Even if you sit down for a week, I am sure; you will be definitely able to find the most suitable one for you. I am also sure that you will be a resume writing genius after the end of the week.

Same goes for the cover letter as well. You can easily find free sample format for your cover letter and all you need to do is to change the personal information and you cover letter is ready.

So if you have firmly believed that everyone did not judge a book by its cover, you were wrong. Employers and job recruitment agencies belong to a different category. They definitely judge the book by its cover. In this case, I am referring to your stereotype cover letter. It is about time that you realized that your cover letter is the most impotent document when you are applying for any job.

You can start with a short introduction about yourself and the job you are applying for. Please don’t mention your degree, your dissertations, your fellowships, etc in the cover letter.

You have duly attached a resume to showcase the same. You will be wasting valuable space and definitely missing the mark. Use simple and short sentence. Stick to your point and refrain from adding useless details. Your resume will fill in the gaps. It is not story writing rather it is a sales letter. Keep it crisp and keep it engaging so that recruiter is interested in knowing more about it.

Write your letter in proper business format. Use the second paragraph as a link builder with your resume and the job you have applied for. The content of your cover letter should appeal to the employer making him believe that recruiting you will satisfy the job requirements and you will be an ideal choice.

When you start writing your resume, you have to first decide the position for which you are applying for. Next, you write a summary suitable for that job and highlight your capabilities such that you look like the most ideal candidate for the job.

Opt for a step down approach. This means your employment should start from current and then track back to the first employment details. Your resume should also state your objectives and ho you wish to progress in your career. In rest of the resume you can add you details as necessary for the job requirement.

Mark Twain once wrote “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Being concise is an art.

Lengthy is not always impressive rather it is cumbersome and boring. Crisp, instant, ready-to-eat are the watchwords of modern era. So, why resume should be left behind? In the wake of global downturn, employers are overwhelmed with the response they receive for even one single job opening in their organization. Don’t add to their sorrows by giving them a five page resume. They will not glance at it second time. An ideal resume is restricted to not more than two pages.

These short pieces of information in your resume will get you your most coveted job. Don’t make your resume too lengthy. Nobody has time to read a history book and nobody is interested either. Keep it crisp, keep it short and you will see the magic! The old-fashioned generic resumes are out-dated and no one is interested in a long career history or life history of yours.

Employers are more interested in how you and your career skills can make a difference to their organization. Modern resume just fill the need aptly.

Your grammar should be good even if not perfect. It is not an English term paper but yes, it will make a difference in getting your good grade in life. After all you intend to be successful, so this means that you want to attain the best grades in life’s exam.

It is not easy to sell yourself. You have to look at your resume and your cover letter as the sales letters of your career. In order to get the best bargain, you have to have both of them nothing but the VERY BEST!!!

Do you really need a cover letter? Yes, you do. “Your cover letter is particularly important. It’s the job searcher’s opportunity to help the potential employer see that the applicant’s skills and experience match what the employer seeks.

In the current economic climate, with the scarcity of jobs, a well-written cover letter distinguishes your application,” says Susan Heathfield, About.com’s Guide to Human Resources.

Your resume cover letter is like your first impression when you enter the interview room. Imagine entering and meeting the employers shabbily dressed? UNIMAGINABLE! So how can you send your cover letter so shabbily dressed?

In a few words: Your cover letter is the shortest possible story about your career life.

You have to make the impression in the first few words itself. It’s like the first promo of the movie. The audience should be tempted to know more about you. You have to write your cover letter in such a fashion so that every word counts.  Your audience should be hit directly with every word and should feel what sets you apart from the rest of the crowd.

Your resume cover letter is the first communication with your employer and you have to establish a voice with your cover letter. In short, it is the first towards your successful career.

If you have understood the importance of cover letter, I need not tell you that stereotyped cover letter available as free format are definitely suitable if you intend to make your mark. If you have to get an interview call you need to write an impressive cover letter.

You can even “season” you cover letter with quotes to either highlight your desires or to express your capabilities. For example, if you are applying for an accountant’s job, you can put “Accounting is far more than just numbers on a page to me. It is a way of life.” These quotes make your employer interested in your cover letter. He will give a serious glance at what you have to say and will then proceed to read on your resume at least once.

Cover letter is definitely a way to show your prospective employer that you are a strong and ideal selection for the job under consideration.

“Cover letters allow you—in narrative form—to tell the employer exactly why hiring you, instead of the numerous other candidates, is a good decision,” says Heather Huhman, Entry Level Career Examiner.

Same is with your resume. Remember, resumes differ with each industry. If you are applying for a sales job, the format of your resume will be miles apart from the format suitable for an IT guy. Learn about the best suitable format that reflects your capabilities as per your industry. Not many people know this trick.

Your resume should generate results. It is your interview winning tool and it has to be razor sharp with cutting edge to its format and over all presentation. It should intrigue and impress your employer from all corners.

A good resume should have all the basic ingredients like personal information, contact information, qualification and relevant work experience. Most importantly it should address the need of the employer. While writing a good resume, it is not important that you highlight your achievements and accomplishments. It is more important to highlight skills that will suit your employer’s requirements. You are more likely to receive an interview call if you write a resume as per the second option.

On the other hand an incomplete resume will either have missing information or gaps between chronological sequence of education or employment without any explanation.

Your resume should essentially carry a summary of your qualifications. You should use words like ambition, motivation, and commitment sparingly in your summary while highlighting your skills. These positive affirmations are often useful in leaving a lasting impression. Similarly, your work history should not be a history book but precise information about your skills acquired in chronological order.

Professional resumes also include associations with trade forums or their memberships. If you have been awarded any career awards, they should be mentioned as well.

In the end, let me emphasize once again, keep your resume short and crisp. An ideal resume is not more than two pages long.

