=============================================== "Achieve Your Dreams" - Volume 8, November 2004 =============================================== Greetings! Welcome to "Achieve Your Dreams", a bi-monthly newsletter for people with a dream - - whether it's accelerating a career, changing careers, building a business, securing a new job, achieving that long-desired goal, or discovering a new life vision and direction. Each newsletter will offer 1-2 noteworthy articles, a section on "Office Happenings" and "Helpful Resources", and some favorite quotes and sayings to motivate and inspire you. In this issue: 1. "5 Tips for E-mail Cover Letters" 2. "Job + Holidays = Stress" 2. Office Happenings (Holiday Gift Certificates are Available!) 3. Helpful Resources (New Scam Alert) 4. Favorite Quotes Feel free to forward this to those you believe would find it useful. Feedback is encouraged and appreciated. If there is a specific topic you'd like covered, please send the suggestion to me via the e-mail address below. Enjoy ... =============================== 5 Tips for E-Mail Cover Letters =============================== Although cover letters came of age in the time of pen and paper (or typewriter and paper), they remain a key strategy in the 21st century when most job search activities are performed on-line. And although many cover letters are now sent via e-mail as opposed to traditional letterhead, savvy candidates recognize that a well written e-mail cover letter should be developed with the same goal in mind as it's paper counterpart - to entice a hiring manager to read their resume! And it should contain the same value-added attributes as if it were being sent hardcopy. To ensure your e-mail cover letters grab the attention of a hiring manager or recruiter, follow these five tips: 1) Appropriate Length - With an e-mail cover letter, there's a tendency to jot nothing more than a few lines ("attached is my resume for so-and-so position"). This is a mistake. A carefully written e-mail letter may give you the advantage over an applicant with a more 'ho-hum' cover letter, so take the time to make yours stand out. However, make sure it isn't a chore to read. If brevity is a virtue with conventional cover letters, it's a necessity for e-mailed cover letters. Focus in on your key selling points and include at most two to three paragraphs. Try and keep it to no more than one screen length. 2) Don't Waste Your Subject Line - Don't ever leave the subject line of your e-mail cover letter blank, but don't waste it either by just inserting the job number or saying 'Resume For XYZ Job Attached'. Instead, use the subject line to entice the reader to open the message and read your letter by using words/phrases that reinforce how your experience matches the open position. 3) Spell Check Profusely - Never hit "send" without thoroughly spell checking and proofreading your e-mail letter. Once that letter hits cyberspace, there's no way to retrieve it. And sending a follow-up e-mail to apologize for poor grammar or spelling mistakes won't place you first on the "to be interviewed" list. So compose your letter in word processing software first and then read it over carefully before pasting it into an e-mail. And don't rely solely on your software's spellchecker... a simple typo could be the downfall of a brilliant letter. 4) Send Plain Text and Check Line Length - E-mail is quirky... bullets, underlines, bold or italic won't show up correctly when you paste them from a word processing document into an e-mail message. Avoid this by first saving your cover letter in plain text format then replacing special characters with ASCII- friendly ones, like dashes (-), asterisks (*) and arrows (>). And if your cover letter is too wide, it may produce strange line breaks and wraparounds on the reader's screen, which could hurt readability. The solution? Make sure each line is no more than 65 characters in length. 5) Follow The Right Order - When sending your plain format (ASCII) cover letter and resume embedded in an e-mail message (many companies ask that you not send your resume as an attached file for fear of viruses), your cover letter should come first and your resume second. For easier reading, include a line that clearly separates the two documents, like this: ==== END COVER LETTER ==== Cover letters, whether in e-mail or hardcopy format, should be a key component in today's aggressive job search campaign. Following these five tips will ensure that your e-mail cover letters get the attention they deserve. ======================= Job + Holidays = Stress ======================= The upcoming holiday season can be a time of joy and peace. However, it can also be stressful for employees torn between work and family priorities. Recent statistics from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health report that 25% of employees view their jobs as the primary stressor in their lives. And a recent Dateline NBC/Prevention Magazine survey reports that 41% of those polled feel that the holidays are extremely stressful. Combine these and you can see how "job + holidays" make for a stressful period for many employees! At this time of year employers and employees may have conflicting priorities caused by pressures of too many projects and too little time. At a time when companies are trying to meet deadlines and wrap up year-end paperwork, employees are preoccupied with holiday planning. As businesses focus on increased potential holiday revenues, employees are preparing to welcome friends and families. Many employees may experience guilt and anxiety from having to choose between holiday programs at their childrens' schools, or working overtime. And still others may resent assignments that delay plans to decorate their houses or bake for their childrens' holiday events. These stressors are a normal part of the season, but the following suggestions may help you balance the demands of work, family and holiday rituals so your holiday season can be more relaxing, meaningful, and stress-free for you. 1) Set Daily Goals When scheduling your time, either for work or holiday-related tasks, assume that something unexpected will come up and build in a cushion of time to deal with it. To minimize the stress of meeting self-imposed or work deadlines, avoid making promises about when tasks will be completed. If you must commit to a date, be conservative. If you consistently under promise and over deliver you will earn a great reputation while reducing your stress. 