Customer Reviews

Winning Cover Letters, 2nd Edition

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

i wonder how hard it is to write cover letters when you have the exact qualifications the job is looking for? well, if you want that question answered go pick up a copy of this book. the best has to be "chloe jones" on pgs 69-71. she's looking for a job as a grant administrator. it's amazing! her past job was exactly that - a grants admin. imagine how difficult it must have been to write that cover letter and resume! the book is full of examples like this, where the person has the exact qualifications for the job. ryan then uses the all powerful "impact technique", to craft a masterful cover letter. it's a little suspicious when every cover letter begins with "ten of banking experience", "fifteen years of human resources management", "twelve years of marketing skills", etc. there is hardly anything of substance in this book for people wanting to change careers, people with little work experience trying to break into a desired field, or anyone who does not have the exact job history and skill qualifications for the advertised position. save your money or else you'll spend "two hours of life wasted".

Winning Cover Letters is a powerful tool for anyone who is in the market for a new job. In this book Robin Ryan covers many crucial topics that will aid you in the writing of a powerful, attention-grabbing cover letter. Mistakes to avoid while writing a cover letter, numerous examples of successful cover letters, tips and exercises for assessing your skills and accomplishments, and examples of prospect letters, informational letters, and thank you letters are some of the topics that are covered.

Most importantly, this book shows you the Power Impact Technique. This technique will teach you how to analyze an employer's noted and assumed needs and match your skills to these needs. In addition to being a very informative book, Winning Cover Letters is also an easy book to read. I highly recommend this book for anyone searching for a job and searching for an excellent book on cover letters.

I have bought two of Robin Ryan's books, "60 Seconds and You're Hired" and "Soaring on Your Strengths." I believe the 60 Seconds book was instrumental when I landed the job I currently have. I practiced my 60-second pitch and I think it helped me secure the job. One of the interviewers told me later that I was "the cream of the crop,": focused on the job requirements and how I could satisfy them. I've been happy at this job, but started to wonder if I could do better and make more money somewhere else. For the last three or so months, I have been diligently answering ads but not always including a cover letter. My rationale: Why bother? It's too much work, and people don't read them anyway, and if they do, it's only for a few seconds. They'll hire me on the strenghts of my resume. Boy was I wrong.

I have to give Ms. Robin props for writing this effective book. I gauge its success by the results it delivers, and deliver it does. Using one of the techniques she outlines, I sent off a resume and cover letter for a job that's related to my current field but not in the industry I'm in, but pays almost double my current salary. I followed the guidelines and sent them off as a test to see what would happend.

I was amazed that after only two hours of sending off the resume and cover letter, I got an e-mail from the recruiter wanting an interview. Wow--that has never happened to me before. It was even more amazing because it's a very competitive field with plenty of qualified applicants.

I'm now convinced that I will never send off a resume without a thoughtful cover letter that addresses the job at hand and how my experience fits the bill.

If you've been job hunting without success, get this book. It's a very competitive out there and anything that can help distinquish you from the pack is worth the effort. This book helped me focus on my strengths and accomplishments. Its small price belies the wealth of information and insight you'll get.

I found this book really useful and could not stop wondering how could so much common sense escape my understanding before? Ms Ryan's advice is pretty obvious, however, here we are doing it wrong once and again. I can't say this book is responsible for me getting or not getting interviews so far, but at least I now feel confident enough to think I'm sending a decent cover letter. If you think that this book is going to make the process of cover letter writing faster and easier, you'll get disappointed since it is rather the opposite. But what has to be done has to be done and at least now you know. I didn't give it 5 stars because it gets too repetitive, full of examples that are great, but as usual, there may be one in twenty (if any) that even resembles one's own situation.

http://diaryofajobhunter.blogspot.com

I am an HR Manager and I can highly recommend this book as the authority on cover letters. Not only do I recommend it to others, I just used it myself and dramatically improved my cover letters. The new boss who hired me stated he thought my cover letter was excellent and my resume really got his attention. I used both Ryan's books " Winning Cover Letters, and her other book "Winning Resumes". I give them my highest endorsement.

Nearly every cover letter ends with "I would like to discuss in greater detail the valuable contributions I would bring to ..." and the opening sentences are also nearly all the same - very disappointing.

Along with its partner, Winning Resumes, this book has stayed on my shelf for many years, and still gets used on a regular basis. I highly recommend it. It is useful to get one going through the steps and strategy necessary to write an offer-worthy cover letter. It provides examples for all lines of work, from teaching, to corporate, to entry-level. It offers ideas for those who've been out of the field for a number of years, as well as those fresh out of college. One important idea this book has imprinted on my mind is that a cover letter should never reiterate your resume. It should be another page for you to sell yourself in ways that your resume doesn't. Do not just repeat yourself. I also find this book useful when looking at people's cover letters I have either helped apply for jobs. I am able to make much more constructive comments.

I hate writing cover letters but the author outlined a formula that was easy to follow. After not getting any results I used this book to create my winning cover letter (and I used her Winning Resume book too), and I got an interview for a great mid-level manager postion. I landed the job and they commented on how impressed they had been by my letter & resume. This author is a pro -- buy this book if you want real guidnace in landing a new or better job. If I can learn to write an effective cover letter, anyone can.

Here's my cover letter for why it's not worth buying this book:

"6 months of resume and cover letter writing during my job search is the experience that I can bring to the position of Bad Book Writer."

Every example follows the same exact cookie-cutter recipe, starting with this type of sentence. Not only are the sample letters of poor quality, but there is no information of substance as to how to craft a letter that is unique to my situation and prospective employer. The Power Impact Technique is simple a 2-step process that follows the cookie-cutter recipe.

This book is very helpful for writing more effective cover letters, both those targeted at a particular job or general cover letters. I'd be interested in other peole's recommendations for cover letter writing resources.