Simple Formula to great cover letters for jobs in Seattle

1. Identify the Problem

55% of hiring managers don’t read cover letters. Why should they, when we write like modern-day Oliver Twists, begging them to please, sir, give us the job?

News flash: The hiring manager isn’t here to make your dreams come true. They’re in it for themselves. OK, that’s harsh, but the truth is that they’re looking for an awesome candidate to come in and do a kick-ass job that’ll help them run their department (or company) more efficiently and successfully.

When you’re writing your own cover letter, start with the list of responsibilities and ask yourself, Why? Why is this task important to this company? Keep digging until you can’t go any further. The true need is usually the one at the end of a chain of whys.

2. Agitate the Problem

Now that you’ve identified the problem, here comes the fun part.

Because no hiring manager has ever said, “I just love paying employees thousands of dollars every year!” your challenge now is to remind him or her how painful the problem is, and by default, how valuable a solution could be. Don’t be afraid to twist the knife a bit, like I did in my second paragraph:

If you’re looking for someone who can not only keep up, but also deliver that SEO-friendly, 75-page street style slideshow five minutes ago…

Notice I didn’t say, “If you’re looking for someone who can turn around projects quickly…” I was specific, and I made sure to use an example I knew would resonate with a stressed-out web editor.

And if you’re new to the industry or the role? Just ask. This is exactly what informational interviews are for. Find someone on the team you’re applying to, let your interviewer do most of the talking, and pay close attention to how he or she discusses the company’s challenges.

In conversation, we instinctively trust people who mirror our body language. On your application, you won’t get the chance—but you can do the next best thing: Pick up on your interviewer’s subtle cues and phrases and then mirror their speaking language in your cover letter.

3. Offer the Solution

By this point, you’ve got the hiring manager squirming at the table. Now, deliver the solution. Hint: It’s you.

Think about what makes you incredibly qualified to solve the problem. In my case, I knew I wanted the hiring manager to think of me and say, “Lisa? Oh, she’s the one who knows our backend systems and seems like a real go-getter.”

4. Close With Confidence

After all that work, you aren’t going to dash off a breathless “Hope to hear from you soon!” right? Instead, seal the deal with a sentence that displays confidence, competence, and a genuine interest in the company:

“I’d love to learn more about your production needs and how I can help!”

Boom. That’s it.

Learn valuable leadership skills on the job in Redmond

When you’re in college, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the unknowns of your future career. What if you never get a job? What if you get one and hate it? How are you going to build a career you love?

It’s all too easy to feel bewildered, running in circles trying to chase the perfect position. But at this stage in the game, a better approach is to think about the skills you want to gain. And what should be on your short list? Leadership skills.

Although there’s no one way to become a leader, entry-level job programs—structured programs for interns or new grads that help acclimate you to the working world—are designed to help you build the skills you’ll need to become the next Sheryl Sandberg or Elon Musk. And these fundamental leadership skills will help you no matter how your career unfolds!

Here are some awesome leadership qualities you can get through these types of programs, plus some real-life examples of young professionals who became leaders on the job.

1. Confidence

To build a thriving career, you need confidence—after all, believing in your own skills and abilities will help you take risks, tackle challenges, and put yourself out there for new opportunities. But that’s pretty hard to do when you’re starting your first job and you don’t even know where to make a cup of coffee.

Experts agree that the best way to build confidence is stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new things, both of which are actively encouraged in most entry-level job programs.

 

2. A Willingness to Ask for Help

As counterintuitive as it seems, humility is just as essential for leaders as confidence. As a leader, you won’t know everything so it’s important to be approachable and open to new ideas and ways of doing things. But, because many cultures emphasize self-reliance, entry-level professionals often start their first jobs feeling like they should already know everything. Organizations create these job programs specifically to help new professionals learn the ropes, offering built-in support to make it easy to learn how to learn.

3. Clear Communication

When you think of the quintessential leader, you probably imagine them standing at a podium. The most impressive leaders stand out because of their ability to communicate clearly and professionally, especially in front of groups.

If the mere thought of this makes your palms sweat, know that the best entry-level job programs will give you regular opportunities to get comfortable relating to and inspiring other people. You’ll be immersed in nearly every form of communication, from drafting everyday emails to leading big presentations in front of your peers.

4. Relationship Building

You’ve heard the term “networking” countless times before—and for good reason. The ability to build relationships across teams and pay grades is essential to becoming a leader. That said, reaching out to pick someone’s brain over coffee can feel artificial and forced—especially when you’re the low person on the totem pole. When companies successfully incorporate interns into their company culture, they create the ideal environment for people to build organic relationships.

