Beginning
1) Your first sentence should grab the reader's attention and should mention any contact names.

• Ex: Jane Parsons, who spoke with you on Friday about my interests, suggested I contact you about my sales and marketing experience.

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2) Why are you writing?

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3) How did you learn of this position / employer?

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4) In what specific position or type of work are you interested?

• Ex: I am interested in taking on new challenges with a highly respected and innovative pharmaceutical firm that values team performance and wishes to explore new markets.

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5) Why are you specifically interested in this position / employer?

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Middle

1) What specific skills / experiences are you trying to market?

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2) Provide examples / illustrations of how you have developed these skills.

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3) What parts of your resume do you want the reader to pay particular attention to?

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4) What experiences, skills, and qualities are most relevant to the job for which you are applying?

• Educational Experiences

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• Work Experiences

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• Volunteer Work

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• Activities

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• Accomplishments

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• Skills

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• Qualifications

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• Certifications/Honors/Awards

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Example of middle section (No. 1 - 4) for a person seeking a position in sales

• As you can see from my resume, I am a psychology major and was president of your debating society in my senior year. I feel both would indicate a talent for sales. I did some selling in my 1998 summer job for ABC Books, and found not only that I was successful, but that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

5) How have "unrelated" experiences allowed you to develop skills applicable to this position?

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6) What do you know about the organization?

• Ex. Recently, I read about the expansion of your company in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. As the advertising industry is of great interest to me, I was excited to learn of the new development within ABC Corporation.

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7) What do you know about this position?

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8) What makes you a unique candidate for this position?

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9) What can you do for the employer?

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End

1) Politely, yet assertively, express your desire to meet with them personally to discuss your qualifications and employment opportunities.

• Ex: I am confident that I am particularly well qualified for your position and would like to have the opportunity to meet with you to explore how I may be of value to your organization.

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2) How and when may you be contacted? Provide day and evening phone numbers where a message may be left if you are not in. You may also provide an E-mail address.

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3) Close with a statement or question, which will result in action.

• Ex: Please contact me at your earliest convenience so that I may share with you my background and enthusiasm for the job.

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~What makes a letter effective? When it...~

• ...is addressed to a specific person, by name. Call to get a name if necessary. If you cannot get a name, "Dear Sir or Madam" is acceptable.

• ...is tailored to the reader as far as is practical, to show that you have done your homework.

• ...contains short, concise paragraphs but does not sacrifice yourself for the sake of brevity.

• ...includes information relevant to the job you are seeking.

• ...asks for the next step in the process clearly and without either apology or arrogance.

• ...varies the sentence structure to avoid too many sentences beginning with "I".

• ...has no spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors.

• ...is printed or typed using a laser printer on quality bond paper which matches your resume paper and envelop.