Cover letters via e-mail

[Pool Hall Ace]

Hello,

I found this tip on Careerealism's website and was asked by someone else to verify. Here is a link to the page, but I've included the excerpt I'm interested in: http://www.careerealism.com/7-cover-letter-mistakes-applying-email/

Attaching the cover letter to the e-mail.

What’s wrong with that, you ask? Most hiring managers aren’t going to open the cover letter and read it. They’ll go straight to the resume instead. Want to ensure your cover letter gets read? Copy and paste it into the body of the e-mail. Whoever received the e-mail will be much more likely to read it if it’s already right there in front of their face.

One person told me to include it both in the e-mail and as an attachment for printing. She said that otherwise, the printout would look messy and unprofessional, since it would include e-mail headers and such.

What do you say? I haven't applied for any positions via e-mail yet, but for some of them, that is the only option.

Thanks!

[Kat45]

1. I just write the email as a cover letter.

It seems to work ok.

[Pool Hall Ace]

2. That's what I thought; thanks.

And that is one pretty bird in your sig! :)

[Kat45]

3. Thanks. That's my sweet little parrotlet, Grace.

I adore that bird--tons of personality packed into just 4 inches of height!

[lukasahero]

4. The cover letter *is* the email

I've heard what you're describing here for the actual resume. Paste your resume in the email but also attach a copy.

[Pool Hall Ace]

5. OK, now I'm confuzzled.

Here is what I'm thinking, in a nutshell:

no-so-good: send blank e-mail that includes both cover letter and resume as attachments.
good: paste text of cover letter in body of e-mail, attach resume.

It seems redundant to paste your resume in the e-mail, but then also attach a copy. Not that you suggested it, but it doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

[lukasahero]

6. Thoughts about including the resume in the body of your email:

"Always send your resume in the body of the e-mail message, not as an attachment. Force someone to open an attachment just to get to know you and your 20 seconds are over before they even start. Put that resume right in the message so the recipient will see it as soon as he or she opens the message. This technique also helps you get through e-mail systems that reject all attachments in this day of rampant computer viruses."
http://www.rileyguide.com/eresume.html

"Your text resume has to be in the body of the email. If you attach your resume, chances are the potential employer won't even open it. Send your resume to yourself to see how the text version of your resume is modified by the email software."
http://www.cvtips.com/resumes-and-cvs/resume-by-email.html

"Unfortunately, hackers and computer virus epidemics have made it nearly impossible for anyone to trust an attachment from anyone else these days. Most employers will not even open an attachment due to concerns of getting a computer virus. Even worse, the sender often has no idea they have a virus on their computer, and are sending it out with every message they create and send."
http://www.at-homeworks.com/resume_help.htm

The best option is to follow the guidelines provided by the employer. Of course, you can only do this if they reach out to you or tell you what they want on their web site. Do your research and find out - check the web site, call the main office and ask, see if you can find out if they prefer Word documents or PDFs. If you can't get that information, then I would suggest putting the resume in the body of the email.

[Pool Hall Ace]

7. Ah! Thank you so much.

I just assumed that a PDF would work. Most employers seem to be vague, so I will just call and ask.

Thank you! :hi: