A resume is the single-most important document a job seeker can have. It’s the key professional passport that’s required for entry into a new position and sometimes a new career.However, resumes by themselves are lifeless without the accompaniment of a well-crafted cover letter. An apt term, cover letter, because it’s designed to do more than physically cover the resume in mailed form; it’s to cover those aspects of a job seeker’s background that the resume will detail.

The cover letter is most effective when it introduces the job seeker to the reader. Like a sort of written handshake, the cover letter introduces the person, his credentials and desired direction for the future.

By presenting the person, the cover letter includes factual personal information such as name, address (usually home), business, cell and home telephone numbers and a personal email address (sometimes a business email address is listed).

I recommend a personal or home email address because they generally change less frequently than the business address. Also, by providing a home email address, the job seeker is giving the headhunter or potential employer a way to contact him privately and sometimes at a later date.

Conveys personality
A good cover letter will also reveal a snippet of information regarding the personality and possibly character of the writer. Depending on the writing style chosen by the candidate – formal, cookie-cutter, informal, friendly, chatty, conversational – the reader is able to gain some insight into the author of the letter. This preliminary process often helps narrow the list of those who may be pre-screened via phone or invited for in-person interviews.

The credentials portion of the letter is also a window into the mind of the writer. By emphasizing and highlighting select parts of his background, the job seeker is signaling the reader to look more closely at certain parts of his resume. It also should indicate in what direction the job seeker is heading. This helps the headhunter/employer to see how the job seeker perceives himself in relation to his peers.

The uninitiated might think that a person’s experience and credentials are nothing more than a bunch of facts and dates in chronological order. It’s the cover letter that summarizes and crystallizes what the writer feels about the most relevant parts of his background. Determining how a job seeker perceives himself, and the skills he brings to bear, is an integral part of the headhunter’s job. We have to make sure that the candidates’ perception of themselves will match ultimately with how they present themselves to our client.

Lastly, the direction in which a job seeker wants to go is critical to the entire job search process. The more clearly one expresses his aims, hopes, goals and direction, the smoother the process. A cover letter is the best place to state that direction.

One cannot speak about cover letters without emphasizing the need to use the spell and grammar check. Solid writing, good grammar and correct spelling and punctuation are the bedrocks of communication.

A most unusual approach
And from the folder labeled unusual cover letters and correspondence comes the following group that I’ve saved for just this type of occasion:

A cover letter typed neatly on the back of a postcard entitled: Where do I fit in the job market?

A one-page letter with an inset color photo of the candidate holding a basketball captioned: Pete Smith, World’s Worst Basketball Player. The headline reads: He could never hit the J, but there are no Js in PR. The letter continues with references to his PR experience and analogies to basketball.

What’s Halloween without a letter on bright orange paper titled: There’ll be no tricks, only treats, if you can help me find a job!

Memorable stunts include one candidate who telegrammed a client following an interview: I have a great idea for your campaign. Hire me and I’ll tell you what it is, AND another who sent a client a thank-you in the form of a wheel of Brie. Accompanying that was a note that began, I just wanted to thank the big cheese himself…

Jane Doe Up for Grabs screams another letter. It then goes on to describe how this freelancer promises to dress in professional attire (including pantyhose); how her cats went nuts with her credit cards and how she yearns for the normal life of a full-time job.

And finally, one helpful soul who visited Spring Associates’ website wrote: In order to be taken seriously as the leading PR Executive Search firm, proof read you (sic) home page. There is a misspelled word Associates in the first paragraph. Thanks. And thank you!

These letters may not have gotten the writers the intended result – a job, but they certainly gave me a chuckle and got my attention. Do they really work? You be the judge.

Spring Associates, Inc. is arguably the most imitated search firm in public relations. Dennis Spring created his firm in 1980. In addition to executive search services, the company also handles communications audits, mergers and acquisitions, client/agency reviews and PR agency selection searches.

Spring Associates was the FIRST to compile and publish The Official PR Salary & Bonus Report. Considered by many as the industry standard for accurate and reliable salary, bonus and PR agency hourly billing rates. The Report has been published annually since 1996. Feel free to visit this site

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Tags: public relations, write, cover letter, resume, jobs

Here’s a sample of what you’ll be missing if you don’t take public relations seriously.

As a business, non-profit, government agency or association manager, you will miss out on the challenge of assembling the resources and action planning needed to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among your most important outside audiences.

You’ll also miss the thrill of persuading those key folks to your way of thinking, as well as moving them to take actions that allow your department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

Rather, if years of experience are to be believed, you’ll probably find yourself preoccupied by communications tactics like special events, broadcast plugs, press releases and brochures. A shame because you will not be getting the best public relations has to offer.

Those managers taking PR seriously, however, will long since have based their PR program on a fundamental premise like this: People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.

