Cover Letters: Get their attention!

Creating a strong and accomplished resume is crucial in order for your job application to be successful.  However, many job seekers underestimate the importance of a well accompanied cover letter. Employers receive large numbers of applicant resumes and each are scanned through in a matter of seconds. In all cases they are swiftly examining whether your experience and skills match what they have outlined as requirements in the position description.

In order to maximise potential success it may be useful to consider these rudimentary yet often unheeded guidelines.

Customise and stylise

Your cover letter should be tailored for the specific position you are applying for rather than a generic recycled template. Explain why you are interested in that company and how your skills are applicable and relevant. If possible find a specific contact to address it to so you can avoid standard greetings such as “To whom it may concern.”

Mention referrals

If you were connected or introduced to the company through an employee at the company or mutual contact you should include this in your cover letter. Make sure, however, that you seek permission from that person before name dropping.

Don’t repeat your resume

While you should be referencing and highlighting applicable strengths on your resume it should not be a direct copy. Instead expand and discuss your experience to tie-in with what you believe to be the vision, strategy and operation needs of the organisation. 

 

Address potential weaknesses

Address any items on your resume that may be considered ‘red flags’ and give explanations to avoid any issues that may give potential employers pause in considering your application. For example, gaps in employment due to maternity leave.

 

Keep it brief & proof read

Employers  and professional recruiters are busy and often have many applications to filter through. Having a concise and succinct cover letter will increase the likelihood of it being read. As a general rule, keep cover letters to one A4 page.

It goes without saying that proof reading is essential, as poor spelling and grammar will deter any employer, no matter how skilled you might be. It demonstrates carelessness in that you didn’t proof-read the letter, nor do you know how to use Spellcheck. Beware of misspellings that will not be picked up by Spellcheck, such as “Exiting New Development." Take the time to read through your cover letter, edit as necessary and maybe ask a friend to review it before submitting!

Taking responsibility over satisfaction and happiness

The old saying "do as I say, not as I do" can ring true for many allied health professionals. Constantly having to take on the weight and pain in other people's lives can take its toll, and it's often difficult to point your expertise inward for help.

When your boss acknowledges your hard work, when a client gets great results because of your help, or when someone waves after you give way to them in peak hour traffic this can be enough to make our day! But when your hard work goes unnoticed, a client makes unfair complaints, or the driver you let in doesn't even bother to wave, we let it get to us and allow these external factors to influence our mood, satisfaction and overall happiness for longer than it should. We focus on the trivial things in our life and depend a little too much on what happens around us, what others do and don’t do to make us happy.

So how do we take responsibility for our own happiness and not let trivial external factors influence us too much? Let’s look at some potential solutions:

1.       Emotions and the Mind

Learn to accept your emotions, even the not so warm and fuzzy ones!  

It is argued by some health professionals that most of our problems come from an inability to adequately experience our emotions, especially so-called negative emotions, because we don’t allow ourselves permission to express them. How can this be resolved?

(a) Writing about negative emotions after having a bad day at work, using a process called cathartic writing can help. Research has shown that people who write about their deepest emotions are less depressed and more positive about life. However, make sure to check out some guidelines and examples before you begin. 

(b) Laugh. Take some time out to have a giggle! We have to remember that sometimes we take life way too seriously. Laugh at the little things but also don’t be afraid to get creative. Play a game of charades, google funny cat photos, spend some time talking about something funny that happened at work, or rent a comedy. Laughter really can be the best medicine!  

(c) For more pervasive problems like chronic road rage, seek assistance from a mental health professional before you break your horn. This will allow you to better understand your feelings and what strategies to put in place to assist the situation in the long term.

2.       The Body

Experts tell us time and time again how the mind and the body are connected. This means that if we do not look after our body, then this can have a negative effect on our happiness too. Here are some tips to keep your body (and mind!) in check:

(a) Get plenty of quality sleep – Yes, your parents were right when they told you that you’d wake up grumpy in the morning if you didn't get enough sleep. To improve your sleeping habits, try going to bed at the same time, develop a standard pre-sleep routine such as reading a book or taking a warm shower or bath, and avoid things like caffeinated drinks and chocolate before bed.

