[Igotsoul4u]

well.  I have sent out a bunch of applications over the last year for jobs and despite being extremely qualified I never received a reply back from any of them.  I am currently applying for a job as a teacher at Nassau community college and once again i feel I am the perfect guy for the job.  I am looking for some tips or advice when writing my cover letter.  It would be great for specifics on landing a teaching job.  I really am fully qualified but I worry about being over qualified.  I have never needed a cover letter before so I feel like I might be over thinking things.  Anyway.  any hints are appreciated.  Any hookups at nassau community college and I'll give you my bulkley!!!

[SeaCliff]

The biggest thing about a resume is often not the resume itself, but getting it into the right hands - work hard to find out who is the actual decision maker, and then find a way to give that person a heads up that you've submitted your resume - a short, smartly worded introductory letter personally addressed to that person should do the trick and get them to have your resume included in the short list of final candidates. Remember, all your after is heightened awareness from the decision maker, so dont go crazy or you'll undermine your objective.

With that in mind, here's the time-tested rules for intro and cover letters:

1. It's all about the first paragraph; and
2. No one reads page 2, so don't have a page 2.

Good luck!

[surfnli]

ugh.  cover letters are terrible.  maybe call the person, state your interest and just email them your resume?

[Igotsoul4u]

Is it appropriate to stop by and drop off my resume?  I feel like email is so sketchy and its so easy to just erase something or miss 1 unread mixed with 88 read.  I just don't know the etiquette of landing a normal job I guess.  usually I just call and ask if I can come in for an interview.  Is this inappropriate or desperate??  I personally like that kind of stuff but I don't know how its interpreted. 

[Northstreet]

What Seacliff said....
 
A cover letter doesn't have to be long at all.  It can just be a paragraph stating why you want the job and perhaps how qualified you are....Go to the bookstore and look at all the cover letter and resume books, there will likely be a letter that you can modify for your uses.  You could stop by and drop off a resume/cover letter, and then follow up with an email or phone call to the right person.  People want to know that a)you are qualified b)you are not a big idoit and will be ok to work with.  Good luck!!!

[jammy]

well.  I have sent out a bunch of applications over the last year for jobs and despite being extremely qualified I never received a reply back from any of them.  I am currently applying for a job as a teacher at Nassau community college and once again i feel I am the perfect guy for the job.  I am looking for some tips or advice when writing my cover letter.  It would be great for specifics on landing a teaching job.  I really am fully qualified but I worry about being over qualified.  I have never needed a cover letter before so I feel like I might be over thinking things.  Anyway.  any hints are appreciated.  Any hookups at nassau community college and I'll give you my bulkley!!!

i teach college as well. throughout my career i have sent out countless C.V.s and cover letters, often with little or no response. i am highly qualified but even for community college positions the market is tough. if you are applying for a full time job then the competition is outrageous. there are very very very few full time jobs, most of us work as adjuncts.
my suggestions are as follows:
-keep cover letter short and sweet, as others have mentioned; state your teaching experience in brief and b/c this is community college, mention your dedication to student learning and achievement.
-make sure your c.v. imparts info even if scanned quickly. readable font and layout. in general, an academic c.v. does not read like a regular resume, and reads more like a list of various positions and achievements.
-if this is a full time job and you are not the most experienced teacher then be realistic in your expectations. you are much more likely to get hired as an adjunct, so start your pursuit there. send cover letters and c.v.s to department heads at schools of interest and request they keep your information on file for any future openings. this works.
-you don't need a hook up at NCC as much as you need someone who is respected in your field who can make a call for you. who is doing the hiring? do you know anyone in that person's field--a former professor or yours--who can call and suggest they consider you?

[theusername]

i am a full-time assistant professor in nyc. this is the first year of my appointment. after joining a search committee for new faculty at my institution, i can tell you that hiring for academia works a little differently than in the regular job world. first, if this is a full-time position, having someone vouch for you will not guarantee you make any short list. if it's a legit institution, your application will go through a committee hiring process, comprised of future colleagues. the vetting process is brutal.

what you include in your cover letter depends on the type of institution you are applying for. like with any cover letter you want to show that you have researched the aims and goals of the institution, and that you understand how your values and experience can align to create an optimal level of learning for your students as well as the reputation of your organization. yes, i would advise that you keep the cover letter short (about one page as opposed to one paragraph) but not so short that it seems you didn't consider the content and your potential relationship to the college fully. This is your opportunity to outline your value to this institution. If anything I would recommend trying to connect with any current faculty to discuss the culture and needs of the program/department of the position you are applying for. this may help you get a better idea of what kind of candidate they are looking for and how you can foreground that experience in your CV and cover letter.

Also, I don't know about the application requirements at NCC but typically the academic resume is the "curriculum vitae." you can search online for examples of how to build one.

good luck!

