What to write in the subject line of a letter to an employer. Writing a letter to a potential employer

About what is transmittal letter to the resume, not all applicants know. But some organizations (especially those with a Western-style structure) take this document very seriously. There are cases when, out of two resumes from approximately equal applicants, the employer prefers the one who does not neglect the cover letter.

the main task cover letter- give to the employer Additional information, which for some reason is inappropriate in itself, as well as an explanation of some non-obvious points.

Sometimes the leaders of organizations, looking through numerous summaries, first of all read the accompanying note, considering it a kind of “announcement” to the main document.

Despite the fact that all the information necessary for the employer is already contained in the main document, the cover letter may duplicate such data. This allows you to establish an individual contact with the person hiring you.

Before writing a cover letter for your resume, it is recommended to remember all the unpleasant aspects that may negatively affect the employer's opinion of you.

Usually, they try to hide such “dark spots”, but in some cases these moments will still become known to the employer. For example, in a cover letter, you can mention that despite a red diploma, you did not work in your specialty for several years.

The cover letter is free-form, but its structure should be something like this:

  • Appeal to the head or to the HR manager (depending on the size of the organization);
  • Representation (your name and the position you are applying for);
  • Goal of request;
  • Valuable information for the employer, which will contain a description of the reasons for choosing you for the specified position;
  • Gratitude;
  • Contact details.

How to write a cover letter for a resume

Before considering the simplest example of a cover letter, it is necessary to analyze in more detail each of the points of its structure. The appeal in the cover letter can be addressed to the responsible employee of the HR department, the HR manager and even the manager. It depends on what data you have, and if you know the name of the leader, it is better to contact him.

On the other hand, very often in large companies with a staff of several thousand people CEO does not even know by sight the vast majority of people working in the organization, and he does not deal with recruitment issues at all. In this case, it is better to write a letter addressed to the personnel manager.

The view does not have to list all the information that is in the . It is not necessary to paint everything in detail, but some key and important points from your point of view should be clarified. For example - your, education, if possible - achievements, if in the past you managed to achieve success and career growth in the same position that you want to get.

For example, a cover letter for an accountant's resume may contain information that you worked as a senior accountant and at the same time quit own will looking for more promising work(Obviously, there is no need to talk about dismissal for various faults or professional incompetence in the cover letter).

Next, you need to indicate the source from which you became aware of the employer's offer. Mention that you are well versed in aspects of the organization's activities, you know the requirements that apply to candidates. List your valuable qualities that will be useful to the organization.

List all your potential advantages over other candidates. In some cases, it will be appropriate to briefly describe some situation or problem that was solved thanks to you. Ideally, if you were in a leadership position during this period, and the problem was solved thanks to your initiative.

At the end of the letter, there should be a thank you for the fact that the employer paid attention to reading your letter. After thanking, be sure to include all your possible contact details. However, this does not mean that you need to list all your email addresses, additional phone numbers and various messengers. Enough and the main phone number and one e-mail address.

You have already indicated this information in your resume. But, firstly, this is an additional opportunity to hint that you are waiting for a call or letter, and secondly, a correctly composed cover letter for applying for a vacancy should be written in such a way that the reader is interested in your candidacy without even reading the resume itself. . There is a small chance that the recruiter will contact you at this stage.

cover letter for resume example


The simplest example of a cover letter for a resume is a short letter with a minimum amount of unnecessary information:

“Hello, Alexander Vladimirovich.

The vacancy for a manager, which was published on behalf of your company on the classifieds site, interested me. I consider myself a worthy candidate, since at my last job I performed the same duties that are described in your ad.

I am well acquainted with all the processes and features of the work that I will have to perform, and more detailed information about my skills, education and professional qualities is contained in the resume, which is attached in a separate file.

I look forward to your decision and thank you for reading this letter.

Sincerely, Petrov A.M.

Telephone

E-mail".


Such a cover letter is an example of a concise, purposeful appeal to a manager. And here is a more detailed example - a cover letter for an accountant resume:


Director of Orient LLC

Semenov D.A.

