Cover Letters

[WageSlave]

When applying for contracts through the likes of Jobserve (etc.), do you bother with cover letters?
I always used to submit a covering letter (about a page in length), tailored to the spec. But, given that I was applying for hundreds of positions, I stopped bothering and instead now submit my CV online through the JS facility.

Just wondering what everyone else does.

WS in 'was it a bad idea to leave the window open' mode.

[insight14]

I used to write a quick cover letter, but not anymore. Everytime an agent would ring they'd be asking questions that were answered in the cover letter (availability, industries etc) or the CV itself.

I reckon you've got 10-15 seconds from the time the agent double-clicks on your CV till they either bin you or give you another 30 second scan before ringing or shortlisting you. To be expected if they are seeing 50 or more CVs for each role.

[Rebecca Loos]

this is the way I do:

- spot a good ad in Jobserve
- taylor CV to role desc
- send an email to agent, CV attached, the email just says "hello, am interested in job ref xxxxx, I have N years experience doing this and that, am available now/next week/whenever, available for interview any time, really looking to move into blablabla for my next contract, sounds really good, hope to hear from you soon, thanks bye"

For my part, I think that some agents don't even open CVs as they receive too many of them, so your covering email (I don't really call that a covering letter, it's an email, not quite the same, less formal etc.) must somehow grab them and let them think it's worth looking at your CV.

Not saying that's the best approach but that's mine and it kinda works.

[cojak]

I use draft emails:

Example:

"Hello,

I saw your advertisement in Jobserve and would like to declare an interest. I am an ITIL qualified (Manager Certificate) Geek & trainer of other geeks. I am currently the Geeky Manager for xxxx working for xxxxx. I have worked on an ad-hoc basis for xxxx, training on their Geeky software (xxxx) and the Geeky Foundation course. I have also been part of the Geek implementation project in xxxx, Switzerland.

I am available immediately/Although busy until the xxxx, I would be interested in working with your client after this date.

I look forward to speaking with you."


And other variations on a theme....

The secret is to put all of their jobserve buzzwords into your email.

Simple...

[MikeB]

Cv's

On a similar note, how many pages should a Contractor's CV be? I know the general guideline of 2 pages and I have had a 2 page CV for 10 years of Permie work. But should a Contractor's CV be longer to detail most recent projects with a paragraph each, stretching to 4/5 pages?

[WageSlave]

Thanks, for the feedback.

In terms of CV length, I know a couple of PMs with 30+ years experience, and their summarised CVs run to 12 pages. Apart from rate issues, they never seem to have any difficulty landing contracts.

My own CV is 3 pages. I've been debating whether to chop it down to 2.

[Rebecca Loos]

Mike, don't worry about how long your CV is. There used to be a drive to shorten CVs, particularly when I started, but that's mainly because CVs used to be printed and posted, and agents/recruiters used hard copies. These days, it's all through email and so it matters less if your CV is longer.

Agents usually run their own keyword search through CVs anyway, they'll never read it whole - only the paragraphs wrapped around the words they're looking for.

I usually have a blurb for each of my contracts, anything between a third of a page to a whole page each, in addition to the first page which is my skill summary. My CV is about 7 pages long at the mo'.

Dunno how good it is tho' - I usually have to apply for about 40-50 ads before I get anywhere with agents, so maybe others have got a better approach!! I usually end up getting good contracts tho'. So who knows....

[BlasterBates]

The key to getting a good hit-rate is business experience. So if you're Oracle and Insurance, for example ( hi beccs)) then if you apply for an Oracle Insurance project you'll be put forward, if you apply though for MOD work you'll probably end up in the bin.

Usually if you read the adds. carefully, then you can see whether you match the criteria. I suppose if there aren't many adds matching then you're more likely to try your luck with only partial matches and so not get much response.

[DimPrawn]

My CV is only one sentence long.

World leading and renowned Microsoft Consultant with 15 years .NET experience for hire at £1000/day plus expenses.

Works every time.