Does Your Cover Letter Make These 5 Critical Mistakes

Does Yur Cover Letter Make These 5 Critical MistakesYouve polished your resume to no end, especially after finding a great job posting that seems tailor-made for your leadership skills. But did your titelblatt letter merit the saatkorn attention?Many hiring managers use your titel letter to gauge your interest in the company, as well as to measure your aptitude for the job.Therefore, when you resort to Dear Sir, Im interested in your open job, heres my resume, youre missing out on a critical chance to persuade employers to take you seriously for an executive or leadership role.Here are 5 of the most crucial mistakes made in cover lettersincluding those that can quickly knock you out of the groe nachfragening for a leadership job1 Your opening line was boring.I am an Operations Director with 18 years of experience or In response to your ad for a CEO, I have enclosed my resume really arent compelling enough to use as opening statements.Instead, try a hook that makes the hiring manager sit up straight in his or her chair, as in these examplesWould a ausverkauf Vice President who consistently pushes teams past quota (up to 52%) make a difference in your national rankings?As a CIO for global company ABC Consulting, Ive increased customer satisfaction to 97% in 3 outsourcing engagementspushing our revenue growth to its peak despite the recession. Im interested in creating the same results for you.The idea is to speak precisely to the employers pain points, while describing the performance impact youve had in previous roles.Note that each of these sentences contains metrics, a targeted job title, and a career-defining achievement that is framed in context and laid out quickly for the reader to absorb.Your opening line should also leverage the research youve done on the company, per the next point.2 You didnt demonstrate the ability to solve the employers problems.Rattling off a list of competencies isnt strong enough to distinguish you from other candidates, but spe aking directly to the companys needs will do the trick.You have to dig into the companys history, press releases, annual reports, and other news to figure out their pain points.What type of expansion is planned? Were earnings down in previous quarters? What do industry analysts say about the companys future and their business strategy?Armed with this information, youre able to connect your leadership skills to the employers needs much more succinctlyMy ability to produce business development results (30% rise in cloud-based solution sales during Q4 2010) can address any struggles youve had in breaking into this market. Can we talk?3 Your key points dont match (or exceed) the job requirements.Like resumes, cover letters must be precise and direct the reader keeping them attentive to the reasons they should hire you and the edge your work can give them.While youre writing, put the job description in front of you to remind yourself what the employer is seeking. Then, look for ways to point out how you can surpass these expectations.The following example is taken from an IT Director cover letterYour ad noted that you require a leader in service delivery and customer satisfaction. My career includes 3 years of 97% satisfaction ratings, achieved by improving infrastructure and network capacity, and I hold responsive service as my 1 priority.4 You didnt address the letter to an actual person.Finding a contact name inside the company has never been easier. First, you can use LinkedIns Advanced People Search function to put in the employer name, then fill in the Keywords box to find potential contacts.For example, a Business Development Manager might look for keywords such as VP Sales or COO to identify the next-level manager contact, while an IT Product Director can try to find the CIOs name.If you dont find a name through LinkedIn, be sure to check Zoominfo.com, Spoke.com, or the company About Us page.If you have access to Hoovers database or Dun Bradstreet, you c an also use these resources to locate company insiders. In addition, ReferenceUSA.com is a free contact name database available through many public libraries, and requires only your library card for access.Taking the time to locate a name (vs. resorting to Dear Hiring Manager) will help your letter create lasting impact with target employers.5 You forgot to be assertive.Especially if youre pursuing an executive or senior-level role, employers like to see a take-charge style (the same one youll use to deal with vendors or your new team). If your closing line isnt strong, you run the risk of looking too passive.Thank you in advance for reviewing my credentials is certainly polite and professionally stated.However, I look forward to describing how I plan to exceed your requirements as Vice President of Finance and Offer me a personal interview, and I will share how my leadership as CIO will impact your IT organization are both stronger.Even more intense, I will follow up with you next Tuesday shows definite intent on your part to influence the hiring audience, and gives them advance notice of the proactive steps youll take to secure the interview.To summarize, theres no reason to settle for a bland, one-size-fits-all cover letter that blends in with the others.Your job search will fare better when you zero in on the hiring audience with an unforgettable openingespecially when it draws a parallel between employer needs and your unique value.Guest Post by Executive resume expert Laura Smith-Proulx an award-winning Executive Resume Writer and former recruiter with a 98% success rate opening doors to prestigious jobs through personal branding. The Executive Director of An Expert Resume, she partners exclusively with CIO, CTO, COO, CEO, CFO, SVP, VP, and Director candidates.For additional tips and advice on resumes and cover letters, follow us on Twitter GreatResume or visit our blog.

