Following last month’s post on Resume Writing Tips, I thought I would continue on that theme with an article about “cover letters”. However, just before I get into my article on the 9 Cover Letter Tips, there is something that I need to clear up.
Frequently there is confusion about the exact meaning of the term “cover letter”. That’s because when most people use that term, they don’t realize that there are TWO main types of cover letters. There are “document transmittal cover letters”, and there are “resume cover letters”.
Some people have even gone so far as to name ALL letters “cover letters”. That’s plain wrong of course, but there are some actual books/ebooks that have been published referring to cover letters as if ALL types of letters are cover letters. Go figure? So, to find out the real scoop on cover letters, keep reading…
Many people arrive at my “writing help” Websites looking for help with writing their resume or c.v. Although I don’t specialize in resume writing, I do end up writing a number of them each year when requested by clients.
Following is an article I wrote that is based on both my personal and professional experiences writing resumes over the years. If you follow these 10 Tips you won’t go wrong.
Writing a report can be one of the most difficult writing tasks we face, whether it’s for work or for school.
In my various professional incarnations over the years, as bureaucrat, administrator and private consultant, I have been required to write literally (no pun intended) hundreds of reports of just about every description you can imagine. In fact, when I did my MBA in the mid-1990s it was like a total immersion course in report writing; they seemed to be never ending.
So, to help people with their report writing I have put together a few tips that I have picked up over the years.
One of the most common weaknesses I see in day-to-day writing is poor logical flow from one idea or point to the next. This usually takes the form of a bunch of seemingly unrelated phrases thrown together with little or no sense of sequence, continuity, or relativity. I call it “disconnected writing”, and it’s all around us.
I see many blatant examples of disconnected writing every day in the newspaper. I also hear it on the radio and TV news on a regular basis. In fact, when I come across an item containing this type of writing I often find myself asking more questions at the end of the item than it answered for me in the first place. It’s especially frustrating when the way an item is reported raises very obvious questions that just about anyone would naturally ask, yet it doesn’t answer or even acknowledge those questions.
Are you guilty of “disconnected writing”? To find out exactly what it is and how to overcome it, keep on reading…
I believe that most people are “experiential learners”. I know that I definitely am. An “experiential learner” is someone who learns through experience or “by doing”, as opposed to learning passively through lectures or book learning.
If you are an experiential learner there is an amazing new training tool that is starting to sweep the Web and it’s called “Online Video Tutorials”.
Are you aware that “how-to” books are among the “easiest” books to write? Yes, that’s right, they are!
After all, how hard can it be to write about something you already know really well, something that you are passionate about?
Heck, you may not even need to do any research! What other kind of author has that luxury?
As I say on my Web site, I am a firm believer that 99% of people who have specific knowledge of ANY subject, coupled with a passion to share that knowledge with others, are natural how-to authors.
In fact, as I state in the Introduction to my book…
You would be amazed at some of the pure gibberish that arrives in my e-mailbox on a regular basis.
I first published an article on this subject three years ago, but based on what comes into my e-mailbox every day, many people need a refresher on the basics of composing e-mails.
When sending e-mail, some folks seem to think that because they aren’t dealing directly with another person (or as directly as they would be face-to-face or by telephone), all forms of civility and basic respect for the other person (i.e. the recipient), and the English language, can go out the proverbial window.
Not true! Writing e-mails is still communicating. Both the recipient and the language still deserve your respect.
The following list of e-mail Dos and Don’ts has been adapted from a chapter in my eBook titled Instant Home Writing Kit.
Because I own and operate a number of successful writing-related Web sites I quite often receive e-mails from people asking questions like; “How did you get started online Shaun – what does one need to do to establish an online presence like your Writing Help Web sites?”
Well, I have thought a lot about this, and I’ve concluded one thing above all else — I am convinced that the “ability to write effectively for the Web” is the single most important skill that one needs to possess in order to create a successful online presence.
Let’s face it, the Internet is all about words. People use words to search for what they’re seeking online. When surfers arrive at their destination Web sites, they are exposed to many more words than images. The search engines are all based on words. It’s clear that words are what it’s all about online. In fact, a well-known truism used by Internet Marketers states, “It’s the words that sell, not the pictures”.
So, if you can master the relatively simple skill of writing effectively for online readers, you’ll be well on your way to success on the Net. And here’s the good news – the skill of online writing can be easily learned by just about anyone. That’s right!
A couple of years ago when I was developing the original version of my book on how to write college admission essays and personal statements, I was obliged to conduct a lot of research into the entire subject of admission essay writing. So, I did a fairly extensive literature search of what was available on the subject, both online (Internet) and offline (books).
By the way, I’ve just released the latest Revised Edition of that toolkit. You can take a look at it right here:
http://instantcollegeadmissionessay.com
One thing that really struck me during my research was how many people seem to go out of their way to sabotage their own college admission essay-writing efforts.
Time, and time again, I read about the first-hand experiences of Admission Committee members who received essays and/or personal statements with two or three strikes against them from the outset – usually due to some glaring oversight, omission, or risky strategy.
In fact, it’s hard to believe at times, some of the things I’ve seen on draft essays that have been submitted
to me. Fortunately I’ve been able to fix most of those before they went any further. Unfortunately for some
people though, these problems don’t get fixed, and end up being submitted to an Admissions Committee.
Here’s a list of the seven (7) common mistakes that reviewers frequently encounter when reading admission essays and personal statements:
Hi there — Shaun Fawcett here. Welcome to my new Blog. You can scroll down to the previous post for Blog background.
It was four years ago this week that I posted my very first page of writing help info on my writinghelp-central.com Web site.
That’s hard to believe. It really does seem “just like yesterday”, as they say.
Earlier today when I was doing a quick mental review of the last four years, the thought struck me that if I had to chalk everything I’ve done up to one particular motivating factor, that factor would be “writer’s block”.
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