our cover letter is a marketing tool and a demonstration of your writing skills. The purpose of the cover letter is for the potential employer to match your knowledge, skills, and abilities to the position requirements. The letter should make use of the skills formula in  Action Word (verb) + Keyword skill (noun) = Outcome (quantified results), in describing skills such as project management or spreadsheet proficiency. When writing a cover letter, it is easy to be general or vague. It is important to be brief, but specific. Many job seekers will overuse the following talking points: I am a good multi-tasker; I am responsible; and I am hard working. Potential employers want to understand how you will demonstrate that you are responsible, a multi-tasker, and hard-working and how it relates to the advertised job.  Make sure you are looking at the job announcement to understand what the employer is seeking. If you are not writing your letter for the job you are applying for, why would they want to select you? In this week’s discussion:

1. Choose three vague statements you may have used in the past or thought about using while writing a cover letter.
2. For each of your three statements, use the Skills formula to re-write your vague statements using the skills formula: Action Word (verb) + Keyword skill (noun) = Outcome (quantified results). Specifically describe how you demonstrated this action and what were the measurable results.
3. What soft skills did you use? Did you use adaptive skills? What was the impact of your measurable outcome? Remember, your potential new employer wants to know what they can expect from you should the hire you.
4. Why is it important to qualify your experience?