Mass modification of cover letter for every job: worth it?

Originally Posted by Aaron

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Why are you going through HR?

I've always talked to the manager I would be working for first. Found out more about the job, see if I like them, etc. then sent my resume to the manager and HR. Just my .02 cents.

I'm not being obtuse, but I've tried to acquire that information as well. Ended in failure.

It's only worth it if you feel your resume lacks the content you feel that would set you apart.

Originally Posted by Fraiche

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It's only worth it if you feel your resume lacks the content you feel that would set you apart.

Well, I'm looking at 3 types of positions:

1) Marketing
2) Planning
3) Buying

Unfortunately my experiences regarding 2 & 3 are on the second page of my resume. I have experience regarding 1 on the first page of the resume, but it is the last entry. Since HR / hiring managers tend to glance at resumes very quickly, I don't think they get to the second page of my resume and if they do they spend even last time (5 seconds?) than they did compared to the front of the resume (25 seconds?)

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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Well, I'm looking at 3 types of positions:

1) Marketing
2) Planning
3) Buying

Unfortunately my experiences regarding 2 & 3 are on the second page of my resume. I have experience regarding 1 on the first page of the resume, but it is the last entry. Since HR / hiring managers tend to glance at resumes very quickly, I don't think they get to the second page of my resume and if they do they spend even last time (5 seconds?) than they did compared to the front of the resume (25 seconds?)

i think you just found some low hanging fruit here

Your resume needs to be one page. You are right, they won't get to the seond page of your resume. For the cover letter, my standard format is a greeting, how I heard about the job, how I fit their requirements, and a two to three reasons why I am the most qualified or best suited person for the job that set me apart from other candidates.

Originally Posted by yerfdog

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i think you just found some low hanging fruit here

I have tried to compress it to 1 page. It's just impossible... I'm already using 10 point font as it is.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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I have tried to compress it to 1 page. It's just impossible... I'm already using 10 point font as it is.

I understand how that goes. Sometimes it just doesn't work. Depending on the level of job you're looking at it should be ok to have more than 1 page. Mine is 3 pages and couldn't be shorter if I wanted it to be.

Even if you can't compress your resume down to a one-pager, you can highlight the relevant experience for the particular opening on the first page. Take a look at a variety of formats, a simple chronological listing of your work experience isn't necessarily the best approach.

I didn't read any of the responses.

my process is to mostly only change the first paragraph. I have a line each about something I learned that was interesting about the company, why I'm inteterested in working with them, how I heard about the specific job (especially if it's a contact name) and what the specific job is that i'm apply to.

paragraph 2 is about education/training and paragraph 3 is about work experience. like the resume i might have 1-2 different descriptions of what i did at each work placement or what i learned through that educational experience, just to tailor it to their specific "job requirements'. the last paragraph is about something personal (just 1 line) and then a thanks and intent to follow up.

i do like to pepper the cover with mentions of the exact company name throughout, eg at X place I did Y, where i developed skills in Z, which will be useful to me at COMPANY NAME. that way it looks like it was all custom written instead of just the first paragraph.

Originally Posted by landshark

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Your resume needs to be one page. You are right, they won't get to the seond page of your resume. For the cover letter, my standard format is a greeting, how I heard about the job, how I fit their requirements, and a two to three reasons why I am the most qualified or best suited person for the job that set me apart from other candidates.
+a million. The only reason for a resume to be longer than one page is if you are applying for an academic position and need to list your publications. I've read that the amount of time spent looking at a resume is extremely low, somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 seconds.

Originally Posted by CouttsClient

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I understand how that goes. Sometimes it just doesn't work. Depending on the level of job you're looking at it should be ok to have more than 1 page. Mine is 3 pages and couldn't be shorter if I wanted it to be.

Well, my experience in managerial positions were from 1999 to 2008. Since then, if had 1 school-based job and 2 retail-related jobs. The school job (which has some good work experience in it, including analytical market research, data analysis and social media marketing) is too good to remove.

The two retail jobs show experience in the fashion / apparel industry and also show that I have been actively working.

Originally Posted by imatlas

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Even if you can't compress your resume down to a one-pager, you can highlight the relevant experience for the particular opening on the first page. Take a look at a variety of formats, a simple chronological listing of your work experience isn't necessarily the best approach.

Links please. I have only seen chronological order based resumes.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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Well, my experience in managerial positions were from 1999 to 2008. Since then, if had 1 school-based job and 2 retail-related jobs. The school job (which has some good work experience in it, including analytical market research, data analysis and social media marketing) is too good to remove.

The two retail jobs show experience in the fashion / apparel industry and also show that I have been actively working.
The solution is to have different resumes for different positions.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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Links please. I have only seen chronological order based resumes.

Use teh Google, n00b!

Key words "functional resume".

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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I have tried to compress it to 1 page. It's just impossible... I'm already using 10 point font as it is.

Your resume is not a scientific report, it's a sales tool or an advertisement. Formatting it in such a way that someone will actually see your relevant experience is recommended, otherwise why bother even putting it? And wait a minute, if your relevant experience is more recent (I assume the school-based and retail jobs are what you consider the relevant ones), why isn't it on the top anyway even if you are doing it chronologically? Then you can just have at the bottom of page 1, if you're running out of room, something like "1999-2008: a series of managerial positions with increasing responsibility in X industry at X companies" and that will only take 2 lines. If it's not relevant experience I doubt anyone is going to care about what you did longer ago than 1999. edit: i assumed "chronological" meant "reverse chronological" like a blog, as I do not think I have ever seen a resume or resume example that put the oldest first. If you have it so the oldest and therefore probably least relevant experience is at the top, you need to look at some examples of resumes because your formatting is probably all messed up in every other area too.