Tips for Writing a Cover Letter

May 20, 2011 We all know that resume is an essential part for any job search, but most of us do not pay much attention to another important aspect that is the cover letter. It is an important part of the job application and plays an equally significant role in creating a good first impression in front of potential employer. It has been found that the recruiters often reject 80% of applications based on the cover letter alone. Cover letter should be straight-to-the-point and should never be more than one page. Here are some points to keep in mind while writing a cover letter: Try to find the name of the person you are applying to. Writing Dear recruiter not sounds good. If you are not sure of the gender of the recruiter, then use their full name with salutation. The first paragraph of the cover letter tells the employer the position you want to be considered or which area you are enquiring about. It is a short paragraph of about two to three sentences it should comprise certain points like -Mention the reason why you are writing and which position you are applying for. -From where you got to know about the position, whether from an advertisement, -suggestion of a friend who works there, or your own interest in the company. -Try to show from your research why you are interested in this position or organization but you need to tell this very carefully and briefly. The second paragraph of the cover letter is usually the longest one where you need to tell why you are qualified for a particular job. You need to carefully craft the first sentence of this paragraph, it should be a hard-hitting opener as it gives the snapshot of your accomplishments. It must be oriented and directed at the skills and qualifications needed for the job/industry. Mention the key points / juicy highlights from your resume. Add relevant experiences and qualities you have and try to relate it with the position for which you are applying. Give some examples supporting it. If you find that the paragraph seems to be lengthy then you can switch to the next paragraph. You need to make changes to this paragraph according to the job/employer for which/whom you are applying. At the end of the cover letter you need to reiterate your interest in the job, request for considering for an interview and thank the recruiter for their time. Always use a professional closing like Yours Sincerely. After your signature and write your contact information.

Do share with us your views, comments and your opinion beneath this blog. Wishing you success!!! Preeti Supyal Scholarship-positions.com

10 Ways to Power-Up your Resume

May 13, 2011 You are busy composing an application letter and crafting a Resume. You have decided to apply for a scholarship and escalate your learning to a higher level. You are now all geared up for a powerful presentation of your case to the interview board. Although not attested by the Principal of your college or a gazetted officer a resume elicits a great attention. A resume in nutshell is a summary of your academic life so far. A resume showcases your diligence and academic competence in not so many words. An ill-planned resume may rope in awkward results. It is always better to craft your resume in such a way that it sounds and looks very objective. It is very important to weed out ineffective details and irrelevant data from your Resume. Your resume should highlight your so far academic track record and the activities you undertook that directly or indirectly supported your academic objective. In this blog I have elucidated 10 ways of making your resume sound very effective and powerful. Let us understand each way one after the other. 1. Do not display on your Resume fancy emails: Many of us these days have an email id by the time we are 12-13. Those days of life were really funny we tried emails with such peppy, funky ids. Many of us retain those funny sounding emails like showerofpetals@gmail.com, tigerforyou@hotmail.com etc. These sound utterly unprofessional. Create an email id that simply states your name. Use that in your resume. 2. Let your resume look consistent: Use a common font for all the points mentioned in your resume. Times New Roman size 12 looks decent. Go for this. You may have a slightly bigger font (Say Times New Roman 14) for the subtitles. 3. Avoid being egomaniacal: Dont say I did this, I did that. An egomaniacal tone will put off the reviewers interest. Hence focus on the work done rather than emphasizing the fact that you did it. 4. Mention the titles of the Projects: It is very important to mention the Titles of the projects and the technology that was used in it while crafting your resume. This demonstrates the interest

you have in your subject. Your resume sounds effective and chances of availing a scholarship double. When you are talking about Projects in your resume never say: I worked on a miniproject or major-project always say for example something like I worked on Optimization Engine Using Linear Programming This would immediately grab the reviewers attention. 5. Avoid mentioning too many details: You can just mention the title of the project and the technology used in the resume. Submit the abstract of the project as an annexure. 6. Give links to international publications if any: If your paper presentation of project abstract found place in an international science/arts journal or magazine, mention the title of the publication and provide a link to it if available. 7. Comment on some of your virtues in a modest tone: If you have an innate ability to take risk mention it in your resume. If you are a thorough team player and owing to this there was a positive development in the work undertaken mention it without hesitation. Students with an adventurous, open-mind and congenial attitude are always a welcome. They are an asset to the University. 8. If you have had a consistent track record, do mention it in your Resume. If you have always scored maximum in your favorite subject, it will vouch for your research capability in the desired field. A good, commendable academic performance is feather in cap, always. 9. Dont fall a prey to clichs: If given a chance, I will prove my mettle, I am passionate about. Portray something unique about you. 10. Keep it sweet, short and simple: Let your resume be precise and objective. Keep it very goal oriented covering the major facts of your academic life. Dont fill it with hobbies or things that are remotely connected to your availing a scholarship and of course your line of academic interest. Keep it subject-based. I am sure these tips will certainly help you chisel a perfect resume. Remember that a resume is invaluable and will make or break your chances of being called for an interview. Spend sometime pondering over the points discussed in the article and come up with a brilliant resume. Wishing you Success!! Ayesha

