The #1 Secret To Writing Resumes And Cover Letters That Get Interviews
Back in my college day I had a guidance counselor who I now realize is an absolute genius when it came to writing resumes and cover letters.
Here’s what she told me.
“Jeremy, the #1 thing most people don’t do when writing resumes and cover letters is that they focus on themselves instead of focusing on the person they’re writing to. For example they might simply say ‘my best qualities are this and this’ and send that same resume out to every job they’re applying for.
But think about it. You’re not going to use this resume and cover letter for just one company, right?”
I replied “Well, no I’m going to send it out to a few places”. (I had 2 in mind)
“Ok, well then what you want to do when writing your resumes and cover letters is simple. Instead of making one generic piece and giving it to everybody, just make a template but personalize that template to each job you’ll be applying for.
Now that I’m a direct response copywriter and don’t need resumes and cover letters anymore and have learned the secrets of persuasion, it occurred to me that she was absolutely right on the money.
And in fact, after that meeting I had with her I went home and wrote out a personalized cover letter and resume for the 2 jobs I wanted, and landed interviews with both companies.
And if you start personalizing YOUR cover letters and resumes to the specific company you’re applying for, you’ll get similar results.
What you want to do is this:
Do 10-15 minutes of research on the company you’ll be writing to. Figure out what they’d want in an employee, and write to those needs.
It might take longer, but I can pretty much guarantee you’ll land AT LEAST 30% more interviews.
Try it out and let me know how it goes!
Note: If you’re a copywriter reading this, you can use this information in 2 ways. 1) Use this for writing better resumes and cover letters for your clients if that’s what you do. 2) Use this same technique for generating more clients!