2) Set Priorities We tend to overextend ourselves during the holidays. It isn't necessary to do everything that we are asked to do - attend every party, bake cookies for your child's school or volunteer to help with a holiday fair. Now is the time to decide what you would really LIKE to do so you can better balance the demands between home, holidays and work. 3) Recognize, And Accept, Your Own Limitations If you are a "holiday perfectionist," you may tend to find yourself trying to do everything perfectly - buying the perfect gifts, cooking the perfect meal, decorating the perfect house, etc. The holidays will be more relaxing if you focus on the few things that you find are most important or enjoyable to you - the simple and less complicated, the better. That way you conserve your energy and can focus both on enjoying your holidays and meeting the challenges you face at work. 4) Plan Ahead Nothing creates more holiday stress then last minute shopping and preparation. Combine that with a last minute assignment from your boss, and you're in stress overload. If gifts are part of your holiday celebration, set a firm cutoff date to complete your shopping. Use catalogs and web sites to purchase gifts, if possible, to save time and avoid the crowds at the malls that can leave you frustrated and exhausted. 5) Seek Alternative Solutions If you are feeling overwhelmed at work, say so. Companies want to keep good employees, so most bosses will want to know when you are having difficulty. However, instead of saying "I can't do it," offer some possible solutions. For example, if you won't be able to get a major report completed by a particular deadline, perhaps you could tell the boss you can either complete a condensed version of the report by the deadline, complete the entire report by a later date, or meet the deadline if you get some help from co-workers or temporary staff. 6) Practice Self Care Most importantly - take care of yourself. Give yourself time for rest and renewal every day. Eat well, exercise, get plenty of sleep, and take "time out" to enjoy things that you love - a special hobby, reading a good book, going for a walk, or spending time with close friends. ================= OFFICE HAPPENINGS ================= Gift Certificates: Do you have a friend or family member who's struggling in their job search or still deciding "what they want to be when they grow up?" Then a Gift Certificate for career coaching, job search/interview coaching, a career assessment, or a resume rewrite may be the perfect gift this holiday season! Gift Certificates may be purchased for any denomination at any time and are easily available by calling 617-968-7747 or e-mailing me at jeanne@careerdesigns.biz. Holiday Hours: In celebration of the upcoming holidays, I will be out of the office on the following dates: Monday, November 22 - Friday, November 26 Wednesday, December 22 - Friday, December 31. While I'm away, I will not be checking e-mail or voicemail at all, but I do promise to reply to all calls and e-mails the moment I return. ================= HELPFUL RESOURCES ================= 1) Does Your Work Work? Julie Morgenstern, in her new book, "Making Work Work-New Strategies for Surviving and Thriving at the Office," offers these important truths about work: -- Avoid e-mail for the first hour of the day. It's addictive and steals your most productive time. -- Trust your truth. Never undervalue your unique self, skills and point of view. -- Beware multitasking. Scattering your efforts makes for a longer day. -- Dance close to the revenue line. Making and saving money is where your greatest value lies. -- Crunch the container. Shorten your workday by 30 minutes and you will get more done. 2) New Scam Alert! Keep a watch out for people standing near you in the checkout line at retail stores, restaurants, grocery stores, etc., who have a camera cell phone in hand. With the camera cell phones they can take a picture of your credit card, which gives them your name, number and expiration date. CBS reported this type of identification theft is one of the fastest growing scams today. =============== FAVORITE QUOTES =============== "With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable." -- Sir Thomas Foxwell Buxton "The successful person is the individual who forms the habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do." -- Donald Riggs "Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene." -- Arthur Christopher Benson "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away." -- Author Unknown With the end of 2004 rapidly approaching, I'd like to extend my warmest wishes to you and your families for a joyous and funfilled holiday season and a New Year filled with love, happiness and peace on earth. Happy Holidays everyone!!! In support of you, Jeanne ** If you would like someone added to this newsletter distribu- tion list, please forward their name and e-mail address to me. They will be added promptly. ** If you would like to be removed from this list, please reply to this e-mail and I will remove your name promptly.