Doing This One Simple Thing Will Ensure Your Cover Letter Is Actually Read

Ah, the dreaded cover letter.  I’m not going to use this post to defend or debate one.  But what I AM going to tell you is that if you spent the time writing one, it could very easily get overlooked.  EVEN if the company required it.  Why is that? 

Take note of this very important detail: 

When you apply through a jobsite and are asked to upload your resume and cover letter, are you uploading two separate files, or one file that includes both documents? 

Here’s what happens in the company’s recruiting system when you upload two separate files.  First, you and 100 other people applied to this job, meaning there could very easily be 200 files for the recruiter to open and read through.  Chances are the recruiter is going to go straight to the resume since that’s been the standard way to represent oneself. 

Then, the recruiter may or may not also open, read, and save your cover letter to their files.  And even if they do, your cover letter might not get submitted to the hiring manager with the resume.  Inadvertently, due to the sheer volume of files.

If you wrote a kickass cover letter straight from your heart, then make sure you do this one simple thing:

Save your cover letter and resume into ONE pdf file and title it, “[your name] Resume & Cover Letter”.  In that order.  Then, in the pdf file, make page 1 your cover letter and page 2 your resume. 

Ok, but that’s flip-flopped, you say.  Yes.  Intentionally. 

First, the recruiter’s eyes will automatically be drawn to the filename's first word, “Resume.”  That’s what they really want to see.  Then, upon opening the file, the recruiter’s eyes will go to page one, which happens to be your cover letter.  This will force them to at least take a glance through your letter while they scroll through to page two, your resume.

What if the company requires two separate file uploads on the application site?  Still, do the above.  Merge both cover letter and resume into one file like I advised above, then upload into the "Resume" upload box.  Then upload your cover letter into the "Cover Letter" upload box, if this is required.  So your cover letter is in theory uploaded twice?  Big deal.  Doing this will guarantee that both documents you worked so hard on will make their way through the recruiter’s review AND the hiring team's review, no matter what. 

Give it a try, you’ve got nothing to lose!

-Kristin

Got an Upcoming Interview? I've Got 5 Pieces of Advice For You.

Hey y’all I’m back with probably the biggest interview tip I could ever give you.  You could be the sweetest, smartest, most hardworking person in the world, but if you don’t have this one skill, I’m really sorry, but you likely won’t advance in the interviewing process.  You have heard it before, but I can’t stress the importance of it enough. 

And so I tell you that, COMMUNICATION SKILLS are EVERYTHING.  Now, before your two-second attention span closes this window because you’re like, yeah Kristin I already knew that, realize that there is in fact a LOT more to this communication word than you might realize.  And you not being seriously self-aware and socially aware of each of the five points below could very well cost you the job.  I have seen it many times.

So without further ado, let’s examine the most critical parts of communication:

1.       Your energy

Communication skills are key

If you have naturally low energy, I implore you, I beg you, to do whatever it takes to up your energy level, even if slightly out of your comfort zone.  If you lose someone in the first few minutes, it will be close to impossible to get them back. 

Try your best to be dynamic and bring feeling into your conversation.  The reality is, it’s you and a handful of other people interviewing.  You need to come to the table with a level of professional energy that can outpace your competition. 

2.       Your flow

It ain’t just for yoga class people.  Strive for really good flow in your explanations.  Think chronologically high level with the ability to dive into detail where needed. 

Chronological, high level points will make it easy for the interviewer to follow you.  It shows them you know how to get the most important points across quickly.  Then, dive into detail when asked for specific examples.  This will validate to the interviewer that you’ve actually worked through your situations and can recap your processes and learnings for someone else as well.    

3.       Your questions

While there’s always a balance between quality and quantity, please at least have some questions put together for your interviewers.  A lack of questions will make us think either you don’t care, or perhaps you’re not as well-versed in the subject area as you say you are. 

Very important though, really think through how what you’re asking might be perceived.  For example, I cringe when I open it up for questions and the candidate goes, “what are the working hours?”  Seriously, that’s your first question for me?  Now there could be a legit reason you’re asking, i.e. you have kids to pick up at 4pm, but you need to ask questions demonstrating your interest in the role first, then you can ask logistical questions later.    

4.       Your tone

Be very, very careful with this one.  I’ve seen really good candidates mess this part up in the interview and instantly lose the hiring team’s trust.  If you have a tendency to let annoyance or sarcasm creep into your conversational tone, make sure you check that, and any potentially demeaning words in your vocab, at the door. 

