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Has this ever happened to you? You’ve been instructed to list your career accomplishments, and you can’t think of any. Or you’re asked in a job interview, “What accomplishments are you most proud of?” — and you freeze up. You know you have had accomplishments, but you just can’t dredge them up. The inability to come up with accomplishments happens to lots of job-seekers. We know because we ask our resume and cover-letter clients to list accomplishments as part of the process of preparing their job-search documents. Although we stress that accomplishments are far more important than duties and responsibilities, a surprising number of clients are unable to articulate beyond the day-to-day tasks they performed in their jobs. Accomplishments are the points that really help sell you to an employer — much more so than everyday job duties, and you can leverage your accomplishments for job-search success at all stages of the process: resume, cover letter, interview, and more. Find out more about why and how to use your accomplishments in our article, For Job-Hunting Success: Track and Leverage Your Accomplishments.

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“The most effective technique career changers can use in their resumes and cover letters is TRANSFERABLE SKILLS, TRANSFERABLE SKILLS, TRANSFERABLE SKILLS,” writes regular contributor Maureen Crawford Hentz. “I … gave a workshop specifically on this topic for career changers at the National Environmental Careers Conference. I was shocked at the number of competent, successful individuals who kept referring to themselves as ‘totally unqualified for a job in the environment.’ These were adults with four to 12 years of experience as managers, editors, and engineers.” Read Hentz’s full article, Career Changers’ Most Powerful Resume and Cover-Letter Tool: Transferable Skills, on how you can use transferable skills to portray yourself as qualified for a new career.

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You’ve heard the adage in real estate and retailing that success centers on three things: location, location, location. With cover letters, success is also tied to three things: specifics, specifics, specifics. In our roles as resume and cover letter writers, we often got requests from customers that went something like this: “Just give me a general cover letter that I can use for any kind of job.” Sorry. No can do. Well, we can do it, but we certainly don’t recommend it. A cover letter needs to be specific in every way. Otherwise, it’s a fairly pointless document. Some experts say even a resume should be specifically tailored for each job. While we feel that a degree of resume tailoring is generally desirable, extensive tailoring is unnecessary if you’re specific with your cover letter. Find out how to make your cover letter specific — and thus effective — in our article, Cover Letter Success Is All About Specifics

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You must get your foot in the company door first to have any chance at all, notes Jimmy Sweeney in his article for Quint Careers, the 7 Elements of a Highly Effective Cover Letter. With the right cover letter, you can blow several doors wide open immediately. More job interviews translate to a wider range of opportunity and (drum roll, please) … more job offers.

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When you’re planning to relocate, submitting your resume with a cover letter to various companies in hopes of establishing a relationship and inquiring about employment opportunities is a great idea. A cover letter is an extremely important part of your direct-mail campaign, but also be sure you’ve devised an overall strategy about relocating. Research companies in the new location, decide which ones to target, and identify key people to contact. Our Quintessential Careers Directory of Company Career Centershttp://www.quintcareers.com/career_centers/ can help you reach major targeted companies. And once you’ve sent out your cover-letter and resume packages, make sure you follow up and contact these people to try to get some interviews, either by phone or as soon as you arrive at your new location. For help with your cover letter, visit Cover Letter Resources for Job-Seekers, which includes a link to our Cover Letter Tutorial.

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A paragraph in your cover letter should describe who you are and what makes you stand out writes Deborah Brown-Volkman, president of Surpass Your Dreams, Inc. a career, life, and mentor coaching company. “Include your strengths and what you are passionate about in your career.” Brown-Volkman advises that you think of this paragraph as completing the sentence, “Here’s why I am a good candidate…”

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Understanding how to portray your skills as transferable is one of the most important concepts you can master in writing a cover letter. Learn why and how to do it in resumes and cover letters in our article, Strategic Portrayal of Transferable Skills is a Vital Job Search Technique.

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One paragraph in your cover letter should discuss your accomplishments or highlights that you want to showcase or have the employer locate quickly, writes Deborah Brown-Volkman, president of Surpass Your Dreams, Inc. a career, life, and mentor coaching company. “Bullets work well in making your accomplishments easy to read.” Brown-Volkman suggests thinking of this paragraph as filling in the details of this sentence: “Here are relevant examples of what I have done that match with what you are looking for…”

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Just as certain secrets can help you write a dynamic cover letter, there are also key strategies for sending email cover letters. Those strategies can be found in our article, Tips for a Dynamic Email Cover Letter.

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In the second paragraph of a cover letter, compliment the employer on what the organization has done right and what you admire about it, writes Deborah Brown-Volkman, president of Surpass Your Dreams, Inc. a career, life, and mentor coaching company. “Sincere flattery goes a long way and shows that you have taken the time to get to know the employer in more detail.” Brown-Volkman advises thinking about the phrase, “I like your company because…”

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