How to Accentuate the Positive

From: Karen Silins

Are you worried that despite your well-written cover letter, some aspect of your professional history will create a negative view in the employers mind?  If you have some special circumstance or challenge to overcome, just accentuate the positive. You can actually make a potential negative work to your advantage.

For example, let's say you are entering the job market or a specialized field for the first time or after some time off. New graduates have to find a way to take the edge off their lack of experience. Applicants who are making a career change have to explain their lack of training in this new field and their reason for leaving their prior field. Mothers returning to professional life after an extended maternity leave must demonstrate that they're serious about their career and have remained up-to-date with the latest technology.

All these candidates have a disadvantage or challenge to overcome as they go about the application process. It can be tempting to ignore the challenge, but in most cases, it's best to address the situation in order to "level the playing field." If there's some aspect of your application that makes you slightly less desirable than other candidates, you need to find a way to bring yourself back up to par.

It can be hard to write a cover letter that effectively explains a weakness without sounding apologetic or evasive. Yet, in this case, perhaps more so than in a conventional cover letter, it is crucial to spin hay into gold. You need to take the materials of your life, no matter what they are, and give them polish and appeal. In this step-by-step guide, I'll explain how you can write your cover letter and effectively turn "weaknesses" into desirable strengths. It can be done, and I will show you how!

In a cover letter, you must convince the employer that you're someone worth listening to and seriously considering as an employee. You do this by explaining that you have exactly the qualities the company needs.

The best way to accomplish this is to briefly state your most important qualifications. The employer doesn't have a lot of time, and he'll appreciate your conciseness.

You're also making it clear that you're applying for the job because you have what it takes. You're showing the employer that you considered the requirements and that you aren't just applying on a whim. A strong middle section of a cover letter tells the reader that if he hires you, you're going to be a real benefit to the company.

If you match what you have to their needs, you're positioning yourself well in this middle section. Therefore, you need relevant specifics that will convince an employer to call you. If you sound, on paper, like the kind of person who can do the job, of course he'll want to meet you in person.

In a cover letter, you must convince the employer that you're someone worth listening to and seriously considering as an employee. You do this by explaining that you have exactly the qualities the company needs.

The best way to accomplish this is to briefly state your most important qualifications. The employer doesn't have a lot of time, and he'll appreciate your conciseness. The following paragraph does everything it's supposed to do. It's clear, concise, and to-the-point:

Karen Silins has been a professional resume and cover letter writer for 16 years and is the acting president and executive board member of the Association of Online Resume & Career Professionals

For more information about writing a cover letter that will grab the employer’s attention, please visit: http://www.breakthrough-cover-letters.com/