Hello, Dmitry Alekseevich.

I sent you my resume, which is attached to this letter.

My name is Sitseva Olga Anatolyevna, and I was interested in the vacancy of the chief accountant, which I learned about from the newspaper on 10/12/2015. Having familiarized myself with the requirements for candidates in detail, I can say with confidence that I can cope with the tasks set without any preliminary preparation. It will take me no more than a week to adapt to a new team, accept cases and study the features of your accounting department.

At my previous job at IP Chekunov, I held a similar position. I decided to change my place of work of my own free will, since the company's activities lie in an area in which my professional and personal development is not possible.

Despite the fact that the salary indicated in your ad is much higher than at the previous job, this is not the main motivational moment for me. One of the reasons why I decided to submit my CV is the opportunity to work more effectively at Orient LLC, since the scope of your company is familiar to me thoroughly (this is due to my second education).

For more information about me, please see my CV.

Thank you for your attention, if necessary, you can contact me at the contact details below.

Telephone

E-mail".

This letter is written in more detail, in general there is no superfluous information, but the candidate could have used shorter expressions. Cover letters that are too long scare away employers who think that this is just a duplicate of resume information.


Here's more good example:

"HeadHR department Mironova Natalya Ivanovna.

Hello.

My name is Evgeny Semenovich Roizman.

The purpose of my letter is to clarify that I am submitting a resume for the position of chief engineer in your company.

I have great experience work in one place (more than 20 years) as an engineer (later - chief engineer) of the Baltic Shipbuilding Plant.

I have gratitude and state awards, I was forced to quit due to a change of residence.

If you are interested in my candidacy, you can find out more detailed information from the attached resume.

Goodbye.

Roizman E.S.

Telephone"

Indeed, such a cover letter for a response to a vacancy is very well-written. With a minimum volume, it contains the maximum amount of potentially interesting information for the manager. good example can also be considered as:

"Good afternoon. My name is Alexander Valentinovich Pekov and the purpose of this letter is to draw your attention to the CV I sent you today. I am interested in working as a system administrator in your company - this vacancy was published in the newspaper on 12/14/2015.

I have a higher education in the fieldIT-technologies, for the last five years he has worked in the position system administrator at Alpha.

My tasks included connecting and removing hardware, installing new software, troubleshooting, monitoring and securing local network companies, record keeping and some other additional features.

The reason for the dismissal is the closure of Alfa.

If you are interested in my candidacy, you can contact me using the information below. Willing to attend an interview at any time if necessary.

Sincerely, Pekov A.V.

Telephone

E-mail".

Nuances, features and "pitfalls"

As you can see, all of the above examples are cover letters written by different people in different styles. And, despite the absence of a strictly regulated form of cover letters, it is worth understanding what these people did wrong. Here is a list of rules to follow when compiling such a document.

  • A cover letter is not an autobiography, but brief abstracts that serve as arguments in your favor, but since some people simply cannot write short and to the point, the second point follows from here.
  • Read your completed cover letter carefully. Long sentences can always be avoided. Just set limits for yourself. For example, write no more than five hundred words. Anything that does not fit into this framework - shorten or paraphrase.
  • Text proofreading is also needed in order to avoid spelling errors, which are very often stupid and annoying. Surprisingly, many adults still cannot master such rules as writing "-tsya" - "-tsya" at the end of verbs, and also make other similar flaws. A cover letter is a document. Reading it and stumbling upon an error already in the first paragraph, the employer can finish reading on this, especially if it is important for your job to have a good command of speech and Russian.
  • Banal characteristics of oneself- Not needed. The fact that you are “stress-resistant, sociable, ready to work overtime” and other things, the employer can also find out from the main resume in the “additional information” column.
  • Notice how all these people spelled the pronoun "You": two with a capital letter and two with a small one. There is a difference between these options. "You" in this case is appropriate, since the appeal occurs to a specific person, who is also older in the hierarchy. But “you” is an appeal to an abstract reader or to two or more persons at the same time.
  • It is impossible to say exactly what size such a letter should be: sometimes all the information in it can really be important. But try to stick to the Western standard, where such a document is usually about a third of an A4 sheet.

