guess scores you points because it indicates that
you tried harder than everyone else.”
Why do you want to work here?
Kohut recommends that job applicants make sure to mention the name of the company in the
letter, followed by an explanation of why they‟re interested in working there. “Make sure that
you really mean what you say,” she said. “Recruiters have a way of sensing when you are being
less than truthful. Our goal is to hire people who sincerely want to work at our company — it's
the job of your cover letter to convince us.”
Bombastic claims are just as bad as insincerity. Brooke Allen, a hiring manager at Maple
Securities, said he hates it when job seekers claim in their cover letters that they‟re his “best
candidate.” “How can they know without evaluating all my candidates?” he asked.
You also need to make a sales pitch as to why the employer should want to work with you,
Kohut said.
“Your letter should explain what you can do for your ‛customer,‟ not what you are selling,” she
said. “The key is to give the reader a small glimpse into your background, which encourages
them to want to learn more by reading your resume.”
Length and format

3. Job coach and author Susan Kennedy, of Career Treking, provided this outline for a good,
succinct cover letter:
First paragraph
Introduce yourself and state why you are writing; you are enthusiastically presenting yourself for
a job, and your background makes you the best candidate. List a referral source if possible.
Second paragraph
List your value to the company. Describe how you will contribute to the company from Day
One. This should be based on research of the company and job. Share knowledge of the
company‟s goals, accomplishments and opportunities.
Third paragraph
Call to action. Ask for the interview and state when (exactly) you will follow up.
If you are responding a job posting, Kennedy recommends a column approach with bulleted lists
of requirements and descriptions of how your background matches them:
Job Requirements: 1-2 years of general accounting experience.
Your experience: Tracked expenses and all financial reporting for a government subcommittee.
Job Requirements: Attention to detail.
Your experience: Edited manuscripts to ensure American English vs. British English.
Kennedy notes that cover letters “can also be used to bridge your background and the job.” She
offered up an excerpt from the cover letter of a client with a degree in political science who
wants to get a job in the video-gaming business:
“As you can see, my resume is attached. But what you won‟t see on my resume is my passion for
video gaming: it is how I see the world. My analytical skills and attention to detail will enable
me to help solve the caller‟s problems and ensure a high-quality product.”
Perfect spelling and grammar are mandatory
A cover letter is “a writing-skills evaluation in disguise,” Kohut said. “When recruiters are faced
with large stacks of resumes for new positions, you'll never make the first cut if they notice even
one spelling or grammar mistake on your resume or cover letter.” Make sure that even an e-mail
is scrupulously proofread.

4. Some advice
1. Include an 'informational gift'––something the interviewer would find interesting,
based on what you talked about or on the notes you took. This could be a link to a
publication about a topic you discussed, or tips on how to improve an activity or
sport the interviewer mentioned.
By adding the small gift you keep your name and personality among those at the top
of the hiring manager's list. You affirm your interest in the job but also your interest
in the employer as a person. This makes a huge difference. Continue contacting the
hiring manager on the same day every week until the position is filled. When the
time comes, you may be the one to fill it.
2. Sign off with a friendly closing such as 'warm regards' or 'yours with appreciation.'
Tactics hiring professionals love
Sometimes a gesture can impress a hiring professional. Kohut was once beguiled by a candidate
who read her LinkedIn profile and saw that she had won a ping-pong tournament. “He sent me a
ping-pong paddle in the mail and wrote a cover letter with ping pong-themed language in it,” she
said, including sentences like these:
"I'd like to get in the game."
"I bring energy, intelligence and motivation to the table."
"I now feel compelled to drive home positive business results."
For Allen, the most effective cover letters are those that do one of the following two things in
one sentence or two: They make a compelling statement that begs a response, or they ask a
question that must be answered.
“A good approach is to ask for clarification of a point that makes it clear they have done their
homework, as in: „Your ad said X while your Web site said Y … Could you help me understand
Z?‟ ” he said. “I believe the goal of the job seeker is to start a conversation rather than just throw
a resume into a pile.”
Tactics that hiring professionals hate
Allen said that cover letters or cover e-mails should not only be “well written with proper
spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalization,” but they should also leave out abbreviations
or emoticons.
Phrases like “i dunno,” lolh,” “i dnt cf,” “!!!,” “dgms,” “WTF” and using all capital letters have
no place in professional correspondence, he said.

