Excerpt from best cover letter in years.

Just when I thought - and I do - that cover letters are not particularly valuable to the corporate recruiting function, I read an interesting one today. I will still only move forward to a live connect if the applicant's experience is at least a reasonable match to the position, but do like what was written in the cover.

Let's face it, you're tasked with one of the greatest challenges there is: finding the right person for the job. Not just good people, or even great people, this person has to be the right fit on so many different levels.

When you stop and think about some of the key individuals in your organization, each has their own unique story of development and growth in their career. It's not likely that they are the same person today as they were when they first walked in the door and even the most accomplished individual will express how much learning they've done and will continue to do. So perhaps instead of looking for the proverbial "round peg"; we should be looking for the right type of "clay" as the spot we are trying to fill will continue to change shape as today's business world continues its rapid evolution.

A Byte of Resume Advice – It’s Only Wafer Thin

Amidst the virtual ocean of online resume advice available for job seekers and career enhancers, I’ll add precious few drops. As one who reads/skims 30 - 50 resumes a day, I’ll share my thoughts on the quickest and possibly easiest way to boost effectiveness of resume organization and – in particular – applications to specific job postings.

Those who know me know my mantra is “friends don't let friends write [resume] objectives.” Deleting that line or paragraph, moving everything up a cm or two on page one is the easiest, arguably best thing you can do. Trust me. Corporate recruiters either don't read or don't believe anything they read in objectives. Please don't tell us your objective is ‘to drive value for our respected organization’ or any other platitude. Also please don't tell us that your objective is to be the exact position we have advertised (worse yet is not replacing the title from your previous application with another employer – this happens at least once a day).

Every word on your resume must add value. If it doesn't, delete it. White space or a 1/3 of a page less is more.

If you absolutely must include an objective, make it interesting. If you are junior or intermediate in your career, why not sketch your 5 or 10 year plan? I’d much rather read that an SAP Consultant’s long term objective is ‘to work towards a career as a project manager of cross functional ERP experts’ than that their immediate objective is ‘to be an SAP FI Consultant in your company.’ I actually get that; he/she applied for the position, after all!
Again, every line, every word must add value.

10 Killer Resume Phrases to Get You Hired:

* Guaranteed not to fall asleep, much.
* Will give 110%, 10% of the time
* I always show up to work on time, if you come and get me.
* There's no I in Team, but there is an M and an E
* I'm all about making money
* Likely to Perform well
* Will do almost anything, once we define "anything"
* Plays well with others
* Great personality, when medicated properly

Thanks Liz Ryan.