2009-10-03 08:55:25
This reminds me of myself 2 years ago. Over the course of 6 months I had applied to 3 different positions with the same company multiple times and had emailed and/or called whoever I could about the position. I had attached copies of my resume to every email in both word and text format but never heard a thing. When a fourth position opened up I took my brothers advice and included a cover letter. My letter was addressed specifically to the hiring manager and was three paragraphs long. I talked about my enthusiasm for the position and the company as a whole, specific details about my experience and how they pertain to the position, and the third expressed my desire to sit down with them to further discuss the position and how my experiences would contribute to the company's objectives. The closing sentence said "I will contact you tomorrow to further discuss these possibilities and answer any questions you may have". They called me the next day to set up an interview. After the interview I mailed hand
written thank you notes to the two people I met with and I got the job. The cover letter and extra effort made me stand out because these people are going through dozens, possibly hundreds, of resumes a day and yours is just another one in the pile unless you do what it takes to get noticed. Call them, email them, go to their office, schedule a lunch meeting, do whatever it takes. What do you have to lose?
I work in HR for a Fortune 500 company, so let me tell you from a recruiter's perspective: when people have a cover letter, it makes me much more likely to pay attention to their resume. If the cover letter is addressed to someone in my department (or me), it's another major plus to your chances.
Taking a few minutes to look up some basic info about the position you are applying for and a few more minutes to get even a basic understanding of a company's goals and values can make a huge difference. It's up to you to show me that you're worth looking at... don't expect that handing me a resume makes you worth more than a 10 second look at your qualifications.
And yes, I'm serious about only looking at resumes for 10 seconds. Do it right or don't do it at all.