Cover Letters

What is the appropriate amount of time to wait to follow up on a job application? Guidelines on when and how to follow up without appearing to be a stalker. You’ve sent in your resume. You already know that a follow-up message is a critical step in your job search. Now is the time to … Read More

Parting can be sorrow if you explain it wrong in your next interview. Here are tips on positioning your resume (and your head) to provide a positive answer to the question: “Why did you leave?” Like any hiring professional worth her salt, Jillian Zavitz’s eyebrows go up when she sees short work stints on a … Read More

Employees and employers are using social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn to investigate whether each is a good fit for the job. You’ve heard again and again how important networking is when you are looking to take the next step in your career. But does that include social networking ? Can you “like,” “tweet” and … Read More

The security of your job is paramount until you guarantee a new job offer. You’ve decided to look for greener pastures, but until you find those you want to stay in your current position. That reality requires job seekers who are employed to walk a tight line between publicizing their desire for new employment and … Read More

Job seekers pull their hair out over how and whether to follow up on job applications posted by anonymous companies. He was desperate. He’d found the perfect job and applied online. Now, all he could do was wait to hear back. And wait. And wait. It’s been weeks. Shouldn’t he have followed up by now? … Read More

Angry e-mail? Check. Thank-you messages read from scripts? Check. Here’s a rogues’ gallery of what else not to do. If you can craft an intelligent letter or e-mail to follow up after a job interview, it could be the tipping point that pushes you into the job candidate finalist category. “The thank-you note remains one … Read More

Recruiters from advertising and Web marketing agencies share their advice for would-be job seekers applying for positions in creative fields. They send their resumes in pizza boxes. They send in construction boots with notes about getting a foot in the door. They send in resumes with black backgrounds and white text that make hiring managers’ … Read More

How can you find and deploy the right keywords to aim your resume at the job you want? Keywords: They’re buzzwords that identify an industry or a profession. They’re also the currency of the job search. Keywords are the terms and phrases hiring managers supply to human-resources managers and recruiters to create job posts and find matching … Read More

Video is one way to stand out, but so is networking, researching the company and writing directly to the right person. Here’s how to ace it. Read More