Resume Cover Letter Help - Part 2

I took my time in the garden that day and did a lot of thinking. My niece had come to me for resume cover letter help and I wanted to go about it in the right way. There was a debate going on in my head. Should I try to let her do it on her own or should I just write it for her? I decided to let her try to do it herself but in the end I decided I would write it for her if she needed me to. After all, this was a pivotal point in her life and to think that a SINGLE LETTER could change her whole life. I knew that with all the competition in the job market right now if she didn't have a killer cover letter she would be dead in the water - no matter how smart she was - no matter how good her resume was - I knew in my gut my niece would not get job interviews unless that resume cover letter really stood out.

Job hunting is so hard, especially when you're fresh out of college and looking for your first real job. I remember what I had to go through and I hoped that it wouldn't be as difficult for my niece. She has so much to offer the world but she doesn't have much experience yet. Any potential employer will have to take a leap of faith. I know how much potential she has but how can I get other people to see that too? The cover letter she submits with her resume may give the hiring manager special insight into her true potential. We've just got to get it perfect I decided.

After cleaning the bird bath and picking some herbs from the screened in porch, I walked back into the kitchen.

"How's it going kiddo?"

My niece pretends to hate it when I call her "kiddo" but I know deep down she loves it.

"C'mon Aunt Cyn, I told you not to call me that."

I took the legal pad out of her hands and began to try to decipher her scribble from the scratch throughs. It was about that time I noticed all the wads of paper around the garbage pail. My niece is NOT a basketball player afterall.

"You missed baby" I said with a little chuckle"

But when I looked over and saw the look of despair on my niece's face, the smile left my face in a hurry. I can't stand to see my niece hurting. Applying for jobs is really stressful and I could see it was taking its toll on my niece.

I put my hands on her shoulders and said, "Now, don't give up. Let's work on it together."

With a deep breath, "Okay, Aunt Cyn."

"Tell me what kind of job you really want."

She thought about it for a moment and then said, "Well, I'd prefer to work for a nonprofit. Some place where I really believed in their mission."

"Does it have to be an environmental non-profit?"

"Maybe... I don't know... I'd also like working in an organization that does humanitarian work. I know that I like helping people and I think I'd be good at it. I started talking with a homeless person the other day and I told him about a special program where he could work and get shelter. At first he showed no interest but I sat down on the sidewalk and talked him into it. It was fun getting him interested and I actually thought to myself that I might like to do this kind of work. You know I used to volunteer at Jackie's House."

My heart swelled with pride. Jackie's House is a shelter for abused women. My niece has a very special spirit and people really like her. She can talk anyone into anything really. She's got a big heart and she's always looking out for people.

"Why don't you put one of these experiences in the letter and build on it?"

We worked all day taking little breaks and laughed a lot at our crazy drafts but eventually we got something together that we both liked.

ADDENDUM: If you don't feel like reading the rest of this story, click here to check out this cool software we ended up using to create a killer resume cover letter that landed my niece the job. It was developed by a professional marketer with over 2 decades of experience writing sales letters (I know, I've researched this well)... he's one of the top in his field and he's in very high demand because his sales letters convert really well. While almost everyone else focuses on crafting the perfect resume, he recognized long ago that a cover letter should not be dull and boring and overly professional. He realized that a resume cover letter should actually be written as a marketing letter with the #1 goal of getting you the interview. He realized that the cover letter was much more important than the resume. You can visit his website for more details. It will definitely help you if are applying for jobs.