Structure your cover letter in a way that helps you can stand out as a candidate and differentiate yourself from others
I regularly get asked by clients and job candidates if cover letters still matter these days when applying for jobs. Do you really need to include a cover letter? Do hiring managers or recruiters even bother to read them? Does a cover letter make any difference?
In short, yes, you should include a cover letter if the option exists.
Hiring managers not only read cover letters but also still expect them. According to ResumeLab, from polling over 200 hiring professionals, they found more than seven in 10 recruiters expect to receive a cover letter even if they mark them as…
Pitfalls job candidates should avoid during the COVID-19 pandemic
Beyond the enormous human toll coronavirus has had over the past few weeks, the pandemic has also had a significant impact on people’s careers. Temporary furloughs, rescinded job offers, hiring freezes, and layoffs have created a tremendous amount of upheaval across all industries and roles.
Many professionals now find themselves having to apply for positions during one of the most challenging times in modern history. “The job market is tougher than it’s been since The Great Depression,” says Eleesha Martin, recruiting process outsourcing manager of G&A Partners, a leading national HR service provider. “As a result of the pandemic, it’s…
More employees are working from home, more meetings are conducted online, and more candidates are interviewing via webcam. When you’re in a virtual meeting with a colleague, hiring manager, or client through a conferencing platform like Skype, Zoom, Teams, or Slack, that virtual environment becomes part of your personal brand.
If the virtual meetings you host are plagued by technical issues, unprofessional audio, and distractions, your personal brand will feel rough and chaotic. On the other hand, if you run virtual meetings without any hiccups, your personal brand will feel polished and professional.
As someone who regularly hosts client meetings…
How can you survive the ups and downs of a bumpy career journey? In this episode of Career Relaunch, Jamie Love a former house cleaner turned professional photographer shares her thoughts on how to deal with hitting rock bottom and how your mindset can have a direct impact on the trajectory of your career. I’ll also explain how I’ve thought about my own self-worth, especially as it relates to pricing my services as a self-employed consultant.
Key Career Insights
- Believing in your own self-worth is such a critical part of being able to promote yourself to others.
- You…
What can you do to gain some much needed perspective and take a fresh look at where your career’s headed? In this episode of Career Relaunch, Ben Mallinson, a former public services employment advisor turned government public servant shares his thoughts on the difference between working for a public and private institution and the steps you can take if you’re feeling stuck in your career. I also share a moment in my own career when I had to take a step back to gain some much needed clarity.
Key Career Insights
- While working for a reputable, well-known company…
How can you feel more empowered in your career? In this episode of Career Relaunch, Jay Kali, a former prison guard turned strength coach shares his thoughts on how adopting an empowered mindset and the relationship between hard work and luck. During the Mental Fuel® segment, I’ll explain why it’s important to take stock of how you’ve changed over time.
Key Career Insights
In this episode of Career Relaunch, Karen Cheung-Hing, a former doctor turned English pronunciation teacher, shares her thoughts on procrastination, relocating to a new country, and upside of changing careers. I also share some thoughts what happened when I let go of how I thought things should look in my career.
Karen and I first crossed paths after she attended one of my career change talks in London. She later applied to be on the show, and I found her story to be really refreshing and unique. I could also relate a bit to some of her sentiments about leaving…
Stand out as a strong candidate with recruiters by being ready to answer these 10 popular screening questions.
When it comes to finding a job, candidates too often turn to applying through online job boards, LinkedIn, or company job portals. While online applications are typically straight forward and easily accessible, they also result in huge candidate pools that makes it hard to stand out.
Another effective channel to find your next role is through job recruiters (aka headhunters) working with companies to fill open positions. …
Have you ever met someone who used to be a tax accountant then became a rapper? Me neither. But that’s exactly what our guest on this week’s Career Relaunch episode did. Deepak Shukla, a former Deloitte tax accountant turned rapper and SEO agency founder shares his thoughts on what it’s like to break into a new industry when you don’t exactly look the part. We’ll also talk about putting yourself out there, dealing with judgement, and focusing on the future rather than the past. …
How do things REALLY turn out when you make the brave decision to relaunch your career? Do things actually end up working out? Or does leaving behind a stable career end up coming back to bite you? In this very special 50th episode of Career Relaunch, I’m excited to welcome back Kelly Cara to the show. Kelly was my very first guest when this podcast launched back in Sept 2016, and she was voted by listeners as the guest they most wanted to hear from again.
We’re going to check in with her to hear how things have actually turned…
Joseph Liu
Joseph Liu- speaker, career change consultant, and host of the Career Relaunch podcast focused on helping people do more meaningful work. https://josephliu.co
