Filed under:Resumes & Letters
Here are some tips for writing an e-mail to a company inquiring about possible job openings when no openings have been advertised.
1. Address the email to a specific person. Use the internet or personal contacts to find out who does the hiring and to learn their email address. Or just make a quick phone call to the employer and find out. Don’t address the letter to “Dear Sir” or “Dear Madam”. When you do this, it says that you have not taken the time to do your homework. It indicates that you are just sending emails and resumes out to numerous employers and hoping one will stick. It does not look as if you have a high level of interest in this particular company.
2. Start your email off with an interesting sentence. For example, “My ten years of experience in _____ makes me an excellent match for a position in your _____ department.” Then be sure to mention how you became bilingual, such as, “I lived in Argentina for twelve years and am fluent in Spanish and English.” You can get more suggestions for how to do this by reading How to Write a Cover Letter that Showcases Your Bilingual Skills.
3. Make sure that your email is as well written as a formal cover letter would be. Make sure there are no misspelled words and that you have used proper grammar. Use your spell-check! Your goal is to encourage the employer to eagerly read your resume next. Use a conversational but professional tone.
Next we will discuss sending a cover letter e-mail for a specific job opening.
September 24, 2009
Question: I have written my resume and know the type of work I want to pursue, and the two main companies I would like to work for. The first one has not advertised any job openings, but they are a strong company, and I know they are one of the largest employers in my area. I also know that they may have positions that need to be filled with bilingual candidates. What do I do?
Answer: Send an “inquiry e-mail”. This is an effective job search strategy. Don’t feel as though you’re wasting your time by looking for a job this way. Not all employers announce job openings to the general public. And if you wait until a job opening is advertised, then your resume might get lumped in with those of all the other eager candidates out there looking for a job! Next I’ll give you some tips for how to write your inquiry e-mail.
September 23, 2009
Remember, when writing a cover letter that highlights your bilingual skills, as demonstrated by the cover letter examples I posted last week, it is important to present the advantages of how being bilingual would benefit the specific company and field, while showcasing your individual knowledge. In my examples, I tried to showcase my understanding of the Hispanic market; a market that provides brand loyalty and likes a personal connection, as well as personal service. That’s why I brought those points up in my sample cover letter paragraphs; to showcase my knowledge.
My goal was to let the company reading the cover letter understand clearly that I have a desire to help them conquer the Hispanic market and that I have the extra understanding and skills to get it done. That should always be your goal; to match the responsibilities of the position with your experience and with your knowledge… and being bilingual is certainly an advantage you have to offer to any company. Bring it up. It’s important in the global business world we live in.
September 21, 2009
Here is another cover letter example using a different business scenario in which you can explain how your bilingual skills would be beneficial to the company where you are applying. As with yesterday’s example, you will be able to see in the sample paragraph below how I showcased the fact that I am bilingual – along with my individual knowledge of the Hispanic market.
This example is for a sales or customer service position at an insurance company. Again, I’m going to include a paragraph in the cover letter about the fact that I’m bilingual and bring up some of my Hispanic market experience and knowledge.
Sample paragraph: “Today I am applying for the bilingual sales/customer service position at ____ (insurance company name) because I see the need to provide the Spanish population with more insurance knowledge and with more choices. My goal would be to have a more personal connection with your clients and to service them in their own language, to create more brand loyalty. I can write, read and speak Spanish and English fluently, and would like an opportunity to meet and discuss your Hispanic market plans in more detail. I believe that I can be an asset to ____ (insurance company name).”
September 18, 2009
Yesterday I wrote about the importance of showcasing your bilingual skills to prospective employers in your cover letter (Cover Letter Tips: How to Write a Cover Letter that Showcases Your Bilingual Skills). Today I want to give you a cover letter example that demonstrates an actual business scenario, in which you can explain how being bilingual is advantageous to the company where you are applying. You will be able to see, in the sample paragraph below, how I showcased the fact that I am bilingual – along with my individual knowledge of the Hispanic market.
This example is for a bilingual sales or customer service position at a wireless company. I am going to dedicate a paragraph in the cover letter to being bilingual and to my Hispanic market experience. I will also mention some research and specific knowledge about the market. Of course, you can tailor it to your specific skills and knowledge.