5. “I am not against people who are into texting, if they use it when they text,” he said. “But I like
the full expressiveness of our language and the keyboard.”
Abbreviations are also inappropriate. They‟re not expressive, Allen said, and using them risks
confusing your reader, who might not know what their spelled-out versions are.
Things to think about
1. what makes me tick
2. what can I deliver`
3. how do I make my work place better
4. why am I in demand
5. why should you hire me
6. personal brand = Value + motivation
7. "5 Strengths and Weaknesses – Do a SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats)
analysis.
Helpful URL's
8. Interview fallow up and other letters
http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/followupletters/Writing_Follow_Up_Letters.htm
9. over 40 job search
http://internsover40.blogspot.com/2009/11/top-10-tips-for-personal-branding_10.html
10. great personal branding article
http://internsover40.blogspot.com/2009/11/top-10-tips-for-personal-branding_10.html
The cover letter
1 - General Cover Letter. This letter is written to support the resume and has the broadest use in job
search. When contacting a company "cold", a general cover letter is your best bet because the
primary purpose is to introduce you and highlight some of the key points brought into the
resume. Sometimes referred to as a "broadcast letter", it can be used when sending your
resume to many recipients at once in a mass mail, too.
While general in nature, the general cover letter should be "employer focused" meaning the
wording shows the reader how the company could benefit from the job seekers experience. A
general cover letter does not mention specifics such as salary requirements but may mention
relocation if it is an issue. Just as objectives are not used on resumes, language that details the
wants of the job seeker such as "I'm looking for a permanent position with a stable company"
should be avoided. The cover letter is a sales document that grabs attention, communicates a
professional, intelligent message, and shows the benefits of the "product" (the job seeker).

6. The general cover letter should always end on a proactive note stating the job seeker's intention
to follow up with the employer rather than closing with a passive "I await your call" message.
End the letter with a specific message about when and how you will follow up and then make
sure to follow through. The squeaky wheel gets the oil and the squeak starts right here in the
cover letter. How many job seekers say "I will follow up with you by email next Wednesday" and
then actually do it? Very few! That's why it makes you stand out when you actually do what you
say you will do.
2 - Targeted Cover Letter. When answering a specific job advertisement or responding to an
opening for which you have details, a targeted cover letter is the one to use. A targeted letter
can be morphed from a General Cover Letter but the content will change to some degree. First
of all, the Targeted Cover Letter will mention the specific opening by job title in the first
sentence so the reader knows it is a response to the advertisement. It is important for the
reader to understand right away which position is being targeted.
Second, the Targeted Cover Letter will bring in specific qualifications which correspond to the
requirements outlined in the advertisement. For example, if a job ad states "3-5 years
experience in Accounts Receivable" is a top requirement, the Targeted Cover Letter would
include verbiage that draws attention to the qualification in that area; perhaps something like
"While the position requires 3-5 years experience in AR, I can offer you that and more. My
background in Accounts Receivable encompasses almost 7 years of managing over $500,000 in
receivables and I have reduced 90 days outstanding by over 75% over the last two years." The
Targeted Cover Letter can be a fantastic sales tool, especially when you have all "must have"
requirements and many of the additional qualifications the employer hopes to find.
3 - Recruiter Cover Letter. A recruiter is not an employer so a cover letter that goes to a
recruiter needs to be different. It is important to understand the dynamics of how recruiters
work and to keep that in mind when creating the cover letter. Recruiters look for candidates for
active, open positions and for positions they fill on a regular basis which can be anticipated.
Recruiters do not look for jobs for candidates. The recruiter will review your resume to see if
your qualifications match up for any active, open positions. If not, the resume is stored in the
database for possible future open positions that will match up. The recruiter's job is to vet those
selectees very closely so the employer is provided with a selection of great candidates – not
mediocre or "maybe" candidates. All this should be kept in mind when working with recruiters
so your expectations are realistic.
A cover letter to a recruiter will contain some information that normally is not included in the
two other types of cover letters. First, the target salary range should be given to the recruiter
including base salary and benefits. The one issue for which a recruiter will aggressively advocate
on your behalf with an employer is salary because it benefits the recruiter to attain as high a
salary as possible. It is to your advantage to work with the recruiter and be open about your
salary requirements from the start.
At the same time, salary is a limiting factor for recruiters. The employer gives them a range
within which to work. Some recruiters only take assignments at or above certain salary levels,
for instance over six-figures. The recruiter needs to know where you fall in the range and it is
acceptable to state a range that you are willing to consider. Remember, the recruiter will always
try to get the best salary possible for you with the employer if you are the selected candidate so

7. be realistic and honest.
Relocation flexibility, willingness to "pay your own freight" on relocation, and other factors of
your employment can be provided a recruiter in the cover letter. If a company has stated no
relocation assistance is available, knowing you are willing to foot the bill to move yourself is
something the recruiter needs to know.
In general, there are some general guidelines that apply to cover letters. All cover letters should
be kept to one page or less when printed or viewed onscreen. Just like in resumes, typos in
cover letters are not acceptable. The name header of the cover letter should also match that of
the resume so you have a consistent presentation. And finally, the use of "I" should be limited as
much as possible throughout the cover letter so it there isn't a repetitive sentence structure
throughout.
About the Author:
Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition
Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country's leading resume writing firm.
They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing
documents. Her and her firm's credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the
"best resume writers in North America," quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal,
and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more
than 75,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com
offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee -- interviews in
30 days or they'll rewrite for free!