The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

[zazthespaz]

In my area of work, for example, it could be something like "hey I noticed SEO on your website could be improved," then I'd maybe place an example of my SEO skills such as "I have my own website that's getting visits just through good usage of SEO and I started ranking it quite quickly," etc. The point is to sell your service to them basically, but you can't do it without focusing on what they need first.

No offense Lotha, but your text sounds just like the 10 or so spam emails I get a day offering to help my company with our SEO

[anguyen92]

Ok, so say, under responsibilities in the job posting, "Analyze current and past trends in key performance indicators including all areas of revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures," I did a class project where we researched Apple (which is also a publicly-traded company) and I was in charge of analyzing and calculating their annual sales percentage changes, changes in cost of sales, operating expenses, inventories, long-term debt, etc. Would I be able to convince people (even a little), if I include that in the cover letter since it suits what Blizzard wants a person to do?

[Lotha]

In my area of work, for example, it could be something like "hey I noticed SEO on your website could be improved," then I'd maybe place an example of my SEO skills such as "I have my own website that's getting visits just through good usage of SEO and I started ranking it quite quickly," etc. The point is to sell your service to them basically, but you can't do it without focusing on what they need first.

No offense Lotha, but your text sounds just like the 10 or so spam emails I get a day offering to help my company with our SEO

Haha it was a generic example, SEO is not the focus of what I do (though I know SEO). And maybe your company DOES need help with SEO

Ok, so say, under responsibilities in the job posting, "Analyze current and past trends in key performance indicators including all areas of revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures," I did a class project where we researched Apple (which is also a publicly-traded company) and I was in charge of analyzing and calculating their annual sales percentage changes, changes in cost of sales, operating expenses, inventories, long-term debt, etc. Would I be able to convince people (even a little), if I include that in the cover letter since it suits what Blizzard wants a person to do?

Well I'd say mention it, since you have some experience doing it. Maybe attach a file with those calculations to show that you can do it.

[anguyen92]

^^ All right, I got some tables of those in addition to my analysis of it. Just throw it in there after my cover letter in the same file?

[Timotheus]

Saw Glen Hansard live tonight. Such a legend.

[The Plotblocker]

So did Myles ever find out who took his shoe??



I may be watching the Astoria show from 06/06/2006

[zazisaspaz]

Read through the Gurthie thread the past couple of days, some good lols. I miss Inconquerable now though

Stop! Where is my sister-in-law?! You two still need to get married! Go find her, Cams.

[zazisaspaz]

P.S. this place looks nice!

[anguyen92]

Ahhh, nice to see you back here, Summer. How's it going?

[zazthespaz]

Read through the Gurthie thread the past couple of days, some good lols. I miss Inconquerable now though

Stop! Where is my sister-in-law?! You two still need to get married! Go find her, Cams.

Who are you?

[agny]

Ok, so say, under responsibilities in the job posting, "Analyze current and past trends in key performance indicators including all areas of revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures," I did a class project where we researched Apple (which is also a publicly-traded company) and I was in charge of analyzing and calculating their annual sales percentage changes, changes in cost of sales, operating expenses, inventories, long-term debt, etc. Would I be able to convince people (even a little), if I include that in the cover letter since it suits what Blizzard wants a person to do?

Yeah, the other thing with a cover letter is to expand on particular parts of your resume most relevant to the job. So you might have a bullet point on your resume about your degree or some of the classes you've taken, but it won't have that much detail. So a few sentences on the cover letter would be good, almost as you wrote it above

Moving from student to employee is hard but the employers should realize that if it's an entry job. I hate applying for jobs, really hate it, but it is one of the things that gets easier as you get older. Or when it's easier it's a sign that it's a good fit. When I wrote the cover letter for the job I took this year, it was like, wow, this actually wasn't so hard to write and it sounds like they should interview me

I would say for examples either put them on a website and give them the link, or bring those to an in-person interview, but it might be a way to stand out on your resume.

