Job hunting skills and etiquette

[rscassar]

Hi guys

I just have a few questions about job hunting skills and etiquette.

Cover letters

1. Is it acceptable to use an email as a cover letter when applying for a job?
2. What is an acceptable project heading for a cover letter email?
3. Would a standard email signature (i.e. printed name with contact details) substitute for a hand written signature on an cover letter email?

The reason I ask is that the positions I am applying for is not an advertised position. The resume and covering letter will follow a cold call, so the email essentially becomes the first written 'point of contact'. I fear that by attaching a pdf cover letter to an email that I lose the chance to impress with a strong opening statement. On the other hand, I fear that the cover letter will lose professionalism by not having a hand written signature and that there will be no record of my cover letter because administrations will not file an email on their records.

Interview skills

1. What can the candidate do to stand out?
2. What have interviewers noticed candidates do in the past which have impressed?
3. Is there anything I can bring to the interview to help me impress?
4. Do I mention that I actively participate on forums for extracurricular learning?

All opinions will be welcome.

 

[kacarrol]

Regarding email cover letters:

When I apply to a position through email I have always used the email as the cover letter and then attached the resume. I don't think it loses professionalism without the hand written signature as the recipient recognizes that it's a different form of communication.

But if you're really stuck on including a signature you could always embed it as a .gif image at the end of your email, although, you do risk the recipient seeing it as a broken image link if their server deletes these type of things from incoming emails.

Cheers,
K

 

[corus]

Be careful of emails as some companies have spam folders and innocent emails can be sent there, and deleted without being viewed. I'm not sure why some are listed as spam, it may be the email address itself or the content if your experience includes erection of structures. Personally I'd send a hand written cover letter as it's more likely to be read and your spelling (or lack of it) will be self evident.

For interviews, body language is the most important factor in my book. It'll impress or put them off within the important first few seconds. Whatever you do, don't turn up in a heavy metal style t-shirt (as someone did once) as you'll just get sent home without getting into the interview room.

Tata

 

[TDAA]

How do you know the interviewer is not into Slayer?

Well, my experience with the e-mailing was that I put a quick cover letter in my e-mail, and included a more comprehensive one as a PDF, with signature. I felt this was more professional, although a bit old fashioned I guess. The entire process, except the interview was done via e-mail. All items down to the thank you letter were PDF.

One reason this was done was since my resume and letters were all formatted the same, with a personal logo.

I have had some preliminary things going on recently, where I was asked for a resume that were sent with out cover to a friend in the company. other quick discussions have been through normal e-mails.

 

[kacarrol]

Good point corus. A lot of emails do get caught in spam filters. I find you are more likely to lose a letter to a spam filter if you use your free email account (yahoo, gmail etc) than an account that comes from your isp (sympatico, telus etc.).

As for the address line. I don't know what to say about a cold call. When I was applying to jobs from Workopolis etc I would put the job title followed by the job number in brackets.

K

 

[MechEng2005]

I have had my cover letter as an email. In one case I even arranged the interview and had more of a "conversation" through email before the interview. (Found out later that the manager I was working with was temporarily out of the country, so our clocks were about 12 hours apart while we were making arrangements).

However, if I was worried about it, I'd just make a .pdf of the cover letter (with signature), and then also copy/paste the body of the letter into the email. Then, you get your immediate impact, and a more formal copy that can be passed around to HR or whoever else needs to see it.

-- MechEng2005

 

[KENAT]

In terms of making sure the email gets there, there's a wonderful inventions called the telephone which allows you to communicate directly with the person from a distance. I've used this to verify an email or even letter arrived, usually after waiting an appropriate amount of time for an acknowledgment.

1. Generally I'd say yes, but that doesn't mean it's the best option for every situation.

2. Project heading?

3. Generally I'd say yes, but that doesn't mean it's the best option for every situation.

1. Dress Appropriately (lots of posts on this, one every few months); have done some research about the company/organization ready to ask questions (I flubbed this a little my last phone interview, inexcusable rookie error); walk the fine line of appropriate V over confidence; be able to back up everything on your resume...

2. Bothering to dress up.

3. Depending on the type of work perhaps samples/portfolio or the like, subject to confidentiality restrictions etc.

4. If it comes up, but personally I wouldn't force it into the conversation.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[brandoncdg]

I generally respond to anyone saying thank you we will keep your info filed when we do decide to hire.

Now what I have noticed from emails and resumes is that a lot of people do not always include their attachment on the first try. Something seems wrong about that to me. Also English and bad grammar also stick out a lot to me.

Other than that, try to not make a super generic email, cover letter, etc. to the companies. I would try to say one little thing you may have found on their website, even if its the city where they are located.

Civil Development Group, LLC
Los Angeles Civil Engineering specializing in Hillside Grading

http://www.civildevelopmentgroup.com

http://www.civildevelopmentgroup.com/blog

 

[rscassar]

Bad grammar is a rookie error, particularly when your trying to sell yourself as having such strong attention to detail.