Your ultimate goal for this interview is to remain as positive as possible.  Now sure, you will be asked about difficult situations.  And you most certainly should answer them truthfully.  But you can do this by explaining your difficult situation in a more neutral tone, and then wrap it up by explaining what you learned from that particular situation. 

5.       Your ability to read the room.

Learn to read the room

Otherwise known as social awareness.  Since nobody can be perfect, the next best thing you can do is at least learn to read your audience and adjust accordingly.  If you notice any of your interviewers' eyes start to glaze over, or they lean back in their chairs and sort of slouch, then you’re not talking succinctly or dynamic enough.  So try to make your points a little clearer and a little faster.  If you notice your interviewers suddenly raising eyebrows or looking uneasy, something you said is causing them to question their trust in you.  Don’t be negative and consider adjusting your tone. 

At the end of the day, you should always be you.  Just remember that technical skills can be taught a lot faster than communication skills can.  So as you prep for your interview and gather your technical skills together, use the five points above to make sure you can communicate your experiences to your interviewers as best as possible.

Good luck and as always, comment below if you have any questions!

-Kristin

How To Let Tough Times Develop You, Not Destroy You

I wrote this post for those of us who've had every good intention to start 2018 off on the right foot.  Yet for each of our own personal reasons, we just seem to be struggling through life's curve-balls and challenges.  So my blog post this week starts with a simple realization, then follows with some call-to-actions.  And by the end, I hope you've found a new way to look at these challenges in your life that you might not have thought of before.

First, Realize This: It's Your Round 1.

When we face a challenge, we usually consider it a challenge because, well, we’ve never BEEN through it before.  We’re not sure what to do. 

If this was our Round 2, we’d be working through it with a little more ease, right?  This is an important concept for us to realize at the start of any hardship.  So let's cut ourselves some slack and accept that this is tough, and we therefore may not be our best selves right now.   

Next, Grieve.  Hard. 

Don’t try to one-up your hardship at the very beginning.  If your situation hurts in any sort of way, allow yourself to feel it.  Do what you need to do to truly feel the pain and grieve yourself through it.  This is a good thing. 

Why?  Because you VALUE that part of your life.  Life and all its happenings actually MEAN something to you.  

But When Is It Time For Me To “Get Over it” and “Move On?”

I personally believe you should never “get over” the loss of a loved one, a pet, a relationship, a job, or anything else personal that made up a huge part of your life.  Rather, you can learn to live with their memory in a new way.  Or, if you’re simply upset about something at work, school, home, or wherever, then remember what I said above.  At then end of the day we should let these difficult times develop us, not destroy us.

Ok, How?

If you find yourself in a continuous pattern of sulk where you feel like it’s destroying you or parts of your life, try this.  Zoom out and look at your situation from above.  Like a bird watching over you. 

Really try to understand the entire picture at hand, and how this current hardship plays into your potential 80+ years of life on this earth.  This will allow you to visualize from the entire perspective of your past, present, and future.  Not just from the perspective as you see things right now. 

Find your highs.  Your happy moments.  Your accomplishments.  Grab ahold of them to help you walk forward each day.

Find your lows.  What you perceive as weaknesses.  And while you’re zoomed out on your life at a bird’s eye view, the important thing to notice is this.  These are NOT in fact low points of your life, they’re LEARNING points. 

Because as each hour and day passes, you’re actually gaining something.  You’re gaining experience, strength, and a deeper appreciation for the things that mean so much to you.     

So take your challenges into the New Year as a person of strength.  Because as each day passes, you continue to learn how to live through them.  So that at the end of the day, we let the hardships we face develop us, not destroy us.

Make it a great 2018,

-Kristin

Suits & Sneaks: How to Look Polished Casual

So you’re one of the lucky ones who got hired into an office casual workplace.  Your brilliant HR department recognizes that productivity, creativity, and innovativeness can be directly correlated with comfort.  I mean let’s be real here, how can you think freely when you’re being choked by your necktie or trying to sit still to avoid wrinkles?  Ladies, how can you run down the halls cranking out work when you run the risk of tripping over your heels?  So much for efficiency.

