Cover Letters for Dummies

• Written to a target job
• So intriguing that a reader makes room in a busy schedule to meet you
• An electrifying personal advertising tool that short-circuits the competition

A great cover letter is not

• Bland and indifferent
• Littered with dry facts
• What the hiring manager's kid uses as scratch paper

Your cover letter should spark the reader's interest as a dynamic introduction to your resume. This is your chance to personalize your resume. Here's where you make yourself into a living, breathing human being and set your accomplishments aglow. How do you achieve this? Let the second edition of Cover Letters For Dummies be your guide.

In this book, you'll gain understanding of why you need a cover letter, what the different types of cover letters are, what myths surround them, and how to break out of writer's block. You'll figure out how your letter should look and sound, with tips on language, content, and image. You'll get ideas for writing a dazzling opening line. And you'll work through a checklist to make sure that the best of you lives in your cover letter. What's more, you'll

• Explore the changing rules in the workplace and how they impact the way you find work
• Identify where your skills fit in today's workplace through a number of self-assessment worksheets
• Sum up surefire tips for working with recruiters, answering job ads, avoiding the salary question, handling negative references, and creating letters that even a computer can love
• See examples of successful cover letters, from which you can model your own. Each is a candidate for reformulation as an e-mail cover letter.

A well-written cover letter can make your ideal job a reality. So get this book and start writing.

The major annoyance I had was with the sample letters that are included, and with some of Joyce Kennedy's suggestions, which seemed more obnoxious than anything. I can see how some employers may find them amusing, but if I were in a human resources department, I would not hire many of the people who wrote these examples.

To be sure, some of the samples are alright, and there is much to learn in the many tips that Kennedy provides. If you're seeking to be a competitive prospective employee, you may find it worthwhile to get this book. I hope, however, that there is another book on cover letters out there with sample letters that are still interesting to read, but more serious and intelligent.


Cover Letters for Dummies   December 19, 2001
Scott Aylor (USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

I had no idea how I was going to help my friend write a good cover letter until I read your book. The first time I read your book I concentrated on you top ten "do" and "don't do" things for a "red hot cover letter". That list and the examples provided of "cover letters" in your books was a tremendous help.
It is a must book to have for anyone looking to sell themselves to an employer for a job.


A tremendous job hunting resource   December 6, 2000
Joe Buchberger (Tampa, FL United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is not just a book on cover letters; it's a wealth of knowledge on the entire job-hunting process. Joyce Lain Kennedy has put together a tremendous resource for the current or soon to be job hunter, which is really most of us.

I know people scoff at Dummies books, especially for highly technical subjects, but this book is the perfect format for the vast collection of job-hunting facts, ideas and wisdom in this book. The author does an excellent job of presenting a lot of material in a way that is clear, entertaining and extremely readable.

I highly recommend this book, and liked it so much I went out and bought her other two books, Resumes' and Job Interviews for Dummies, which I will be reviewing as I finish them.