“It’s dumb to let possessions rule you,” says Buffett, noting that his children won’t inherit any great wealth when he dies: “There’s no reason why future generations of little Buffetts should command society just because they came from the right womb. Where’s the justice in that?”

Where is the difference? It is the difference in their career paths. Each one of us has to choose our own career path. You have to start with your career path planning at a very early age.

Although every career path is different, each one has its own starting point. All you
have to do is to spot the right starting point of your career. You have to set your milestones and work upon proper strategies to cross those milestones in the stipulated time frame.

The right career path does not mean success all the way. Along the road you have traversed, you have to stop at each milestone and assess the good and the worse that you saw till the time you reached there. You have to work on your shortcomings and strengthen your good points. In order to begin your new journey towards your next milestone you may have to traverse back a few steps and begin in new direction to reach the next milestone quickly and in lesser time than the time stipulated initially while you drew up the plans.

One of the approaches adopted by people is that employees should follow the path set aside by their employers in order to build a career in the company. Such a passive approach cannot create leaders. In order to be a leader and take charge of your destiny, it is important to set your own goals. Remember, one employer cannot make you the “King of the Business”. You may have to switch to better opportunities in order to succeed. This means taking risks, adopting to newer environments at job and shifting places across the globe.

Have you ever seen a tall pine tree growing under a large banyan tree? No, there is always grass and small herbs. If you have to grow tall and strong, you have to choose your path on the hills and stand strong under the heat, cold, dust and face all the atrocities of nature.

So is the truth of your career life! You cannot be Warren Buffet if you have not taken risks. You should have your own ideologies and understanding of the field you are working on. Electricity was not invented overnight. It was an invention due to hard core efforts of Thomas Edison who had deeper understanding of the subject and he had the creativity to take the inventions of Luigi Galvani, Han Christian Orsted, Alessandro Volta and James Maxwell to the next generation of development. He gifted electricity to the world because he chose his own path and did not lead the path set by his predecessors.

You can begin with a collaborative relationship. It always helps. Whether you choose a finance career path, a management career path or a career in the field of science, collaborative relationships always help. If you report to a supervisor, you can always gain experience from him. Once you realize your potential you can begin on your own career development. For example, if you want to be a trader, you can start as an executive under an old trader. Once you realize your own flair and learn to understand the market, charts, projections, market growth and industry’s movement, you will be able to take your own risks. Your flair, your passion and your ability to understand the market will make you a successful or an unsuccessful trader. On the other hand, if you take risks only based on projections by other experts, you will be actually an investor or a small portfolio manager rather than an actual trader. So start with a collaborative relationship and then blossom into your own personality.

In order to bloom successfully out of a collaborative relationship, you need to have a small plan which will guide you towards a successful life. If you do not chalk out a plan as to how you will your career along with the rest of your life, you may end up frustrated either on the home front or on the career front or worse, both!!! It’s a nightmare! When you chase your goals, do keep other factors in mind as well and remember to include them in your plan. It will build stress and dissatisfaction inside. It may even take toll on your health as well!

Thus, it is not only important to choose a right career management path but the trick is to balance it with your overall lifestyle as well.

In my series of blogs for career management I will discuss various aspects of career management development that first starts with self-assessments. Before you analyze the situation or any career, it is important to analyze yourself. You can begin with your own SWOT analysis and understand your strengths, weaknesses. You can learn about opportunities in front of you and understand the threats posing a difficult situation towards your goals.

Self-evaluation is the first process towards a successful career development and management. There are various career management consulting firms that will help you to evaluate your inner strength and help you to develop your flair into a successful career. But before you start spending hundreds of dollars on some kind of management guru, lets me tell you that you should do something called as Introspection.

This introspection includes assessing your values, interests, personality and talent. You have to understand your values in terms of aesthetics, theoretical, religious, social, political and economic standards. Every individual also has his own likes and dislikes. You need to understand your own. You have to understand whether you are meant for working as a service man or do you have a natural flair for business ventures. In order to select a successful career path, you need to have a deeper understanding of what you want.

Your choices are a reflection of your personality. If you love taking risks, may be you can be a commodity trader or a stock broker. However, if you understand the land and real estate better, you can work as a real estate broker. On the other hand, if you are natural science student, you can be anything from a mechanical engineer to a rocket scientist, a paramedic to a super specialty physician. The choice is yours. It is important to understand your flair and your personality to choose a successful career path. It is an important aspect of career management planning.

Self assessment is a continuous process in career management development as the situations and circumstance in life keep on changing. Even our personality changes as a result of incidences in our lives thus a continuous self-evaluation is always asked for.
You also have to deal with unusual situations at times at work and in your career.
When you know your strengths and weaknesses, you are able to deal with ad-hoc situations in life in the most efficient manner. You are even ready for unusual situations and at time can even anticipate them. This is the magic of self-assessments. When you are able to assess the threats in advance, it makes the path to a successful career quite easy. While others are left stranded in such situations, you are already ready to combat them and this makes you a leader. It makes you stand out in the crowd standing bright, shining and smiling.

Think about it! When you start doing a job, you are so busy doing it that you forget about your career. This means you definitely don’t have to manage your career either. When you want to accelerate your career without having to work harder, when you want to take up challenging roles and opportunities to suit your talent, you need to look into efficient techniques of career development and management.

You can look around for career management resources that help you plan your career and take a revised look on your achievements and accomplishments so far. These resources will infuse pro-active ideas and strategies that will accelerate your career to new heights.

In this competitive world, it’s a jungle out there! It’s the survival of the fittest. You cannot leave any stone unturned that leads to your success. Learn about career management and planning, read about common mistakes in career management, and get to know the tips and tricks of successful career management and development.
It is important as the world is always short of successful people. There is always room at the top!