Fortunately, quality public relations planning really CAN alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors among key outside audiences. But to do so, you should remember that your PR effort must require more than special events, news releases and talk show tactics if you are to receive the quality public relations results you deserve.

What kind of end-products, or results, are we talking about? Welcome bounces in show room visits; prospects actually starting to do business with you; capital givers or specifying sources beginning to look your way; customers beginning to make repeat purchases; membership applications starting to rise; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures showing up; politicians and legislators looking at you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities; and other community leaders beginning to seek you out.

Since they are already in the perception and behavior business, your public relations professionals can be of real use for your new opinion monitoring project. But be certain that the PR staff really accepts why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Most important, be sure they believe that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Because you must monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences, involve your PR people from the outset. Rehearse with them questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the exchange? Are you familiar with our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Obviously, involving professional survey people will be considerably more expensive than using those PR folks of yours in that monitoring capacity. But whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking the questions, the objective remains the same: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

Now you set a public relations goal calling for action on the most serious problem areas you uncovered during your key audience perception monitoring. Will it be to straighten out that dangerous misconception? Correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentially painful rumor dead in its tracks?

As one good turn deserves another, setting your PR goal demands an equally specific strategy that shows you how to reach that goal. But only three strategic options are available to you when it comes to doing something about perception and opinion. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will taste like fluffernutter on your Chinese potstickers. So be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You certainly don’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

As you know, when you’re dabbling in public relations, you cannot avoid doing some writing, and our current example is no exception. Here, you or your people must prepare a persuasive message that will help move your key audience to your way of thinking. It must be a carefully- written message targeted directly at that key external audience. Select your very best writer
because s/he must come up with truly corrective language that is not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Exactly what will carry your message to the attention of your target audience? Communications tactics, of course. And there are many available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. Just be certain that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

Because the credibility of any message is fragile and always subject to interpretation, HOW you communicate is a factor to be considered. Which is why you initially may wish to unveil your corrective message before smaller meetings and presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases.

A second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience will seem like a good idea when calls for progress reports are heard. You’ll want to use many of the same questions used in the benchmark session. But now, you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

Because momentum can always slow, it is fortunate that you can speed it up by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

If this reflects your current PR program, it’s probably time to take public relations seriously and begin to change the behaviors of your most important outside audiences, while avoiding a preoccupation with communications tactics. This will allow you to alter individual behaviors within those key groups in a way that leads to behavior change, thus insuring the success of your operation.

end

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 1170 including guidelines and resource box.
Robert A. Kelly © 2006.

Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has published over 200 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click Expert Author, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. Visit his site

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Tags: public, relations, manager, marketing, resume

It’s understandable if your PR fizzles when it’s limited to simple tactics like news releases, broadcast plugs, press events and brochures. But then starts to sizzle when you do something meaningful about the behaviors of those important audiences that MOST affect the business, non-profit, government agency or association unit you manage.

It especially sizzles when your public relations creates the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives. Then continues as you follow through by persuading those key outside folks to your way of thinking by helping move them to take actions that allow your department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

A fact of PR life is this: when you need to move a message from here to there, communications tactics usually can do that job. But be careful here, because a preoccupation with tactics usually denies managers the best that public relations has to offer by diverting the manager from pursuit of the real sizzle outlined above.

And I mean sizzle based squarely on an underlying premise such as this: people act on their own
perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.

As it turns out, the premise delivers on its implied promise: good public relations planning really CAN alter individual perception and result in changed behaviors among key outside audiences. But the fact is, you’ll only get there when your PR demands more than news releases, special events and broadcast plugs. Only then will you receive the quality public relations results you believe you deserve.

When we look closer at the kind of PR end-products that can come your way, we see quite an array: community leaders begin to seek you out; welcome bounces in show room visits; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; prospects actually starting to do business with you; capital givers or specifying sources begin to look your way; politicians and legislators start seeing you as a key member of the business, non-profit, government or association communities; customers begin to make repeat purchases; even membership applications
start to rise.

Your PR staff will be indispensable from now on. Work closely with them on your new opinion monitoring project since they’re already in the perception and behavior business. But satisfy yourself that your PR people really accept why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Briefly, be certain they believe that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Spend some serious time reviewing with them how and when you will monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Suggest questions to be asked like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the exchange? Are you familiar with our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

However, should you decide to use professional survey firms for the opinion gathering chore, be advised that it may be more expensive than using your PR people to carry out the monitoring chore. So whether it’s your folks or a survey firm asking the questions, the objective remains the same: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

With key outside audience opinion gathered, the number one job now is to establish a clearcut and realistic PR goal that calls for action on the most serious problem areas you uncovered during your key audience perception monitoring. You may decide to stop that potentially painful rumor cold. Or straighten out that dangerous misconception. Or correct that gross inaccuracy.

