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Cover letter.
Now this lesson is about cover letter,
that is usually attached with your resume.
Now why do we need a cover letter?
Well sometimes cover letter is very important when you
are sending a resume and especially for those who
do not have too much experience in IT or are
getting into IT as entry level.
So this way you could actually freely tell the recruiter
or tell the hiring manager what are the other qualities
that you have that are not mentioned in the resume.
So there are two types of cover letters
that I will be covering in this lesson.
One cover letter is about the entry level and the second
cover letter is about experience level, and it is for those who already
are in IT or have some kind of experience.
So let me open up both cover letters.
So let's go over the entry level first.
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Okay, so when you type up a cover letter
for entry level, always start, the first section
start off with your name, your address, your email
address, and your phone number, just the same way
that you would have on your resume.
Then you would type the name of the
company that you are sending it to.
So in this case let's pick an arbitrary name
which is Vandelay Industries, and address,
25 Some Wannabe Ave, New York, NY.
So that's just our address.
So then the next section, that's where you actually
address the hiring manager or HR representative or the
person that you're sending your resume to.
So you will start off by saying Dear Mr.
Russell. Please accept the attached resume
for this position of System Administrator,
if it's a system administrator,
Linux administrator or system engineer.
That's why I have underlined some of the keywords
that could be replaced according to your submission.
So again, Please accept the attached
resume for the position of System
Administrator as recently advertised on indeed.com.
Or if it has been advertised
in some other website, replace that.
Or if you have been contacted by a recruiter,
mention the recruiting company name or the recruiter name.
Next, I have had the pleasure to review the
company's website and went over the job description,
and am very enthusiastic about the position. Perfect.
I believe that my combination of technical
skills and business sensibilities would serve Vandelay industries
well in this position.
So this is how you are going
to put together your first paragraph.
Then we'll have the next paragraph. Here I'll
have to mention, I know that I don't
have the exact number of experience.
You see that's where you're actually targeting the hiring manager
and telling him that why he should hire you even
though you don't have that number of experience.
So you're rightly here, as I know I don't have
the exact number of experience that you are looking for
but with the time spent on my lab,
the lab that you've been working with,
and helping out other technical issues.
Other technical issues are that maybe you have signed
up for a Linux community forum or any other
kind of technical forums which I would definitely recommend
you that you should and go online.
You have seen people have done tremendous work online.
When you type some search on Google or any search
engine and you want to look up for a technical
article, you're going to find tons of them.
Now how do we have that?
Because people actually have spent unlimited
numbers of hours putting them together.
So I would recommend you that
you should also join those forums.
Anyway, back to the cover letter is that you will
say that you spent, on my lab and helping out
others with technical issues and that can be quantified for
up to two years of actual corporate level experience.
Or if you think it could be quantified
for one, that's fine, put it there, whatever
that you think that it equals it to.
Then you put in the second line that, I
am the "go to guy" for everyone at my
current job, and among family and friends.
Or if you have a specific skill that you wanted
to replace, go to guy with something, you could replace it here.
Then the next section, the third paragraph
right here you're going to mention you're
going to write down something about yourself,
your biggest achievement in your career.
That could be anything.
Maybe you have won a championship in sports or in academic
or if you are part of a chess club, anything that
has made you proud, please do mention right here . This will
show the hiring manager that you have worked so hard for
that specific achievement and you're so proud.
So you are the kind of guy who could
work hard and would prove him or herself.
Then the next paragraph you'll say, my
resume will speak about my technical skills.
So that's good. So it's attached, it will
talk about my technical skills.
But here is a quick summary of additional
skills that I'm really good at and those
skills are, you're going to mention strong interpersonal
and communication skills, keen attention to detail, analytical
skills, time management skills, excellent documentation skills.
Now remember, these are a few skills that I have jotted
down and those skills may not reflect how you're good at,
but if you are good at any of these, include that.
Or if something that I have
not included, please include that.
And again, please be honest here.
If you are really good at time management
you really know how to manage your time.
It doesn't really have to be technical. After that,
in the last paragraph, you will mention that I
am very much interested in speaking with you to
discuss the value I could bring to Vandelay industries.
Then you'll say, I can be reached at
the above telephone number or email address.
I look forward to hearing from you. With
best regard, and your name right here.
And that cover letter is for entry level
people and for those who actually have somewhat
a little bit of experience in IT.
But it's right here in this paragraph,
write anything that you think that
really going to make difference.
This is a really important line of paragraph here.
So that's about the cover letter at the entry level.
Now let's look at the cover letter at experience level.
So experience level will start the same way.
The name, address, phone number and the company's name,
address, phone number and then again dear Mr.
Russell, everything will be the same except,
I believe that my combination of technical skills
and experience right here because in experience level
resume you will have experience.
So you'll add that here, everything will be the same.
Now the second paragraph you will say, Attached resume includes
all the details about my career and education background but
here is a quick summary about myself that will highlight
how can I be the perfect match.
And that is now you're going to come out
and say hey, this is what I have that you
might not going to see with other people.
And that is, At my current
position as a Help desh technician,
of course replace that to your existing title,
I build, manage and troubleshoot hundreds of servers.
I provide first/second level of support
to thousands of internal or external customers.
Put the number in so it
could quantify what you have done.
My professional experience includes diagnosing and
addressing complex hardware and software issues.
I also maintain the highest level of
system security and educate users on the
latest system updates and technology.
Then in the last line you'll say, I have saved
millions to my company by introducing XYZ technology.
Anything that you have done in your
existing position that you think have saved
your company money please include it here.
Quantifying everything that you have done is one
of the biggest things that MBA do.
They go to college, they spend two
years, and that's what they learn.
They learn how to quantify and how
to tell the value to the business.
Then the last paragraph you'll say, I am very
much interested in speaking with you to discuss the
value I can bring to Vandeley industries.
Same thing as other cover letter and then you close
it with best regards and put in your name.