5. Problem-Solving Skills

Every career has challenges that require serious problem-solving skills. Successful leaders don’t buckle under the weight—they overturn conventional thinking and come up with solutions.

But learning how to solve problems in a corporate environment, rather than the classroom, doesn’t come naturally to most of us, which is why the best entry-level programs give participants a range of experience solving problems in multiple situations.

In short? By participating in an entry-level job program, you cultivate leadership qualities that will serve you through your entire career. And the sooner you get started building these must-have skills, the quicker you’ll stand out as a young leader ready to tackle the next challenge.

Writing Cover letters for Sales jobs in Seattle

Some handy tips to remember while writing cover letters

  1. In your cover letter, employers don’t only want to hear about you. They want to hear about themselves, too.
  2. The secret to writing a great cover letter: Pretend that the person you’re writing to already loves and respects you.
  3. Think of getting to know a company like getting to know a person. What is he or she like? Quirky? Serious? Snarky?
  4. To help with your cover letter jitters, just imagine you’re writing an email to the hiring manager.
  5. Your cover letter is meant to complement your resume—not reiterate it.
  6. Creepy pick-up lines don’t work in bars. They also don’t work in cover letters.
  7. Leave that phrase “To Whom it May Concern” out of your cover letter. Now.
  8. A salesy tone in a cover letter can overshadow your solid qualifications and make you seem pompous and aggressive.
  9. “I won’t pretend your company’s mission is my passion…” started the worst cover letter ever.
  10. Not quite qualified for the job? Don’t apologize for it in your cover letter.

Sample elevator speech to take your job search to the next level in Redmond

An elevator speech is a two-minute description of your skills and career goals.

It’s an easy way to share what you want to learn from someone who is in a position to help you.

Here’s an example:

“Hi. My name is ____________.

I’m looking for  (  a kind  of job  )  in (  an industry, field, or location   ).

I really enjoy  (   something about a past job or experience    )  .

I’m good at ( a certain job skill   ).”

After you’ve briefly stated these facts, you can ask for help or advice. For example:

  • “Do you have any advice for me?”
  • “Do you know anything about this company?”
  • “Do you know anyone who does know about ______________?”
  • “Can I use your name to contact them?”

Education Requirements for job seekers in Seattle

Why Do You Need to Know About Educational Requirements?

Before you decide to pursue a particular career, you must make sure you are willing to fulfill the educational requirements that will allow you to get an entry-level job. If career advancement is important to you, you will also want to discover what you will need to do to move up in that field. If you are unwilling to meet the educational requirements, or if you must start working immediately and don’t have time to get the appropriate training, you will have to think about other options. On a similar note, you may not want a job that doesn’t require a certain amount of education, for example, a college degree.

How To Find the Training You Need

When the required education for an occupation is very precise, for instance, if you must get a particular certificate or a degree from an accredited program, you will have to decide what institution to attend. There are several ways to go about finding out where to get the training you need.

  • Professional Associations: Use any search engine to find the professional association for an occupation. Then go to the organization’s website and look for a section about education or careers. If you must get your training or degree from an accredited program, it will probably say so here. There will likely be a list of programs, as well, or links to resources you can use to locate that information.
  • CareerOneStop Find Local Training Tool: Search for training by location. Programs listed include colleges, trades schools and short-term programs.
  • Your Network: If you have contacts in your prospective career field, find out where they received their training. You may also uncover this information through informational interviews with people who work in the occupation you are researching.

 

Soft Skills are not just Resume Fluff…

 Unlike technical hard skills, soft skills can translate across multiple industries. This is great news for someone looking to make a career transition or looking to fit into a new company/group. Here are some skills that you can leverage both when you are looking for a job and also when you need to excel in your new position.
  • Communication: Whether written, verbal, or non-verbal, good communication is key at any job.
  • Interpersonal Skills: Interpersonal skills allow an employee to relate to, communicate with, and work alongside others.
  • Adaptability:  The ability to go with the flow, roll with the punches, and embrace change as it comes.
  • Problem-Solving: A set of skills that can be used in difficult, unexpected, or complicated matters that arise in the workplace.
  • Leadership: Ability to guide others while reaching for the goals and mission of your organization on the whole.
  • Organization: Organizational skills are important to offset any potential problems, to make sure you can adhere to project deadlines, and to keep clear communication open.
  • Time Management: Time management is your ability to work smart.
  • Creativity: Real creativity comes in handy at any workplace—whether in problem-solving, forging new directions, or developing new solutions to old problems.
  • Emotional Intelligence: Emotional Intelligence, or EQ, is as simple as how you treat a server at a restaurant and as complex as how you navigate working with a particularly difficult coworker.
  • Work Ethic:  Without a good work ethic, your soft skills don’t serve anything without having a solid work ethic.