Scholarship Thank You Letter Samples/Template

April 14, 2011

The Importance of Thanking Your Donor: Scholarships are made possible through generous gifts made by an individual, family, foundation, universities or corporation. A well-written thank you letter is important to the scholarship donors, who appreciate learning about you, your goals, and future plans. Your letter acknowledges the value of their contributions, and encourages their continued support. Tips for writing good scholarship thank you letter. Write clearly and concisely. Double-check for typos and grammatical errors. Express enthusiasm. Be sincere. Send it typewritten in business format. Use quality paper. Here we have compiled a list of sample scholarship thank you letter from various universities. There are some different and unique ways to say thank you. This list will help you in writing good thank you letter. Please do not copy these letters as it is in your thank you letters. If donor found out that your letter is copied from somewhere then it will give wrong impression about you. How to Write a Thank You Letter Scholarships Office http://csufresno.edu/scholarships/faq/thankyouletter.shtm Scholarship Thank You Letters http://tippie.uiowa.edu/undergraduate/documents/sample-letters.pdf CSUN FinAid: Sample Scholarship Thank You Letter http://www.csun.edu/finaid/sample-sch-thankyouletter.html Sample Thank You Letter | NSU Student Financial Assistance http://www.nova.edu/financialaid/scholarships/thankyouletter.html IAP Scholarship Sample Thank You Letter http://www.cs.tamu.edu/academics/scholarships/siapty Thanking Your Scholarship Donors http://www.ursp.umd.edu/scholarships/documents/donor-thank-you-letters.pdf Donor Thank You Letters http://www.marylhurst.edu/financialaid/thankyouletterexamples.php Student Sample thank you note Scholarships CCRI Foundation http://www.ccri.edu/foundation/scholarships/samplethankyounote.shtml

Thank your benefactor http://onestop.umn.edu/finances/financial_aid/scholarships/thank_yous.html Thank You Letters Mountain State University http://www.mountainstate.edu/gift-scholarships/sample-thanks.aspx Sample Thank You Letter 1 http://www.mountainstate.edu/gift-scholarships/Gift-Scholarship-thank-you-letter-samples.pdf Washington College | Scholarship Thank You Letters http://advancement.washcoll.edu/scholarshipthankyou.php Methodist University Scholarship Letter Writer http://www.methodist.edu/financial_aid/scholarship_writer.htm Scholarships Thank You Letter Writing Tips http://scholarships.wayne.edu/thank-you-tips.php Guidelines for Writing Thank You Letters | Scholarships | Idaho http://www.isu.edu/scholar/thankyou.shtml Thank You Letter Samples http://www.wellesley.edu/cws/tyltrsamples.html Thank You Letters San Francisco State University http://www.sfsu.edu/~finaid/scholarships/thankyou.htm

Read more: Scholarship Thank You Letter Samples/Template : 2011 2012 Scholarship Positions | Scholarships Financial Aid College Help Loans http://scholarship-positions.com

Important Aspects of Research Proposal

December 18, 2010 What is Research Proposal? It is very important to understand. Mostly, students who are new in the field of research or beginners, dont understand fully what it actually means. A research proposal needs to be good as ones research. A research proposal is a proposal through which you need to convince others that you have great research idea and have the required abilities to complete it on time. The evaluators evaluate your proposed study through the proposal. So, it should have necessary information and key elements on the basis of which it could be evaluated.. Sometimes a good research project is been rejected due to poorly written research proposal, so quality of your research writing matters a lot along with the quality of your proposed research.