[Lotha]

I agree with agny.

P.S. some of my most successful freelance gigs were won with a cover letter I spent like 5 minutes on. Don't know what's the deal with that.
And yeah, writing them gets a lot easier with time.

[anguyen92]

All right, well, I'm certainly going to finish my cover letter, sometimes, today. Would it be all right, if I send it to you guys, in any capacity, and you guys can give me comments on it?

[anguyen92]

So upon more research, I found that this job wants grad students, not undergraduate. Does this put me at an advantage or disadvantage since I am not a grad student but is willing to be one?

[zazthespaz]

So upon more research, I found that this job wants grad students, not undergraduate. Does this put me at an advantage or disadvantage since I am not a grad student but is willing to be one?

Disadvantage, but that shouldn't stop you from going for it if you really want it, which is all your job search decisions should boil down to. If you want the job, apply for it, if you don't meet the qualifications, explain how you make up for them (through smarts or otherwise).

Another helpful tip for submitting applications is find out what the top keywords are that the job posting uses. Go to wordle.net and paste the entire job description into the tool. It'll emphasize the more frequently used words so you know which ones to use. Once the recruiter (or computer) sees these words pop up in your resume/cover letter, it'll give them a little more incentive to give you a shot.

[agny]

All right, well, I'm certainly going to finish my cover letter, sometimes, today. Would it be all right, if I send it to you guys, in any capacity, and you guys can give me comments on it?

Not my field but if you can't find someone in your field to review I'll give it a go.

[gbruin]

zaz will agree that you want to be pretty concise in your cover letter. That means minimize the commas.

[anguyen92]

Ok, done with my first draft of the cover letter. Anyone want to read it?

[anguyen92]

Btw guys, I'm sorry for making these last few pages a, "How to help Anguyen write a good resume/cover letter." I'm really tense about this since this is my first time actually applying to a job and I want to get all of these details just right and perfect.

[Fish Tacos]

Anyone else watching Kayne going full Scott Stapp? Can't say I care for the guy but that kinda stuff always sucks and it seems like almost the same situation where he goes bizarre paranoid then get's committed.

I live two blocks from our counties justice center. Last night at 6 pm a murderer escaped jail and is still at large. Kind of strange seeing local and state law enforcement cruising the neighborhood and searching houses.

One of my coworkers was just arrested for a stabbing murder, a cold case from 10 years ago. Apparently, advances in forensics have allowed them to link him to the murder. Guy just finished a divorce then got arrested, he's really having a bad week.

All right guys, I got a few questions. One, how do I do a cover letter? Two, I'm thinking about applying for Blizzard Entertainment in the Associate Financial Analyst position and they want current students, but I graduated last June. Should I still apply?

Plenty of cover letters online that you can use as templates for formatting. To sort of echo agny, treat the cover letter as you met your employer about to get on the elevator and you have about 2 minutes to explain why you're the best candidate. The resume outlines what you've worked on, when and some of the details while the cover letter allows you to give the manager insight into who you are as a person. It's good to address why you want to work there specifically, and which highlights from your resume you feel would be the best fit for the position they're looking to fill and why.

For example, I wrote a cover letter for a rotational job at AMRDEC (AMRDEC | U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development). I explained that while I hadn't yet completed my Master's degree that I had taken some coursework in line with the type of work that they'd been doing there and that I had written a semi-official document for my Agency about solid rocket propulsion, an independently pursued assignment whose research and insight would allow me moreso than other candidates to hit the ground running. I also made sure to call out how this position would further MY OWN interests and ambitions careerwise which shows that you're going to invest yourself in it.

I got this position, unfortunately the funding fell through. I think those are 3 main tenants to try to stick to though.

As far as already having graduated, apply to whatever you want. Just keep in mind some places are looking specifically for students so they can meet some sort of quota so they might chuck you immediately while others just say that so they can pay you less because you'll have more of an intern status, but do it anyway, the worst they can say is no and at least you tried.