The Cover Letter

LINDA E. GIBSON

1432 S. Wabash Street

Kokomo, IN 43621

June 24, 2004

Lite-Snacks, Inc.

ATTN: Human Resources Department

P.O. Box 1300

Austin, TX 19284

Dear Sir or Madam:

Your ad for a Manufacturing Cost Accountant in the June 12th issue of The Fort Wayne Examiner interests me, and I am therefore forwarding my resume for your review.

As my resume will attest, I have excellent qualifications for your opening. Please consider the following:

• B.A., Accounting, University of Cincinnati, 2001
• C.P.A., May 2003
• 1 year, Auditor, Coopers & Lybrand
• 1 year, Cost Accountant, Ross Laboratories, (Fort Wayne, IN, Plant)
• Well versed in standard cost accounting practices

My salary requirements are in the low $60,000 range.

Should you agree that my background is a good match for your requirements, I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you personally. I can be reached on a confidential basis during the day at (317) 992-3176.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Linda E. Gibson

Linda E. Gibson

Enclosure

1402 Blythe Avenue

Drexel Hill, PA 19026

April 30, 2003

Mr. Gregory D. Banner

Floor Visions, Inc.

24 East River Road

Atlanta, GA 48506-2114

Dear Mr. Banner:

I am submitting my resume in response to your April 28th ad in the Philadelphia Inquirer for a Corporate Controller. This sounds like an interesting position, and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss it with you personally.

It would appear that my qualifications are an excellent match for your requirements. In keeping with your specification, I hold a B.S. in Accounting from Widener University and have over five years’ corporate accounting experience with Barter Brush Corporation, a manufacturer of paint brushes. Barter has six manufacturing facilities in five states.

As Manager of Corporate Accounting, I am responsible for preparation of the company’s consolidated returns on both a quarterly and annual basis. I am well trained in standard accounting procedures and thoroughly versed in S.E.C. requirements. I completed my C.P.A. in 1996 while an Auditor with Arthur Andersen. My credentials include over three years of public accounting experience.

I believe that I am well qualified for the position advertised, and I could make a meaningful contribution to your company. I hope we have the opportunity to meet to further discuss the specifics of your requirements.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Dawn M. Bedner

Dawn M. Bedner

DMB/rac

Enclosure

120 Ridge Road

Raleigh, NC 18273

September 23, 2004

Ms. Martha T. Randolph

Director of Human Resources

Astar Corporation

1200 Commerce Drive

Atlanta, GA 16385

Dear Martha,

I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed my recent trip to Astar Corporation and the opportunity to interview for the position of Engineering Manager. The day was certainly an informative one, and I appreciated the chance to meet with you and the other members of the interview team who all did such an excellent job of helping me to understand both the requirements of the position and Astar’s work environment.

The position as Engineering Manager of your Pneumatic Products Division sounds like a challenging opportunity, and I wanted to reiterate my strong interest in this position. In my discussions with Tony, he mentioned the primary thrust of this position; over the next two to three years will be the technology transfer of six new products which are critical components of the Company’s business strategy. Technology transfer is, of course, an area where I have considerable experience, and I know I could be of real help to Astar in successfully bringing these products to market quickly.

Additionally, I feel I could provide meaningful assistance with your efforts to implement a corporatewide TQM program, since I was a key member of the corporate steering committee instrumental in implementing a highly successful TQM program here at Winston Company. Again, Martha, I appreciated the opportunity to visit Astar Corporation. Please pass along my sincere “thanks” to the other members of the interview team who helped make the day such an enjoyable and informative one.

I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Sincerely,

Thomas R. Reardon

Thomas R. Reardon

16 Delaware Overview

New Hope, PA 19283

June 16, 2002

Mr. Walter F. Baxter

Senior Vice President

The Richfield Company

Executive Search Consultants

4520 Park Avenue, Suite 1400

New York, NY 18773-1982

Dear Walter:

I wish to thank you for your time and hospitality during my visit to New York City this past Thursday. I appreciated your thoroughness in helping me understand the needs of your client for the position of Director of Marketing.

Although at this stage of the process I know it is customary for search consultants to maintain the confidentiality of their client, I did want to let you know of my preliminary interest in the position we discussed. It would appear to be an excellent match for my background and qualifications and certainly is “on target” with respect to my current career objectives.

My strengths in competitive intelligence should be of real interest to your client in their desire to launch a competitive intelligence function as a key component of their corporate marketing strategy. Additionally, my track record in the successful launch of several major consumer products (most of which have achieved either #1 or #2 in market share), should prove appealing to your client as well.

Based upon our discussion, I would welcome the opportunity to proceed to the next step. I hope you agree, and I will be hearing from you momentarily.

Again, Walter, thank you for your hospitality.

Sincerely,

Barbara A. Swanson

1. Keep all cover letters to a single page, no exceptions!
2. Be brief and concise.
3. Eliminate any unnecessary words that add nothing to clarity or meaning.
4. Proofread for poor grammar, spelling, and typos; they can be deadly!
5. Always address letters to a specific individual, never to a general function.
6. Unless responding to an ad where instructions specify differently, always send letters directly to functional managers rather than the human resources or employment department.
7. Even where ads specify you are to send your response to human resources, do the necessary research and send a second copy directly to the manager of your target function.
8. Keep job descriptions brief and pithy.
9. Focus your letter on relevant results and achievements, not just job responsibilities.
10. Highlight significant accomplishments with bullet points; make sure they are seen!
11. Include compensation requirements, but only if you are certain they won’t screen you out from an otherwise attractive opportunity.
12. Include geographical preferences or restrictions, but not if they are likely to screen you out from an otherwise highly desirable opportunity.
13. Except when using the resume letter, be sure to include a well-written resume as an attachment to the cover letter.
14. Stick to standard business letter formats; avoid the creative or exotic.
15. Use only commonly recommended type styles.
16. Make effective use of “white space,” making your letter easy to read.
17. Use standard business paper, 80 -100 gsm, either white or buff in color.

1. Never use a cover letter that is more than a single page in length.
2. Don’t be verbose and ramble on-and-on.
3. Don’t use unnecessary words that add little or no meaning to the core message.
4. Avoid allowing poor grammar, bad spelling, or typos to eliminate your employment chances.
5. Never address correspondence to a general function; always use a specific person’s name.
6. Never send your cover letter to human resources or the employment function (unless required by an employment ad).
7. When sending your response to an ad, don’t send it only to the humanresources department. Always send a second copy directly to the management of the hiring function.
8. Avoid lengthy job descriptions in the cover letter. These can be boring and waste important space that can otherwise be used to market your value and key accomplishments.
9. Don’t focus your cover letter on job responsibilities; instead focus the reader’s attention on your key achievements and accomplishments (that is, your value).
10. Don’t hide key accomplishments down in the bowels of the letter’s text.Instead, highlight them using bullets and appropriate spacing to make them stand out.
11. Avoid highlighting mundane achievements.
12. Don’t overcrowd text, making your cover letter difficult to read.
13. Don’t include compensation requirements if this may possibly screen you out from a highly desirable opportunity in which you have a strong interest. Keep your options open!
14. Avoid including restrictive language that suggests you are geographically inflexible, especially when applying for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you’ve always wanted. You can always say no later.
15. Unless using the resume letter, don’t send just a cover letter. Always include a well-written resume as an attachment.
16. Don’t use strange or uncommon letter formatting; use conventional business formatting only.
17. Avoid using fancy or decorative type styles. Stick to conventional business styles only.
18. Don’t use unusually lightweight or heavyweight papers; stick to either 80 – 100 gsm (no exotic colors).