Journal

Cover Letter

One aspect of strategic planning is to develop a strong team of people. Discovering and retaining top talent may lead a company to success. Your goal for this journal assignment is to showcase why you would make a good candidate for an organization. To stand out from other candidates, you will want to write a cover letter for each position in which you apply. Cover letters allow you an opportunity to highlight your skills and competencies for potential employers.

For this assignment, you will develop a cover letter, reflect on your most relevant skills, and assess what action steps you can take to make your cover letter stronger.

To write an impactful cover letter, you should answer the following questions before you begin composing it. Starting with these questions will help provide a clear and concise message for the person reading your cover letter.

• Why are you interested in the position? Consider what makes the position, organization, or company interesting to you.
• What three skills or competencies do you possess that match the skills the employer is seeking in a candidate?
  • You can find these skills by viewing the job description. These specific skills are the reason every cover letter should be unique for each job you apply for.

Begin by reviewing the following Forbes’ articles:

• Forget Cover Letters – Write A Pain Letter, Instead! (Links to an external site.)
• Stop! Don’t Send That Cover Letter (Links to an external site.)
• Tips For The Perfect Resume And Cover Letter (Links to an external site.)

Once you have reviewed the articles, identify a position of interest as a potential job opportunity. You may use any job search website. Two popular employment websites are Indeed  (Links to an external site.)and CareerBuilder. After you identify a position of interest, use the job description to identify three skills or qualifications that match your background. Next, develop a cover letter by creating a three- to four-sentence paragraph highlighting your matching skills.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Required Resources

Text

Abraham, S. (2012). Strategic management for organizations. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

• Chapter 1: Strategic Management
• Chapter 2: Leadership, Governance, Values, and Culture
• Chapter 3: Strategic Thinking

Articles

Collamer, N. (2014, February 4). The perfect elevator pitch to land a job (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2013/02/04/the-perfect-elevator-pitch-to-land-a-job/

• This article provides information about how a 30 second summary about being the perfect candidate can help during a job interview and will assist you in your Elevator Speech discussion forum this week.
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Ryan, L. (2014, October 12). Forget cover letters – Write a pain letter, instead! (Links to an external site.) Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2014/10/12/forget-cover-letters-write-a-pain-letter-instead/

• The article provides information about how a pain letter may be a replacement for a cover letter and will assist you in your Cover Letter journal this week.
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Ryan, L. (2014, November 7). Stop! Don’t send that cover letter (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2014/11/07/stop-dont-send-that-cover-letter/

• This article provides information about pain letters and will assist you in your Cover Letter journal this week.
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Schawbel, D. (2012, September 9). How to craft an elevator speech that makes a big impact (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2012/09/05/how-to-craft-an-elevator-speech-that-makes-a-big-impact/

• This article provides information about the importance of elevator speeches and will assist you in your Elevator Speech discussion forum this week.
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Shavin, N. (2014, July 16). Tips for the perfect resume and cover letter (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/naomishavin/2014/07/16/tips-for-the-perfect-resume-and-cover-letter/

• This article provides tips about resumes and cover letters and will assist you in your Cover Letter journal this week.
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Multimedia

Abel, M. [Ashford University]. (2015, July 30).  Forbes Mentor Week // Dr. Murad Abel (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tQIFLVToqc&feature=youtu.be

• In this video, Dr. Murad Abel provides information about showcasing your skills to a future boss or business ally and enables you to craft the perfect “elevator speech” to make a memorable impression. This video will assist you in your Elevator Speech discussion forum this week. This video has closed captioning and a transcript.
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Crayton, M. [Ashford University]. (2015, July 29). Forbes Mentor Week // Dr. Marcus Crayton // Ashford University (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gio83k9jtgQ&feature=youtu.be

• In this video, Dr. Marcus Crayton provides information about how to make sure hiring managers, recruiters, and peers are primarily focused on you and shows you the critical elements of your brand and how you can boost your profile in-person and online. This video will assist you in your Elevator Speech discussion forum and Cover Letter journal this week. This video has closed captioning and a transcript.
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Ivy, K. L-D. [Ashford University]. (2015, July 27). Forbes Mentor Week // Dr. Karen Lynne-Daniels Ivy // Ashford University (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/wath?v=A4fSedq0_HI

• In this video, Dr. Karen Lynne-Daniels Ivy provides information about how to make sure hiring managers, recruiters, and peers are primarily focused on you and shows you the critical elements of your brand and how you can boost your profile in-person and online. This video will assist you in your Elevator Speech discussion forum and Cover Letter journal this week. This video has closed captioning and a transcript.
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Recommended Resources

Articles

Arends, B. (2014). Pixar’s secret management trick (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/brettarends/2014/06/03/pixars-secret-management-trick/

• This  article provides information about Pixar’s management strategies and may assist you in your Elevator Speech discussion forum and Cover Letter journal this week.
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Guthrie, D. (2014). Miami Dolphins: Leadership, organizational culture and empty words (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougguthrie/2014/02/25/miami-dolphins-leadership-organizational-culture-and-empty-words/

• This article provides information about the culture within the organization and may assist you in your Elevator Speech discussion forum and Cover Letter journal this week.
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Kotter, J. (2012). The key to changing organizational culture (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/09/27/the-key-to-changing-organizational-culture/

• This article provides information about the solution to making changes in organizational culture and may assist you in your Elevator Speech discussion forum and Cover Letter journal this week.
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Moorhead, P. (2014). Lenovo’s plans to acquire IBM’s X86 server business could be its best strategic decision yet (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved form http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmoorhead/2014/04/17/lenovos-plans-to-acquire-ibms-x86-server-business-could-be-its-best-strategic-decision-yet/

• This article provides information about Lenovo’s future acquisition plans and may assist you in your Elevator Speech discussion forum and Cover Letter journal this week.
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Olsen, E. (n.d.).  Mission statements (Links to an external site.). OnStrategy. Retrieved from http://mystrategicplan.com/resources/mission-statements/#Defining%20Your%20Mission _math_education

• This article provides information about how to create a strategic mission statement and may assist you in your Elevator Speech discussion forum and Cover Letter journal this week.
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