Sample paragraph: “By being totally fluent in Spanish and in English, I can communicate with the company’s management as well as with the company’s clients. I understand that the Hispanic community outspends the non-Hispanic in cell phone usage; that over 65% have cell phones, and that brand loyalty is very high among Latinos, especially if they have received good personal service from a company. That is why being bilingual can be beneficial to _____ (wireless company name) and that is why I would love to become part of the team; to develop the company’s Hispanic market to the next level.”
September 17, 2009
If you are bilingual, you might want to designate a paragraph in your cover letter to specifically highlight your bilingual skills. Here’s how to do it:
Cover letter tips for showcasing your bilingual skills if you have work experience: Provide two brief business experiences, in which being bilingual helped you in your previous company.
Example 1: You can say something like “Being bilingual and being able to write, read and speak fluently in English and in Spanish has been beneficial to my current employer, especially when we had business visitors from countries in South America and when the company was looking to purchase a plant in Ecuador. In both instances, I was able to help my company communicate better.” These extra skills and examples can set you apart from the other job candidates. Read my post titled The Advantages of Being Bilingual for more thoughts on this.
Example 2: If you are fluent, let’s say in English and Spanish, you can tell the prospective employer that research shows that Hispanics like to speak their own language when purchasing a product or service, especially if they are in stage 1 or 2 of learning English (see my post The Five Stages of Becoming Bilingual for more on this) and that you can help them connect more with their customers – because you can communicate in English with management and in Spanish with the clients. Please notice that in this particular case, you are bringing up your additional knowledge of the company’s clientele and you also mentioned a research study.
Cover letter tips for showcasing your bilingual skills if you don’t have work experience yet: Provide a personal experience in which being bilingual helped you assist someone, or helped you as a volunteer with an organization, or during your internship.
Describe your personal experience: You can designate a paragraph in your cover letter to your bilingual skills, and how knowing two languages can help the specific company. You can say something like: “When volunteering at the clinic, I was able to translate between the patients and the nurses, and the rest of the medical staff, and can help your company in the same capacity.” In other words, because you lack the experience, you can bring in your volunteer work and how you’ve been able to help as a volunteer. Here, you can also mention how you were able to help a company or an organization during your internship.
Remember, the cover letter is an introduction letter of who you are to a prospective company. You need to showcase an array of your personal skills, including your bilingual skills, because they can set you apart from other candidates.
Check back tomorrow for more cover letter tips, including sample cover letters that highlight bilingual skills.
September 16, 2009
It seems like every week you hear: “The business world is becoming more competitive. The world needs educated people who are experts in different fields.” However, in the US, there are many high school students who do not want to, or feel they can’t attend college. This article is for you.
Probably one of the biggest fears my friends with kids have is to hear the words, ‘I am not going to college. I want to work instead, and buy a car, or get an apartment with my friends.’ Those words bring anguish to some parents, because they think that their children’s future might not be as bright as they had hoped. But once parents realize that their kids are serious about not pursuing college, they accept it and decide to help them succeed.
If you are one of the young adults who decided that college was not for you, you still need to put a resume together and sell your abilities to prospective employers. Like any other resume, you’ll have to include your work experience, attributes and qualifications.
Here are some quick resume tips for you:
• List high school classes you excelled in. For example, ‘Excelled in math classes throughout high school, including geometry and algebra.’ This comment can help you, especially if you want to work in a field in which a lot of math is required.
• Mention your volunteer work, or other accomplishments, like your Eagle Scout, Gold award, or any other impressive volunteer award.
• Describe your attributes, such as if you consider yourself to be a hard working person, if you are disciplined and stick to it until you get the work done, if you’re team oriented, or if you are a positive person with great determination.
• Discuss your computer knowledge of Excel, Word, or your web site design experience.
• Be sure to mention if you are bilingual. This could be very important to the employer because they might have a lot of customers who speak the two languages that you do. Tell them if you are fluent in two languages, and also if you can write in two languages. Being bilingual may give you an edge, and may mean higher pay.
• In the ‘objective’ section of your resume, (usually at the top of your resume) explain why you’ve chosen a specific field and how you plan to excel at it. For example, ‘Goal is to prove myself as an auto mechanic, to go through the necessary training, and to excel at Smith Motors for years to come’. Write a specific objective for each individual employer. This will set you apart, and the company will know that you go the extra mile, rather than just having a ‘generic objective’ for all companies. For example, ‘to work at a company where I can build upon my career’ is too generic.