[Igotsoul4u]

Hey. Thanks for all the info!! Hopefully I can officially join team deskrider soon!!!  Can't believe I am saying that.

[waveslider]

CALLLLLLLLL!!! As someone who reviewed nearly 300 resumes in July albeit not in the education field, calling is the most important. i think the final tally for resumes was about 285. Out of those 285 that either found the posting on monster or on our website, I received calls from a total of 14 people. Some more annoying than others but a quick vm or a post it note on my desk from the office secretary that so and so called regarding the job posting got my interest a lot more than 7 follow up emails on when will a decision be made or why they are so much better than every other candidate. guess what 200 people did that. and i dont have time to read those in addition to the 100 emails i get a day that actually pertain to my job. 14 people took the time to go on the website, find our phone number, dial our phone number and ask for who was in change for hiring this position. 1 of those 14 got the job.
 
Were there better candidates in the people who never called? most definitely but they didnt do anything to separate themselves from the pack. 6 months later im still very happy with our decision.

[theusername]

at the university i work for applicants are actively discouraged from calling. there is also no single person responsible for hiring decisions. instead there is a formal set of protocols which somewhat resemble the process of peer review, but instead apply to finding future colleagues. there is a search committee, comprised of full-time faculty, one of whom acts as the search committee chair. the main job of the search chair is to facilitate meetings between the faculty in the search committee and act as liaison between HR and the department chair, program head, or school dean. all faculty members on the committee including the chair have equal input and weight.

though i'm not sure what goes on at the community college level or by individual institution, this is how they typically do it at universities, at least the big ones, or the legit ones. 

you will either make the cut with your qualifications or you won't. applications don't frequently get too lost in the shuffle, as they are concurrently reviewed by multiple faculty members (between 8-10 where i work) who then share their evaluations of each applicant. this takes place in meetings where each applicant and their suitability is reviewed and discussed. and yes, sometimes searches, especially in universities located in new york city, receive enormous numbers of submissions (in the hundreds.)

your best bet is to really do your research. what is the student profile of the program or department you are applying for? what do they see as their "market" or mission? if you lack teaching experience, how can you highlight experiences in your professional life which may have prepared you to become a great teacher? do you bring skills, contacts, or something unique to the program? do you have an articulated philosophy about learning and education? VERY IMPORTANT: can you talk about your vision for your field beyond just a list of clients you've worked for or jobs you've held? that's why i suggested speaking with current faculty about their program or department. you can get a sense of what they're looking for.

as for having someone vouch for you, it only really works in borderline cases, where the applicant may have a lot of "real world" experience, but scant academic experience, or vice versa. in those cases someone's application might get through an initial round, but... in search committees there are SEVERAL rounds of elimination before finalists are selected. and... you can circumvent this process by anticipating what will be on the minds of the search committee reviewing your application and address it in the cover letter!!!

anyway, good luck again!

[jammy]

as for having someone vouch for you, it only really works in borderline cases, where the applicant may have a lot of "real world" experience, but scant academic experience, or vice versa.

you gave a great rundown of the process. i do disagree with the above statement, in that i ended up getting an interview at Yale b/c a well-known artist talked me up to the chair. it was actually a coincidence, in that he was talking about me not knowing i had applied for a position, but nonetheless him singing my praises made the search committee pull my resume and call me in. i got the job on my basically balls to the wall interview, but that is another thread entirely.

[Igotsoul4u]

Thanks again peoples.   Resume and cover letter submitted with confidence!!!

[theusername]

as for having someone vouch for you, it only really works in borderline cases, where the applicant may have a lot of "real world" experience, but scant academic experience, or vice versa.

you gave a great rundown of the process. i do disagree with the above statement, in that i ended up getting an interview at Yale b/c a well-known artist talked me up to the chair. it was actually a coincidence, in that he was talking about me not knowing i had applied for a position, but nonetheless him singing my praises made the search committee pull my resume and call me in. i got the job on my basically balls to the wall interview, but that is another thread entirely.

were you hired as an adjunct, visiting, full-time, or tenure-track?

[BOB]

I can't speak for government or academia positions, but in my field, cover letters are kind of useless

[MATT JOHNSON]

I try to make cover letters short and to the point. When I type up a resume I try to do the same when I list my education , and Job experience and Qualifacations / anything you might be certified in as well. 
 
  I am in the industrial feild and I have seen some funny resumes over the years. Last April my boss called me into the office in the shop and said I was gonna be replace . HE showed me the guys resume . All it was was his contact info and a polaroid picture of his tool box . We both start laughing.  When I applied for my job I was the only guy out of 200 people who submited a resume. When I gave to my boss he didnt even look at it he hired me right on the spot.
 
Also its good to call them or stop in once or twice a week  to touch base with them . It shows you really want the job