Cover Letter Magic: Trade Secrets of Professional Resume Writers

by Wendy S. Enelow and Louise M. Kursmark

Book Overview

Cover Letter Magic reveals the inside secrets for creating phenomenal cover letters that get noticed and land interviews. Step-by-step instructions throughout the book teach readers how to write,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593577354
• ISBN13: 9781593577353
• Release Date: January 2010
• Publisher: Jist Publishing
• Length: 443 Pages
• Weight: 2.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.4" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Indispensible tool for job seekers!

This is the Bible of cover letter books! Look no further! From the first page to the last, you will find logical, clever and reasonable advice. It's the perfect answer when you're staring at a blank page, wondering how to find the language to create a meaningful letter to include with your resume. The book combines a wealth of ideas, samples and strategies that give readers actionable ideas to get started and work through to the finished product. It's a great confidence booster filled with practical information! Get ready to flush away your fears!

An utterly invaluable reference

Now in an updated third edition, Cover Letter Magic: Trade Secrets of Professional Resume Writers is a step-by-step guide to writing cover letters with flair and panache. Wendy S. Enelow, creator of a successful resume-writing firm, and certified professional resume writer Louise M. Kursmark combine their professional skills to offer a wealth of tips, tricks, and techniques for effectively selling oneself in a concise, engaging, and effective cover letter. Chapters discuss the ten basic types of cover letters, how-to instructions for writing each part of the cover letter, notes for writing electronic cover letters, numerous sample cover letters, tips on thank-you letters and job-search letters, and much more. An utterly invaluable reference for anyone searching for a job or planning their career.

An excellent addtion to its sister book "resume magic"

This book follows the path the "resume magic" made. Although I found slightly below "resume magic" it still an excellent reference to write cover letters. All aspects of building a cover letter are covered in a progressive manner. The task of writing is therefore a lot easier. Examples are very good, and the author did a very good job leading the reader through the task of writing a cover letter. In the end this book will definitely help you come up with strong, well structured and well written cover letters. A must have for every job-seekers or just any professional.

Adapted for the times

As an IT professional, I found this book packed with good information. The overall style is updated and compatible with the times, and the many examples are creative and varied. Too many "cover letters" cling to the old school of "Enclosed Please Find" formality of another era. In these times, it's equally important to communicate some idea of your style and personality to give an employer a more complete picture of what they're getting when they think of hiring you - that extra something that makes you pleasantly unique from the 500 other cover letters in the pile. For my field, I almost never use paper anymore for letters or for resumes, so I found the info on email throughout the book to be very useful. Most books I've seen barely cover it at all or the authors don't quite grasp its limitations. I also liked the way the book analyzed the cover letter examples of what worked and what didn't, and why. The exercises were a bit vague but you don't really need them to get the most from this book. It's worth every penny.

Most thorough and useful guide for cover letters

This is the best book on the market for writing cover letters. In addition to giving many articulate cover letters to peruse, the book has sections with examples of introductory paragraphs, middle sections, and closing paragraphs. For each of these examples (I think there were more than 40 for the intro), there is a pro and con given, which are really helpful. Also, the book goes over the many different kinds of cover letters that exist, and explains which type is best for each job situation. Oh, and for those people who are recent graduates or don't have that much experience- there is a whole chapter for you with examples of very strong, well written letters. This is particularly nice because most cover letter examples in other books are strong letters because of the strong candidate- not because the letter is extremely well written. There is also a chapter for the professional with years of experience.This is the only book you need for writing cover letters! Do not waste your money on other guides that are not as complete.