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What do movie trailers and cover letters have in common?

They are both advertisements. And their goal is to persuade you to take action:

• Go to a movie
• Read your resume

Could you use a more persuasive cover letter?  Take some cues from Hollywood movie trailers and you’ll be getting five-star reviews in no time.

Keep it short and sweet

Producers know that there is a limited attention span for previews. A good movie trailer has to be short to get its message across.

Limit your cover letter to one page. A short cover letter lets the reader focus on your message, and reduces the tendency to skim or ignore your letter.  Read more...

I have pirates on the brain. Swashbuckling pirates. First there was Talk Like a Pirate day, then  Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl   played a million times on cable and now I’ve got that pirate song stuck in my head. It’s the one they sing at the top of their lungs while happily hoisting mugs of grog:

“Yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!”

I ask you, who has a happier career than a pirate? No one. They are the poster children of career satisfaction.  And why? Because they are absolutely, positively, perfectly suited to being pirates.  It is not just that they have superior pirate skills or that they love their pirate job duties. Those things are important, but there’s more to it than that.   Read more...

As in Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad JOB SEARCH Days.

As in actually checking to see if email is down because apparently no one cares enough to even send you spam Days.  Or making sure your phone is working because you can’t remember the last time it rang Days.  Or having absolutely run out of ideas and not knowing what to do next Days. 

From the kid perspective,  Alexander’s day in Judith Viorst’s children’s book  Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day would seem to have lived up to its name. Gum in your hair? Terrible. Lima beans for dinner? Horrible. 

From the adult perspective, Very Bad JOB SEARCH Days are much, much worse than lima beans. And I say that as someone who has deep, personal experience with both.   Read more...