Remember that a well-written cover letter is also an indicator, because the employer first of all sees this document and can already make his first impression on it, and only then proceeds to study himself.

Rule 2: Be careful when setting up email software!

When the installation program asks you for your first and last name, write them in Latin letters. When you write letters, the recipient will see the name and surname entered by you in the “FROM” field of the letter. The use of Russian letters in the first and last name is undesirable - due to the inconsistency in encodings, the employer may see a set of unreadable characters in this field. You can not use pseudonyms instead of a real name and surname.

Rule 3: In the “SUBJECT” field, write the word “RESUME” or “CV” and the name of the job you are applying for

For example: “CV: IT” or “RESUME: assistant”. Do not use Russian letters in this field either. If you are sending a resume to a recruitment agency, this field is often required to indicate the job code. However, practice shows that even if there is an explicit requirement in the vacancy description to indicate the vacancy code, the vast majority of job seekers ignore it.

Rule 4: Submit your resume strictly in the format required by the employer

Many employers do not like to consider a resume in an attached file. If the employer still accepts resumes in the attached file, then it is customary to send them in .TXT or .RTF format, but in no case in .DOC - viruses can be transmitted through it.

To save a document in .RTF format in the Microsoft Word editor, in the “FILE” menu, select the “SAVE AS ...” item and then in the “FILE TYPE” field, select the “RTF TEXT” item. Ignore the message that some formatting may be lost. After saving, close the file, then open it again and check its readability. Name the resume file in Latin letters. For example: “resume_ivan.rtf” or “Eugeny_CV.txt”. The use of formats other than .TXT and .RTF is not recommended.

Violations of the employer's requirements for the format of submitted resumes are total. For example, if there is an explicit requirement in a vacancy announcement to send resumes in .RTF format, 80-90% of applicants still send files in .DOC format.

Rule 5: Write a cover note for your resume, especially if you know who will be reading it.

Usually, the body of the letter contains a short cover note with a greeting and an indication of the purpose of sending the resume. This short message, if a contact person is indicated, should begin like this:

Dear Ivan Ivanovich, in response to the programmer's vacancy posted in... I am sending you a resume... (or simply "Hello, in response...")

Sincerely,

Ivan Gordeev...

Oddly enough, cover notes are written by no more than 3-5% of applicants. Meanwhile, it is precisely such a note that often plays a decisive role when the personnel officer determines whether it is worth inviting a candidate for an interview.

Rule 6: Do not get carried away with complex design, inserting tables and pictures into the document when writing a resume for distribution by e-mail

Use Arial, Times New Roman, or Verdana fonts. Other fonts may not be available on the recipient's computer, making your resume unreadable.

Rule 7: Pay close attention to the letter encoding

The email should be sent in Windows-1251 encoding. Until recently, it was possible to use the KOI-8R encoding, but now the Windows-1251 encoding has become the de facto standard.

The rules for sending resumes are purely technical and rather primitive. Surprisingly, correctly composed letters are found in practice in no more than 5% of cases. If your letter stands out against the background of letters with viruses in documents, lack of cover notes and unreadable garbage in the “FROM” and “SUBJECT” fields, you will immediately be among the top 5% of the best candidates based on the results of resume consideration!

The main concern of job seekers in the labor market is to correctly and not forget to indicate in it all the necessary data in order to get the desired position. But many people miss another very important point - sending a resume by e-mail. In today's era, email is the fastest and most convenient way to deliver a resume to an employer, but if you make a mistake in sending it, your resume may not end up in the right hands, and even if you are the perfect applicant for an open job, you simply won't be noticed. .

Your letter is the first impression of you, and the more competent and accurate it is, the more likely recruiters will like it.

And now, having a ready-made ideal resume in your hands, you should take into account a couple of technical points before sending it.

