Send Half of Your Resume
Find a company you want to work. Write a great cover letter on why you are a good fit, pointing to the enclosed resume. Don’t seal the envelope and don’t enclose a resume. They’ll think the resume fell out in the mail. They will call and engage in a conversation. Sell yourself shamelessly.

Write A Prospecting Letter
Make use of the power of direct mail. Locate 5-10companies. Write up a letter to your contact network and ask them if they know anyone who works at any of the companies on your list. When a contact says they know someone on your list, send them your resume and ask them to forward it their contact or ask permission to send it yourself.

E-Mail Chain Letter
Create a list of 20 companies you want to work for and send an email to everyone you know to see if they know anyone who works at these companies. Ask them to contact you if they do, so that you can ask for a referral. Finally, ask them to forward your email to 10 more people. However don’t do this if you’re currently employed!

Distribute A Booklet
Write a booklet with information relevant to your industry and give it away. Everyone loves free information and this demonstrates your expertise. Give the booklet away electronically and advertise it to newsgroups where hiring managers will see it.

Call Human Resources
Sounds crazy, right? Call the human resources department. Ask them what outside agency or third-party recruiting firm they use. They will ask you why do you want to know. Tell them that their company is not currently looking for someone with your skill set right now the agency may be dealing with other firms, so you are looking for a recommendation. They may very well ask you for an interview. If not at least you do get a lead. They would love to save the agency fees. Also being recommended gives you special attention. Send them a thank you note.

These are guerrilla tactics that can give you better results. Be sure to stay toned for another 5 creative tips.

Basically a resume should contain your full name, campus and permanent address, telephone numbers and email addresses. Apart from that a teaching resume should include the following information:

A clear cut career and job objective which shows your sense of direction to the employer.

Your teaching resume should have the names of each of your employers and your corresponding job titles.

Mention the number of staff that you manage (if applicable).

Highlight the list of subjects and the age of the pupils that you teach.

Mention some of the teaching and learning methods that you use, field trips, discussions etc.

Mention your responsibilities in curriculum developments.

Highlight how you develop pupils with practical, creative, academic and social skills by balanced learning programs.

Mention any administrative duties in your work place.

Your methods and procedures for setting and marking home work, course work and exams.

How you did assessment of pupils work.

How you are maintaining relationships with other teachers, parents, counselors, social workers etc to improve the activities of pupils.

Mention how you are working, advising and guiding pupils on personal and academic problems and issues, caring responsibilities.

Highlight any extra curricular activities that you organized and the result of it.

Highlight any other achievements that have benefited your department and obviously your organization in general.

Trying using this for your own uses.

Date
Name
Company
Address
City
State
Zip

Dear Name,

I enjoyed the chance to visit with you in your office today concerning career opportunities with ABC Company.  After discussing the future of the company I am convinced that I can make a positive contribution, and believe our association could be mutually beneficial.

I was especially impressed with the information you provided concerning expansion into other markets and a need for an invigorated marketing effort.  With my background in advertising and insurance sales and experience as a carnival promoter, I believe I have a lot to offer.

ABC Company has an outstanding reputation in the field and is the type of organization I wish to associate myself with.  I pride myself on being an outstanding salesman and promotional specialist, and look forward to a chance to make a positive contribution during this period of growth.

If I can provide any more information that would be of assistance to you, please don’t hesitate to call me at the phone number listed above, or email me if that is more convenient.  I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Again, thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

John J. Doe.

Using this sample letter will save you time and lead to more second interviews and more job offers.  However, if your field is not sales or marketing it may not be perfectly suited to your needs.  It should be easy to analyze the thank you letter and see which sentences and paragraphs can be changed to make it fit your needs and your profession.  With modern word processing software you can customize one version, and then copy the file and make another letter geared towards a different type of job completely.  For instance, if there are three or four types of jobs you would consider then creating a thank you letter for each is probably a good idea.  The same of course is true with your cover letter and resume. Different versions for different types of jobs, emphasizing different aspects of your skills and experience will make you more versatile.  If, however, you are determined to pursue only one type of job, then you obviously need only one sample letter, one type of cover letter and one type of resume.  This is a personal choice and you are the only person who knows exactly what job would be best suited for you and if there is more than one type you’d consider.

Your goal in this is to get the attention of the hiring manager, just as it is with resume writing.  The method and format are a little different however.  Your resume will cover all, or most of your professional career, and will be from one to two pages.  Your cover letter will be a very brief page serving as an introduction to the resume.  Cover letter writing style must be direct, to the point, and able to grab the attention of the reader quickly, with a goal of making the reader want to read the attached resume.

Many people, when engaged in this type of writing, have a tendency to say too much.  Good cover letter writing is short and punchy, and will take two or three key points from the resume and emphasize them.  The old adage “tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them” holds true in both resume writing and cover letter writing.

As an example, let’s assume that you are a materials handling manager for a defense contractor, seeking another position.  In your line of work the buzz words are MRP, lean manufacturing, ISO 9000, and cost savings.  Your writing efforts should reflect these buzz words to show your value to your current employer and any future employers.  Your resume will go into more detail about how you accomplished these goals.  The cover letter will simply point out to the hiring manager that you accomplished them.    An example of this would be two bulleted paragraphs in the body of the letter that say….

•    Experienced in  quality assurance and quality control, MRP, ISO 9000, QS 9000, and Lean Manufacturing.

•    Demonstrated results in saving significant money for employers through cost savings, inventory level reductions, and on-time supplier delivery.

The hiring manager, according to many surveys, devotes only about fifteen seconds to each resume and cover letter he or she reviews.  With that in mind your writing skills need to be top notch to get this person to look at your resume.  Your resume writing skills need to be just as good to get the reader to want to grant you an interview.  In turn, your interviewing skills need to be excellent to get the hiring manager to offer you the position.  This long, and hopefully positive chain of events begins with good cover letter writing skills and ends with job satisfaction and a nice paycheck.