Points you need to focus on while writing a research proposal: 1) Title: Title should be short and descriptive. An informative and catchy title will not only creates interest but also persuade the readers favorably towards the proposal. 2) Abstract: It is defined as a small summary of around about 300 words, which should include the research problem, basis for the study, assumption if have any, methods and findings. 3) Introduction: In an introduction part you need to introduce your research problem, provide the necessary background for it. Framing a problem is in itself a toughest task. As such there is no particular format for framing your research question, all depends upon your creativity, ability to think independently and the understanding you have towards your research area .You need to bring out the importance of your research area in front of your readers. Introduction generally covers following points: i) Research problem ii) Provide the context/background for your research problem. iii) Rationale for the research study iv) Discussing major and minor issues mentioned in your research. v) Identification of dependent and independent variables. vi) Assumption ,if any Literature Review: It is a summary and explanation of key studies relevant to a proposed project. You need to showcase the stage for your work and how your piece of work is going to benefit. It reveals many important functions like your ability to analyze and evaluate relevant literature information, provides new insights etc. You can organize your review in different ways but it should be presentable and systematic for example: you can make use subheading under main heading. Methods:This section tells the research committee about your plan of action i.e. the way you will solve your research problem. So, it is imperative part of your research proposal. In the method section you need to provide adequate information and should be able to proof that your approach is the most pertinent and suitable, to solve out your research problem. Results:At this phase ,it is very obvious that you dont have any results but you should recapitulate what you expect to generate during the course of your research and impacts that you expect from it to have. Do share with us your views, comments your opinion beneath this blog. Wishing you success!!! Preeti Supyal Scholarship-positions.com

Tips for Creating Good Resume

Sponsored Links June 18, 2010 Your resume is an important step in your search for a job. Recruiters use resumes as an essential part of the screening process Due to time constraints, they have only seconds to scan the first few paragraphs of each document and decide whether they will dump it the wastebasket or read on. You can follow these tips to create an interesting and impressive resume. Craft your resume with a single objective in your mind which will further help you to elaborate on and sell your qualifications in face-to-face communications with one or more decision makers. Examine the job you want to apply and customize your resume to suits the description. You can browse the company profile on the internet and learn its history, culture and products. Create a career highlights sub section in your resume template. This offers a comprehensive, ata-glance look at the experiences and abilities of a prospective employee. What are the qualifications, job experiences and other things that set one apart from all other applicants? A gist of your special qualifications should find place in your resume. Educational qualifications: These are of course important when a person is entering the job market; but they do not cease to be important later either; they can be as important for a prospective employer as your on job experiences Be honest. With the aid of computer screening programs it is easier than ever to pick up discrepancies in a document. Some applicants try to fudge on their qualifications. Dont spell out a litany of positions you have held. Instead, for example, if you were a sales manager, relate how sales were increased under your leadership. Recruiters hire people based more on their accomplishments than their experience. For e.g. dont claim strong communications skills. Demonstrate the fact by the effectiveness of your resume and cover letter. Compute your accomplishments in order to increase their effectiveness. Include mentions of awards or special recognitions you may have won. They will add to impact that your resume formats make on prospective employers Keep your resume short and to the point. In todays highly competitive job market, there is a temptation to go on and on, wanting to load the document with all of the positives that paint the

best possible picture. If you go longer, the reader can easily conclude that you cant organize and focus your thoughts. Use good quality stationery. The resume should be clearly printed and easy to read. Make sure the font is large and clear. Even if you are emailing your resume, make sure that the formatting is clear and not crowded. Dont allow a single error in spelling and grammar slip into your resume. Get a friend, preferable one well versed in rules of the English language, to proof read your documents. Errors free resume points to a workers work qualities such as meticulousness and attention to detail. Also errors in contact information may prevent a prospective employer from getting in touch with you! And make sure that your contact information makes it simple to access you. Dont give an email address that you dont check regularly. Having a general resume is a good idea, but it must be customized to dovetail with the precise requirements of each different job that you apply for. Appropriate modifications/changes must be made as required. Good resume will magnetize the employer to hire you as employee. Typically yours is one of dozens resumes that a potential employer is going through to short list candidates for the interview for any job. So if your resume is not able to say anything special or if it does not set itself apart from others on a qualitative basis, then chances are youre never going to get that interview call. So what are the features of a winning resume that you should adopt in order that your resume doesnt end up with all the others in the discarded pile. Good luck in your job search. Please feel free to post comments and discuss. Vidhi Johari Career Adviser