The path to your new goal, however, requires an action-oriented strategy that shows you how to get there. Here, you have just three strategic options available to you when it comes to doing something about perception and opinion. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. Of course, the wrong strategy pick will taste like maple syrup on your meatballs. So be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You certainly don’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Now it’s time for the best writer on your team to prepare a persuasive message that will help move your key audience to your way of thinking. It has to be a carefully-written message targeted directly at your key external audience. Your writer must develop really corrective language that is not merely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if it is to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Your next challenge as a manager will be to insure that the communications tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of your target audience are selected by your PR team. Happily, there are many available, from speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. Just be certain that the tactics you select are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

One of the realities of human existence is that someone else’s message is often suspect because of the WAY in which it is communicated. So you may wish to unveil your corrective language through smaller meeting presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases.

When you elect to distribute progress reports to illustrate results, know that this should alert you to begin a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. You can use many of the same questions used in the benchmark session. But now, you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

The vicissitudes of life being what they are, any program can suffer periodic slowdowns. Should that be the case, here is a reliable remedy: boost momentum by adding more communications tactics and/or increasing their frequencies.

As it turns out, a public relations program fizzling along on simple PR tactics, can indeed begin to sizzle when you do something meaningful about the behaviors of those important audiences that MOST affect the business, non-profit, government agency or association you manage.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website.

Robert A. Kelly © 2005.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi- cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations.

Visit this Site

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Tags: public, relations, skills, resume, training

O.K., you manage something like human resources, distribution, special projects or finance for a business, non- profit, government agency or association. And, oh yes, you’re pretty darn good at what you do.

Managers: Yes, You DO Need Public Relations

Why? Because sooner or later, virtually all business, non-profit and association managers must alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among their most important outside audiences.

And they must help persuade those external publics to their way of thinking, then move them to take actions that allow the manager’s department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

Yes, all managers really DO need public relations.

Which means, should you be such a manager, that you must do something positive about the behaviors of those important external audiences of yours that most affect YOUR operation.

Results can come quickly when business, non-profit or association managers use public relations to alter individual perception among their target publics, leading to changed behaviors which then helps to achieve their managerial objectives.

Fueling such an effort is the reality that people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

If you decide to undertake such an effort, please keep in mind that your PR effort must demand more than special events, brochures and press releases if you are to achieve the quality public relations results you’re counting on.

No end of positive results can come your way. Capital givers or specifying sources begin to look your way; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures appear; politicians and legislators starting to view you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities; customers start to make repeat purchases; membership applications on the rise; welcome bounces in show room visits; prospects starting to do business with you; and community leaders beginning to seek you out.

Your public relations staffers, who are already in the perception and behavior business, can be of real use for your new opinion monitoring project. But be certain that the PR staff really accepts why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. And make sure they really believe that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Meet with your PR folks and review with them your plans for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions along these lines: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? Are you familiar with our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Measure the cost benefit of using those PR folks of yours in that monitoring capacity against the cost of using professional survey firms to do the opinion gathering work. You may find that using your public relations people is the better bargain. But, whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking the questions, the objective remains the same: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

At this juncture in the problem solving sequence, establish a goal calling for action on the most serious problem areas you uncovered during your keyaudience perception monitoring. Will it be to straighten out that dangerous misconception? Correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentially painful rumor cold?

No one these days sets a goal without a supporting strategy to show them how to reach that goal. However, there are just three strategic options available to you when it comes to doing something about perception and opinion. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will taste like butterscotch syrup on your fish sticks, so be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You wouldn’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Here comes some real work. You must write a persuasive message that will help move your key audience to your way of thinking. It must be a carefully-written message targeted directly at your key external audience. Your very best writer will be needed because s/he must produce really corrective language. Words that are not merely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Some view the next step as a wild and wacky part of the effort — selecting the communications tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. There are many available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be certain that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

Fact is, HOW you communicate should also concern you since the credibility of any message is fragile and always up for grabs. Which is why you may wish to unveil your corrective message before smaller meetings and presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases.

The thought that a progress report may be needed usually pops up at about this point. Which means you and your PR team should view the notion as an alert to begin a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience.You’ll want to use many of the same questions used in the benchmark session. But now, you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

Of course, the reality that you can always speed things up by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies, will be a source of comfort for you should program momentum slow.

So, it’s true. Sooner or later, virtually all business, non-profit and association managers must alter individual perception in a way that leads to changed behaviors among their most important outside audiences.

Which translates this way: managers really DO need public relations to achieve their managerial objectives.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 1155 including guidelines and resource box.
Robert A. Kelly © 2005.

Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has published over 200 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click ExpertAuthor, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. Visit his site

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Tags: public, relations, manager, management, resume