need help submitting a cover letter/resume
August 11, 2015 11:53 AM Subscribe
I am applying for a librarian job in my town. I would like to submit my resume, cover letter, and references (all requested in the job posting) today so I can stop with the rewrites already. However, I'm not sure how to submit my cover letter. Do I:
1) send it in the body of the email? If so, do I also attached it as a pdf? OR do I
2) send it as an attachment only, and in that case what do I say in the email?
Googling gets me nowhere - or rather, it gets me both answers.
Thanks AskMeFi!
I attach it as a separate file labeled as myName_coverLetter.doc, and say something like...
"Good afternoon,
My name is _______ and I would like to apply for ________ (Code #). Please find my resume, cover letter, and references attached.
Should you require any additional information, please let me know.
All the best,
__________
555-555-5555
Name@Email.com"
posted by Hermione Granger at 11:56 AM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Good afternoon,
My name is _______ and I would like to apply for ________ (Code #). Please find my resume, cover letter, and references attached.
Should you require any additional information, please let me know.
All the best,
__________
555-555-5555
Name@Email.com"
posted by Hermione Granger at 11:56 AM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
I usually do everything in the body of the email, plus resume as an attachment (pdf rather than .doc).
Sometimes attachments are difficult to open or get lost in email exchanges between people (forwards that become reply-alls where people are added).
posted by vunder at 12:04 PM on August 11, 2015
Sometimes attachments are difficult to open or get lost in email exchanges between people (forwards that become reply-alls where people are added).
posted by vunder at 12:04 PM on August 11, 2015
Yes. Unless told otherwise, always keep it short in the email and attach your documents as PDFs. Therefore it's easier to print and looks better. (Rather than trying to print the email as your cover letter.)
posted by Crystalinne at 12:07 PM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Crystalinne at 12:07 PM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
When it comes to anything job related, I turn to Ask a Manager. Alison answers your questions here. Good luck!
posted by pumpkinlatte at 12:44 PM on August 11, 2015
posted by pumpkinlatte at 12:44 PM on August 11, 2015
If you think the person receiving the email is going to be the hiring manager, I would just write the cover letter as an email. The goal is to get them to read your resume, right? Attach the resume and references as PDFs, never .doc/.docx. The downside of putting everything in the email is that then maybe they won't open the attachments at all.
posted by wnissen at 12:45 PM on August 11, 2015
posted by wnissen at 12:45 PM on August 11, 2015
Ask a Manager is usually great, but she misses badly here. Crossing a .doc between Mac/PC or super-new/old versions of Word (or both) risks that they can't open the file at all, or it might be garbled. Furthermore, most phones can't handle .doc attachments but nearly all can take a PDF.
posted by wnissen at 12:48 PM on August 11, 2015
posted by wnissen at 12:48 PM on August 11, 2015
(I am a person who hires people for library jobs, and) I prefer to receive a short email--not a whole cover letter but not a single line either--along the lines of:
'Dear Mr. Box (don't say 'To Whom it May Concern' if my name's in the job posting),
I recently saw your open Librarian position on the Cookie City Library website (again, not-generic), and I am writing to apply. Please find my application materials (I wouldn't do a list unless it's more than two or three things) attached. If you need anything else (this is the one place to be vague), I may be reached via this email address or at 555-555-5555 (two different types of contact point). Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Jobless Jim'
Attach .pdf versions of each individual document, and give them descriptive names like 'Jobless Resume' and 'Jobless Cover Letter.'
posted by box at 12:59 PM on August 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
'Dear Mr. Box (don't say 'To Whom it May Concern' if my name's in the job posting),
I recently saw your open Librarian position on the Cookie City Library website (again, not-generic), and I am writing to apply. Please find my application materials (I wouldn't do a list unless it's more than two or three things) attached. If you need anything else (this is the one place to be vague), I may be reached via this email address or at 555-555-5555 (two different types of contact point). Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Jobless Jim'
Attach .pdf versions of each individual document, and give them descriptive names like 'Jobless Resume' and 'Jobless Cover Letter.'
posted by box at 12:59 PM on August 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm a librarian and have worked for both public and academic libraries.
