A great cover letter is * Written to a target job * So intriguing that a reader makes room in a busy schedule to meet you * An electrifying personal advertising tool that short-circuits the competition A great cover letter is not * Bland and indifferent * Littered with dry facts * What the hiring manager's kid uses as scratch paper Your cover letter should spark the reader's interest as a dynamic introduction to your resume. This is your chance to personalize your resume. Here's where you make yourself into a living, breathing human being and set your accomplishments aglow. How do you achieve this? Let the second edition of Cover Letters For Dummies be your guide. In this book, you'll gain understanding of why you need a cover letter, what the different types of cover letters are, what myths surround them, and how to break out of writer's block. You'll figure out how your letter should look and sound, with tips on language, content, and image. You'll get ideas for writing a dazzling opening line. And you'll work through a checklist to make sure that the best of you lives in your cover letter. What's more, you'll * Explore the changing rules in the workplace and how they impact the way you find work * Identify where your skills fit in today's workplace through a number of self-assessment worksheets * Sum up surefire tips for working with recruiters, answering job ads, avoiding the salary question, handling negative references, and creating letters that even a computer can love