But now you can breathe a sigh of relief.  Those days are behind you.  No more ironing or dry cleaning.  You get to wake up and throw on whatever the heck you feel like and waltz into work straight up Zuckerburg style.  You’re ready to innovate, produce, and speak freely in your white tee and jeans.  Your productivity has soared.  You feel like a gazelle flying through the Sahara.  Nothing is stopping you now.  At least nothing YOU seem to notice.  But not so fast speed racer. 

Let’s face it.  Work clothes are annoying.  They’re expensive, and they put many of us in a bad mood even before we put them on.  But I think we can acknowledge that, when worn correctly, they make a good employee look really good.  A serious employee look seriously driven.  An all-talk employee look, well, believable.  Basically, work clothes make a worker look legit.  Put someone like that next to the t-shirt and jeans guy and let the stereotype answer the question for you – Mr. Suit-and-Tie surely has to be the other guy’s boss, right?  Not necessarily.  But you must realize, perception is everything.  And whether you like it or not, a HUGE part of one’s upward movement in a company, no matter the size, industry, or location, is based largely on the element of perception.  Perception of your work ethic, your accessibility to others, your willingness to help, and, wait for it, your appearance.  And guess which one is recognized by most people first?  Ding, ding, ding!  First impressions are everything, right?  This still holds true in an “office casual” setting, yet this logic often gets thrown out the window with the dry cleaning bag full of no-longer-needed white collar shirts. 

So let me introduce you to a concept I like to call, “polished casual.”  This is my inspiration, my passion, my main purpose behind creating Suits & Sneaks.  You can dress as casually as you want, exactly to your personality, and still look driven, passionate, and promotable.  So, some tips:

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1. Rock the Suits and Sneaks look (obviously):  I’m not even kidding, blazers are the godsend to the office casual phenomenon.  And yes, I know they can get hot, but listen here, if I can sport this attire in Tampa, Florida’s 100 degree, 98% humidity months, then y’all can too.  The look here is to be yourself, with an added layer of professionalism (blazer), offset with an added layer of hip (sneaks).  Contrary to the full business professional attire, you’ll rock the same fashionable look while appearing as if you didn’t even try.  [suddenly singing Beyonce’s “I woke up like this” song…]  I can’t even tell you how many times people have stopped me and said, “I love the Chucks,” or, “You’re rockin’ that outfit, nicely done!”  So find a few good fitted blazers or jackets, pair with some hip, casual sneakers, then get ready to rock. 

2. Wear the right balance of fit vs. comfort:  Obviously fitted clothes will always look better than baggier clothes.  But, you can totally mix both!  Gentlemen – Wear that comfy t-shirt with an added sport coat on top.  Add fitted jeans, and finish off with some spankin’ new casual kicks.  I can’t speak for all women, but for those who share my style, gentlemen - you will look HOT (again, that Beyonce song is in my head).  Ladies – there are some awesome linen pant styles out now that finish off fitted at the ankles.  Tuck a loose fitting shirt into these, add a scarf, pull your hair back, finish off with fashionista sunglasses, and voila! You’re totally comfortable, yet look like you stepped right out of a Pinterest board.  Which leads me to my next tip...

3. Accessorize!  Guys and girls both.  Guys – you can do this by rocking all different watches, belts, ties, and shoes.  Girls – Scarves are the easiest, most manageable, versatile, cost effective accessory you could buy.  Check out some of our favorites on our Shop page.  Accessories will instantly dress up your I-rolled-out-of-bed-and-threw-on-what-I-had look. 

4. Carry a trendy laptop bag.  This is getting easier as more purse-laptop bag hybrid styles are hitting the market.  Buy a few different colors so you can swap them out with your outfits then get ready to rock your new arm candy.  See some of the styles we picked out on our Shop page.

5. Look crisp.  This is all about ensuring you look polished in your comfy clothes.  So give them a good starch and iron before wearing them.  Don’t come to work in wrinkly, casual clothes.  That is when you look like you don’t care.

And finally, be yourself!  Dress to your personality.  Make your base truly reflective of you and use some of the above tips to simply polish off your look.  Then, go into work feeling fabulous in your body, because your outer shell better reflects the inner you.  And to have a feeling as fabulous as that during your 9 to 5 workday is truly rewarding.

So you get the concept but need some inspiration ideas?  You came to the right site my friends, because this is what I love to do.  Follow Suits & Sneaks on social media and check out new outfit inspirations weekly!  Want to contribute your inspirations to Suits & Sneaks?  Go ahead and tag us on social media or submit your best kicks here. 

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