My usual method is to write the text of the letter in the email, but also attach a nicely formatted PDF of the letter to match my CV. I use PDFs to ensure that everything stays neat, and also make sure to name the files descriptively ("Last name, first name - CV", or something like that). This method has worked for me so far, anyway.
posted by betafilter at 1:03 PM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
My usual method is to write the text of the letter in the email, but also attach a nicely formatted PDF of the letter to match my CV. I use PDFs to ensure that everything stays neat, and also make sure to name the files descriptively ("Last name, first name - CV", or something like that). This method has worked for me so far, anyway.
posted by betafilter at 1:03 PM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Send the cover letter as an attachment, with just a short note in the email. Librarians do every.single.thing by committee. Multiple people will need to read and print your cover letter. It may also be stored on a shared secure workspace with all the other CVs and cover letters, and that's a pain to do with an email.
posted by TNOTGILL at 1:39 PM on August 11, 2015
posted by TNOTGILL at 1:39 PM on August 11, 2015
I hire people. Because hundreds of people apply for every job we post, and most applications are terrible, I don't have time to open and read attachments. I'll only do it if I can see from the email that the candidate might be a good fit and I want to learn more.
However, as TNOTGILL says, your library might have a different hiring process. Do attach a cover letter as a pdf if so, but write something interesting and relevant in the email too. Most applicants won't and you'll stand out.
posted by frantumaglia at 2:33 PM on August 11, 2015
However, as TNOTGILL says, your library might have a different hiring process. Do attach a cover letter as a pdf if so, but write something interesting and relevant in the email too. Most applicants won't and you'll stand out.
posted by frantumaglia at 2:33 PM on August 11, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks everyone! I went with a short email as you suggested, and attached the rest.
posted by lyssabee at 3:15 PM on August 11, 2015
posted by lyssabee at 3:15 PM on August 11, 2015
Always do cover letters in the body of an email and attach your resume and/or clips. Advice to attach a cover is letter is woefully outdated, in my experience. I'm actually shocked at how many people here recommend to attach the cover letter. Your email is the cover letter. But maybe libraries do things differently...
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:38 PM on August 11, 2015
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:38 PM on August 11, 2015
You've already sent, but in case it's helpful for future readers. (Librarian, just finished a round of job hunting a few months ago, also have done hiring)
Email, with a brief paragraph (like the examples above), though mine often include a sentence about "I'm [particularly interested/think my background is a particularly good fit] because of [thing in ad/thing that library does/thing I've done, etc]." in some form.
And then cover letter, resume (and if requested, references) as a single PDF, not multiples. When I've done hiring, PDFs are a lot easier to drop into a single shared drive so everyone can look at them, but emails can get lost, you lose formatting, you can't see both the cover letter and the resume without flipping programs, etc.
And from the application side, it's a lot easier to track exactly what I sent each library in my own file storage, while the emails are spread out chronologically and not grouped by that particular application. (I save the job ad, the submitted materials, and interview prep notes in a folder named with the job / title in my file storage, so that when people called me back often a month or more later, I'd be able to find what I said easily.)
posted by modernhypatia at 12:01 PM on August 13, 2015
Email, with a brief paragraph (like the examples above), though mine often include a sentence about "I'm [particularly interested/think my background is a particularly good fit] because of [thing in ad/thing that library does/thing I've done, etc]." in some form.
And then cover letter, resume (and if requested, references) as a single PDF, not multiples. When I've done hiring, PDFs are a lot easier to drop into a single shared drive so everyone can look at them, but emails can get lost, you lose formatting, you can't see both the cover letter and the resume without flipping programs, etc.
And from the application side, it's a lot easier to track exactly what I sent each library in my own file storage, while the emails are spread out chronologically and not grouped by that particular application. (I save the job ad, the submitted materials, and interview prep notes in a folder named with the job / title in my file storage, so that when people called me back often a month or more later, I'd be able to find what I said easily.)
posted by modernhypatia at 12:01 PM on August 13, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
And then you attach said docs.
posted by St. Hubbins at 11:56 AM on August 11, 2015 [9 favorites]