(b) Exercise. Physical activity can open the brains pleasure pathways, releasing endorphins, which make you feel great. And if running a marathon isn't your thing you could try meditation or stretching exercises like Yoga and Pilates. When at work, take a quick stroll around the office block or organised with a work friend to take a walk to the local café or cafeteria for a lunch catch up.

(c) Healthy Eating. We need good nutritious food for growth, healing and healthy functioning. Try to eat a balance diet of healthy, wholesome, fresh foods and skip on foods that are highly processed. Eating meat and fish, rich in protein, iron and Omega 3 fatty acids will give you that extra energy to get through the day. Not a big meat eater? Try eggs and vegetables like lima beans and lentils which provide a healthy alternative instead of grabbing a dim-sim or potato cake from the local café on your lunch break.

So now you have a few tools to get you started in finding your own happiness! Keep adding to your new happiness tool box and you might even be the next work-life balance guru!

3 steps to achieving your 2015 career goals

There is an old saying about succeeding that I’m sure we’ve all heard hundreds of times, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” It’s a handy reminder about the importance of sticking to a plan, and today we’d like to take that a little further to help you realise, record, and achieve your career goals for 2015. Many of you may wish to receive a new role this year, or maybe some kind of promotion, or you might just like to make some new friends in the workplace. Whatever your objectives are, we have put together 3 important tips to stick to in order to make it happen!

1) Realise what you want

It’s very easy to change your mind about what you’d like to get out of your job when you’re in the thick of it. If you’d have a tough week you may want more work-life balance. If you’ve been getting things done quickly you may like more work and a pay rise. It’s best to have some moments to yourself outside of the workplace to reflect on your job as a whole and where it can take you in the long run.

Do:

·         Write down outcomes that would make you more satisfied at work

·         Take into account some advice from people in similar or senior roles

Don’t:

·         Concentrate on what you think you should be doing, or what others expect of you. Set goals that mean something to you and relate to what you want to achieve

2) Record and share your goals

Once you’ve decided on some outcomes you feel would contribute to your overall satisfaction and direction you’d like your career to take, it’s time to ‘formalise’ this commitment and write it down in a logical way. It’s good to remember the ‘SMART’ criteria. That is, that you need your goal/s to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. This way, you won’t alter or forget your intentions in 6 month’s time.

Example: “By October, I want the extra tasks I’m taking on this year to be giving enough value to the business that I am rewarded with a 10% pay increase.”

The sharing aspect of this is what can make some people nervous; most people would not comfortably approach their colleagues or employer with their career goals. However, if you’d like to achieve a change you will need to spark up the conversation at some stage anyway, so letting key people know that you’re serious about your role can be very positive so long as you consider their needs. Other people to involve are your family, friends and partner, as they can check in with you to see how your goals are going.

3) Action plan, review, repeat          

This is both the most overlooked and the most important part of a career related goal. Having one sentence can be great, but if you haven’t given yourself a realistic impetus to get it done it could drag on far longer than intended or not happen at all. An action plan will allow you to achieve the smaller parts of a larger idea so that you’re getting closer and closer each month.

Do:

·         Write down tasks to do each month that will add to your goal

·         Save alert reminders in your calendar – from things to ask other staff members, research for you to do in your spare time and other actions to undertake

·         Read back on your previous plans at regular intervals

Don’t:

·         Rush. This could make a tremendous difference to how you work and how you feel about your job

·         Stop until your action plan is complete. While unexpected obstacles can delay you from reaching your goals, simply revise your plan and timeline then continue moving forward.

Hopefully these tips give you the groundwork for a realistic career plan. Many businesses and employers today put in minimal time to plan your career for you, so you need to take the reins and make sure it happens according to your values!