  1. Get yourself a separate mailbox. Your mailing address should be short and neutral. For example, or. Categorically avoid postal addresses with the words "paw", "bond007", "imp" - they will only cause negative feedback from the employer, and they will not say anything good about you.
  2. Never send a blank email with only your CV attached. In the "Subject" field, write the word "Resume" and then the name of the vacancy for which you are applying. Sometimes large companies ask you to indicate the vacancy code or the name of the HR manager in the subject line of the letter, since the company can have several dozen vacancies open at once, and this will greatly simplify the process of recruiting and sorting the received resumes. Failure to comply with such requirements indicates the inattention and disrespectful attitude of the applicant to the employing company.
  3. . The presence of a cover letter is a sign of good manners and a serious attitude to the job search. By opening this letter, the recruiting manager who will review it will be able to briefly get acquainted with your main goal, see your efforts and appreciate you on merit. The main thing that you should take into account here is that you must use the address address, and if you do not know the name of the employee, limit yourself to the general “Dear employees of the company”, or simply “Hello”. Next, indicate the position for which you are applying, where you received information about the vacancy, a couple of lines about your advantages. Be sure to include at the end that if they are interested in your candidacy, they can contact you by phone or email. And the signature at the end "with respect ...".
  4. Check your resume again. Eliminate the presence of grammatical and spelling errors.
  5. Resume file attachment. As a rule, the summary is located as an attached file to the letter. In this case, the file must be in doc format, this is the most versatile and safest option. To save the document in RTF format in the Microsoft Word editor, in the "File" menu, select the "Save as ..." item and then in the "File type" field, select the "doc" item. Ignore the message that some formatting may be lost. After saving, close the file, then open it again and check its readability.
  6. Avoid redundant data. If the employer's vacancy does not require attaching photos or examples of your work to your resume, then it is better not to add them. Perhaps he wants to evaluate you first according to the resume and data that you indicated, and then, if you are interested in him, he will demand the rest at the interview.

The Internet has rapidly burst into our lives, taking a dominant position in communicating with people, finding a job, presenting oneself and communicating with potential employers. The live communication of the interview is gradually receding into the background, giving the battlefield for the vacancy to emails with resumes attached to them, on the basis of which decisions are made about the worthiness of certain candidates. But what if you do not know how to send a resume by e-mail and are not familiar with the formatting rules

The first step to the desired position

A common mistake of many applicants is concern about the correct but not competent sending to the addressee. Gross errors in sending can cause a letter to be completely ignored, even if you are the best worker in the city.

The first step from which the instruction begins on how to send a resume by mail is the employer's email address. The contact information you need is usually included in the job posting. Employers often leave an email address rather than a phone number to protect themselves from numerous and unnecessary calls. Having found the necessary contact, do not rewrite it on paper, but immediately copy it from the e-page into the corresponding field of the letter.

Your email

If your mailing address has a frivolous login, for example "bol_tvoei_dushi", it is unlikely that you will be considered a worthy candidate and the letter will be opened. For business purposes, get yourself another box with a more respectable name containing your last name and first name. It is desirable that they be written in Latin letters. It is not recommended to write under a pseudonym.

Compliance with the required format

Large companies often require the name of the job to be indicated in the resume or to send it “in the body of the letter”, and not as an attachment, and sometimes they even ask to put down the name of the employee from the personnel department. Your task: before sending a resume by e-mail, carefully read all the requirements and conditions of the employer.

Otherwise, your resume will not even get attention. After all, the conditions for sending are announced by companies not out of empty childishness, but in order to promptly consider all applications. And in the event that they have several vacancies open, your letter “to the village, grandfather” will most likely fly into the “basket”. The requirement to send a resume "in the body of the letter" is also not an empty call - it saves the employer's time and saves the computer from possible viruses of the attached file.