7 Signs Your Relationship Has Become Lackluster (and How to Revive It)

7 Signs Your Relationship Has Become Lackluster (and How to Revive It) If youre feeling like your relationship is growing dull, youre not alone.A national report, The Happiness datenbankindex Love and Relationships in America, commissioned by eHarmony and conducted by Harris Interactive, suggests that at least 19 percent of people are unhappy in their relationships to some degree. Previous research reports the marital happiness is on a downward trend, too. A study conducted by the National Opinion Research Center in 2014 revealed that the more people are unhappy in their marriages than ever before. In fact, journalist and co-author of The New I Do, Reshaping Marriage for Skeptics, Realists and Rebels, Vicki Larson, sites that six of every 10 people in couples are unhappily together, and four out of 10 have considered leaving their lebenspartner.But, before you break up, consider these seven red flags that may be causing tension and some ways you might be able to revive your lacklust er relationship.1. Your job is taking a toll on your relationship.Find a good (or better) job. According to The Happiness datenbankindex Love and Relationships in America, happiness is greater among those who are employed and those who consider themselves to be the main household breadwinner. Likewise, the study suggests that household income and relationship happiness have a direct correlation, with the happiest couples earning over $200K yearly. If you (and your partner) feel comfortable and stable in your career, therefore, you may find that it positively impacts your relationship.2. Youre bored in your city.Move to a city. According to the same aforementioned research, people living in cities tend to be happier in their relationships. Perhaps because, beyond increased work opportunities, theres a lot more to do both together and solo, socially.3. You feel pressured to do everything together.Do your own thing once in a while and celebrate each other for those things. A wealth of research suggests that taking time to spend time with you is healthy and can lead to increased happiness. This might mean taking more time to work out on your own, practicing self-care like going to the spa or reading, taking time to work on your passion projects, etc. And when your partner does things on their own and does well in those things celebrate them. A study in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that, when couples celebrate their partners accomplishments as if they were their own, they find themselves more satisfied in their relationships.4. You dont do enough together.Spend more time doing activities that you both enjoy together. The benefits of quality time are insurmountable. Carve out time in your week to do the things you both love together whether that be cooking dinner or eating out, going to the movies or talks in which youre both interested, going out dancing or hitting the farmers market.5. You only talk over text.Talk more in person. A study from Brigham Young University suggests that couples who argue, apologize or attempt to make decisions over text are less happy in their relationships. As such, couples who communicate in person more tend to be happier.6. You have no social life.Hang out with mutual friends. A 2013 Facebook report that analyzed 1.3M users found that couples with overlapping social networks tend to be less likely to break up. Spend more time hanging out with your mutual friends, then, going to social outings on the weekends or hosting dinner potlucks during the week.7. Your sex life is lacking.Have more sex. Upping your sexual activity from once a month to once a week can make you as happy as if you made an extra $50,000 a year, according to a 2004 study, Money, Sex, and Happiness An Empirical Study. And the good news is that, according to the marriage statistics in a Readers Digest survey, 57 percent of those in unhappy relationships mucksmuschenstill find their partners extremely attractive, making increased sexual encounters easier.--AnnaMarie Houlis is a feminist, a freelance journalist and an adventure aficionado with an affinity for impulsive solo travel. She spends her days writing about womens empowerment from around the world. You can follow her work on her blog, HerReport.org, and follow her journeys on Instagram her_report,Twitterherreportand Facebook.