I am going to continue with using the body of the email as a cover letter. It is easy for the potential employer, particularly when applying for unadvertised positions. They can get a feel for my experience and what I can bring to their engineering team, then open a .pdf of my resume to see what type of projects I have worked on, task completed on those projects and all related work history.

Corus,

Thanks, I am working on developing my body language to convey enthusiasm and confidence. I'll need to work on this because by nature I am a reserved person who doesn't show a great deal of emotion. i.e. I have an introvert personality.

KENAT,

I was referring to the subject heading of the email when I said project heading. This comes about from applying for non-advertised positions. I don't quite know how to say "Please read my cover letter and resume, have you got any job opportunities available at your company for someone with my level of experience?".

The same goes for the mandatory thank you letter following an interview, which I am also doing via email. How to say "thank you for your time and consideration, I look forward to hearing about your decision" in the best way to further my chances of being offered a position.

So far, getting an interview hasn't been a problem. But something is letting me down with my interview skills. That and the economy. Some blame must go to the economy.

 

[KENAT]

Ok, I thought maybe you meant email title but wasn't sure.

How about 'Resume of Engineer with XXX experience', where XXX is something you think they're interested in.

For instance I've applied to a couple organizations with little or no response via their websites etc. Well I managed to find an HR persons email buried in their site somewhere and used a title similar to the above and manged to get a phone interview.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[IRstuff]

"manged to get a phone interview"

I hope you're fully recovered now ;-)

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[KENAT]

Very droll.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[Waidesworld]

I found some great tips on engineering.com and also on theladders.com (you don't have to subscribe to the latter to get the free emails). Things like what questions to ask in the interview, what to ask afterwards in a follow up.

And if you do get an interview, be sure to mention to everyone you talk to there, that you want the job. You'd be surprised how many people don't say that to the interviewers.

drawn to design, designed to draw

 

[moltenmetal]

You want your resume and cover letter to be noticed by the right people, and not for the wrong reasons.

A proper e-mail subject line helps, big time.

MOST IMPORTANT is to spend the required time and effort to ensure that the resume gets sent to the right person or people. That can be very hard to do in practice unless you have inside help, but if it's possible it's the very best way to rise above the flutter of resumes.

Avoid errors in spelling and grammar in any written documents, as they show a lack of attention to detail.

Show that you actually know something about what the particular company does. Make a linkage to positions you know they need to fill.

If it's an advertised position, actually READ the job advert and reply to the needs communicated there in your cover letter, your resume AND during your interview.

If you do get an interview, do not underestimate the value of examples of previous work you've done, whenever they can be provided without breaching someone else's propriety. Examples rather than paragraph-long text descriptions can be highly effective at cutting through the interview haze, making yourself memorable in a good way. But don't bring work you haven't actually prepared, and be forthcoming with the extent of your involvement in what was done, as a shrewd interviewer will catch you out if you claim more than you actually did (and that can be the end of you as a candidate).

Send a thank you after the interview, re-expressing your interest in the position. Finding a candidate truly interested in the position offered rather than a job, any job in their field, is half the battle.

We had a candidate who answered some technical questions in error during the interview, but e-mailed back that evening, saying that he'd thought about it some more and realised where he'd gone wrong, giving the correct answers. That's one candidate out of literally hundreds I've interviewed. By the way, he's been a stellar employee for years now.

 

[KENAT]

Molten makes a good point, if you realize you made an error in something you said or the like, it's likely worth bringing it up later. I've done this in an interview before and got offered the job.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[rscassar]

What do people in hiring positions like to hear when someone makes an unsolicited (cold) phone call selling themselves to a potential employer?

 

[KENAT]

Unless actively looking to hire someone, then The click noise the handset makes when I put it back in the receiver.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[vthomidis]

I am not sure how things work in the USA as I am in Europe,
but nevertheless my views are :

- E mail as a cover letter has nothing wrong unless the person to whom it is destined is computer illeterate which can not be the case in engineering jobs. For same reason the absense of a hand written signature can not really be an important issue (if it is for any company, be sure you are wasting your time appying for a job to them)
- I would not advise you "cold calling" It should be quite difficult to get to talk to the right person in the first place and even if you manage doing so, 80% you will receive a "don't waist my time" like reply.
-As molten also advised you should concentrate your efforts on trying that your resume should get to the right persons
for the right reasons.Also expressing interest for the position is important.
-Your resume would better not be very "extended".The hiring decision makers don't actually like "blah..blah.."
-If an interview should come up try to show some interest about the company's story and current activity by asking relevant questions.

 

[csd72]

Before the interview find out as much as you can about the company - google often gives some surprising results.

During the interview ask questions - I always have the attitude that I am interviewing them as a future employer as wells as them interviewing me. This has 2 effects, it shows that you are keen and shows some of your knowledge, it also comes across as assertive which is definately a quality lacking in many engineering professions.

Dont give up on cold calls - I got two jobs in the US through this method. Works best at small companies and dont expect to get through to the decision making guy sometimes a helpful future coworker is just as good.