How to send a resume by mail: important rules

  1. On the email page, select the command: "Write a letter." A window will open
  2. In the "To" field, copy the employer's email address directly from the ad source.
  3. In the "Subject of the message" indicate the word resume and the code or the name of the vacancy. For example: resume: sales manager.
  4. Depending on the requirements of the company, if a personal resume needs to be attached to the letter (button: “attach a file”, “attach a file”, etc.), use either TXT, since the MS Word DOC format may contain viruses. And in many companies it is considered obsolete.
  5. Consider the name of the resume file itself - it must be unique. It is undesirable to use standard names, such as Resume.doc, it will simply be lost in a huge number of similar letters. It is better to name the file with your last name, for example: Ivanov A. D. rtf, you can also enter the name of the vacancy here (Ivanov A. D (IT specialist).rtf).
  6. The size of the sent file should not exceed 250 Kb.
  7. Place a cover letter in the body of the message (more on that below).
  8. Before sending a resume by e-mail, once again check the correctness of the addressee, whether you have attached the resume and send the letter by clicking the "Send" button.


Transmittal letter

Sending a blank email with a resume attached is considered a sign of disrespect in the business world. In the meantime, the body of the message is a great place to put a cover letter, in which you need to clearly, clearly and in detail explain why exactly you are worthy of this job. It’s better to start it with an appeal: “Dear ... (first name, patronymic of the HR manager)”, or, if you don’t know the names, “Dear HR employees ...”. Be sure to indicate the name of the vacancy for which you are applying, work experience, personal qualities. An original presentation of oneself will be any idea or proposal regarding the activities of the company. This will prove your competence and stand out from the crowd. You need to complete the cover letter politely and standardly: “With respect ...”, “I hope for cooperation ...” and only after that send a resume.


  • Sending a letter with a resume is necessary during the working day. The best time to send is from 9 am to 10 am. In this case, your document will top the lists of the first and possibly be noticed earlier.
  • Do not attach your CV and photo as separate files to the letter. The photo must be in the text.
  • When giving up rare fonts, tables, frames, highlights. Use Times New Roman or Arial. Important Points can be italicized or bold.
  • The most important rule when creating a resume is literacy. The rude ones will immediately create an unpleasant impression of you, and the resume will not even be read to the end.
  • Check your mail daily, otherwise you may miss a reply message.

Knowing the basic rules for emailing resumes will create a positive impression of you as a competent, courteous, and deserving employee. And then you will choose, not you!

A cover letter should explain and complement your resume. The purpose of a cover letter is to present yourself with the best side and interest the employer, thus increasing the chances of successful employment.

For some vacancies, especially those that require written communication skills, employers do not consider resumes without cover letters.

It is important to understand that there are no universal guidelines for writing a cover letter, as the nature of a cover letter depends on the position you are applying for and the requirements of the particular employer. Therefore, this article provides general recommendations - vectors that you can focus on when creating a cover letter.

1. Carefully study the text of the vacancy. Before writing a cover letter, be sure to read the text of the vacancy in order to understand the requirements of the employer and the specifics of the job. This way you can back up your cover letter with additional arguments.

2. Try to keep your cover letter as personal as possible. Don't write the same cover letter for all occasions.

3. Say hello, introduce yourself and tell us what position you are applying for. In this way, you will make life easier for the recruiter, since dozens of different vacancies can be opened in large companies.

4. Explain to the employer why you are interested in the position. Tell us how your experience and skills relate to this position, how you can apply this experience and why you consider yourself a suitable candidate.

4. Be sure to include your contact information: mobile phone where you can be contacted. Sometimes it happens that an employer decides to invite a candidate for an interview after reading the cover letter without looking at his resume.

5. The cover letter should be positive and without complaints.

Examples of good cover letters:





By writing such a cover letter, you have a better chance of getting a job.

Cover letter mistakes

1. Copying the same template when responding to various vacancies.


2. Imitation of a cover letter.

3. Chaotic text.


4. Excessive frankness, self-confidence, a story about irrelevant experience.


5. Desire to appear witty.

6. Negligence, spelling and punctuation errors.


7. Demonstration of disrespect for a potential employer. Despite the obviousness of this error, such letters, unfortunately, cannot be called an exception to the rule. Do I need to explain why such a response to a vacancy deprives the applicant of hope for employment?



Good luck with your job search!