Job Search Letters For Dummies (4^th Ed.)

New-style job messages that get you in the door and on your way up

From sparkling cover letters to six-word bios, a fresh bevy of job search letters has grown powerfully useful for successful career communications. Job Search Letters For Dummies delivers the quality of New Era know-how you need right now to land good jobs and thrive. Whether you?re a long-time professional or a recent college graduate ? or somewhere in between ? Job Search Letters For Dummies has you covered.

Job Search Letters For Dummies covers the gamut of leading-edge topics, including effective strategies for internal career communications on topics such as raises, promotions, and position changes; rules for communicating professionally with texts and networking on social media platforms such as twitter and LinkedIn; fresh and updated communication phrases to voice accomplishments and make job-fit statements; post-interview etiquette and letters such as thank-yous, "hire me" reinforcement notes, interest revival queries; and much more.

• Get hired with 40 types of job letters
• Create short messages for a smartphone world
• Network on social media sites
• Model best letters more than 200 pro samples

Whether you?re a long-time professional or a recent college graduate ? or somewhere in between ? Job Search Letters For Dummies has you covered.

A note to job seekers from nationally syndicated careers columnist and author or Job Search Letters For Dummies, Joyce Lain Kennedy:

Welcome aboard, job seekers! Thanks for checking out this first guide to communications-supported job search and career growth in relentlessly changing technological times.

 The right messaging ? what you say, why you say it, and when you say it ? is as important today to your employment goals as it has been at any time since Leonardo da Vinci wrote the first professional resume in 1482.

 Consider recent job?finding history:

• In 1986 fax machines and postal mail were the most popular ways to send resumes and cover letters.
• In the 1990s the Internet boom kicked in with new tools to connect jobs and people: e-mail, websites, cell phones, mailing lists, and online bulletin boards.
• In the 21st century the double-time march of recruiting technology skyrocketed, building a techno-swamp populated with endless ideas of how to connect work and people through smartphones, wonder tablets, apps, and social media for virtual networking.

 You?re competing in a new world of work out there. If your job search is treading water ? or even drowning? there?s a better way. Make a splash! Engage hiring authorities through a communications-centered campaign with smart content.

Introduction  1

Part I: New Tools for New Times  5

Chapter 1: Best Messages: Land Jobsand Leap Ahead 7

Chapter 2: Mobile Meets Job Search 15

Chapter 3: Newcomer Letters that Persuade 27

Part II: Essential Job Search Letters  45

Chapter 4: Job Ad Reply Letters and Notes 47

Chapter 5: Getting Help: Networking Letters 85

Chapter 6: Prospecting Letters 103

Chapter 7: After-Interview Letters 121

Part III: Creative Fresh Messages  139

Chapter 8: Social Media Messages 141

Chapter 9: Branding Statements, Bios, Profiles, and Speeches 151

Chapter 10: Interview Leave-Behind Docs 183

Chapter 11: References and Recommendations 195

Chapter 12: Online Portfolios, Prezis, and Videos 213

Chapter 13: Getting Ahead in the Job You Have 221

Part IV: Best Writing Elements  235

Chapter 14: Writing Your Way to a Job 237

Chapter 15: Language That Snap-Crackle-Pops 247

Chapter 16: Great Lines for Success 263

Chapter 17: Job Seeker’s Skills Finder 279

Part V: The Part of Tens  299

Chapter 18: Remember Ten Social Forget-Me-Not Tips 301

Chapter 19: Top Ten Google Tips for Jackpot Job Search 307

Appendix: Directory of Job Letter Writers 319

Index  327

Joyce Lain Kennedy is a nationally syndicated careers columnist. Her column, CAREERS NOW, appears twice weekly in newspapers and on websites across the U.S. Kennedy is the author of seven career books, including the award-winning Job Interviews For Dummies and Resumes For Dummies.