• List part-time jobs you had during high school, such as ‘worked at the city parks during the summers of 2008 and 2009’ or ‘free-lanced as a sports or news-writer at my local newspaper’. You can then list the managers you worked for, as references. If they will attest to your attributes, your sense of responsibility, and your desire to be a part of a team, then you have better employment possibilities with the prospective company.
• Please make certain that you do not have anything offensive in your Facebook or in My Space pages. Employers do check these sites to learn more about you, and some feel like your aptitudes are like the people/friends you associate yourself with at these sites.
• Once you have written your resume, let two or three other people read it and critique it, so you can make certain that you have the best possible resume. Allow a professional resume writer to help you. Keep in mind that you are creating your first impression on your hoped-for (intended) employer.
• Apply at places where you can create a career; at companies where you would feel passionate and proud to work, for years to come. If you don’t feel the passion and or the drive to do it, perhaps you should re-consider applying at that company. Remember that you might be spending numerous hours, days, weeks and years of your life at that company, and you should get a certain degree of happiness, pride, and stability by working there.
• Most of all – make certain that this is the path or field you want to follow with your life. Your career building has to start somewhere. Be aware that not going to college might limit your options, so you need to consider your choices more carefully and demonstrate your work ethic. This can build upon your work experience and can make your resume better, for the next employment opportunity.
My personal belief is that you should train at something. If you don’t want to pursue a four-year college degree, or can not, then try to go to your local two-year community college. Seek out a Career Counselor at that college and speak to them about your likes and dislikes about certain vocations, and see if they can help you find the right field; a job that can accommodate your interests, and a field that can fulfill your dreams. We all have to pay our bills when we grow up, and I think that you would rather be happy in a job that you love. That’s why your decisions and seeking advice from professional career counselors is so important.
However, if in the end, you decide not to go to college, I wish you the best. I truly hope that you will do your best at whatever you choose to do with your life, and that you make yourself irreplaceable at your chosen vocation.
August 11, 2009
The feeling that you can accomplish anything you want to, along with the desire to get a job that pays your college loans is all the motivation you need to get an exceptional first job after college. To get a great first job, you need to write a resume that makes a great first great impression on the employer. That impression needs to last until the day you call the company or interview with the company. The employer needs to say: ‘that’s the young man or young woman whose resume said this or that’… from the hundreds they read. Your job is to make your resume as memorable as you possibly can and to set yourself apart.
Below are some quick tips that will make your resume be more memorable, when you don’t have much work experience:
- Tell the company about any internship you completed and what tasks you executed. Describe what you learned, and what your main accomplishments were.
- Mention the different part-time jobs you held while going to college, and what your responsibilities were at those jobs. (This shows the company that you offset your college expenses with your own work and sweat).
- Tell the company about the clubs and or organizations you have been a part of, such as the ‘youth council group’ or the ‘president of the Spanish or French club’ in high school and or in college.
- List any volunteer work you have done, such as ‘served as a volunteer at the homeless shelter each Saturday morning for three years’ or ‘helped organize the Rotary Club’s International food festival’, ‘assisted with raising funds for the local Lion’s Cub’.
- If you studied abroad, tell the prospective employer. This will add a star to your resume, since you can show that you got out of your comfort zone, that you traveled abroad, and possibly even lived with a hosting family. If you learned the specific language of the country where you did your internship, put this on your resume as well. For example, ‘Learned Spanish while studying abroad in Ecuador.’
- If you are bilingual, make certain that you include your knowledge and experience in the resume. For instance, ‘Fluent in English and Russian, and understand Italian and Spanish.’ This will set you apart from many job candidates, especially if the company has branches in countries that speak any of those languages.
- Show your leadership abilities, your willingness to learn, your cooperative efforts, your team orientation, and your great ‘can do’ attitude.
The examples mentioned above serve to show that ‘experience’ comes in many forms. Your ‘work experience’ might be a little short, so concentrate on other accomplishments and experiences. Show the employer who you have been as a student and as a productive citizen, and that you have already made contributions to your community.
July 28, 2009
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