Rejection Letter Response Template
The next time you get a rejection letter from a hoped-for employer or publisher, just send them the following:
Dear [name of the person who signed the rejection letter],
Thank you for your letter of [date of the rejection letter]. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me [employment with your firm/a contract to publish my book].
This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals. Despite [name of the co or agency that sent you this letter]’s outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting [applicants/manuscripts], I find that your rejection does not meet with my needs at this time.
Therefore, I will initiate [employment/publishing] with your firm immediately following [graduation/job change, etc. - get creative here]. I look forward to working with you.
Best of luck in rejecting future [candidates/manuscripts].
Sincerely,
[your name]
The companies are still shipping jobs overseas further impacting U.S. high-tech unemployment.
IBM Corporation laid off about 2,800 U.S. employees after announcing great financial results in late January. Job cuts continued this month impacting 5,000 more people. Besides IBM, the list of companies that have announced job cuts includes Advanced Micro Devices, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Sony, Nokia, and others. Union officials are claiming the companies are sending jobs offshore.
High-tech industry is using euphemisms like “rebalancing”, “restructuring” and “resource action” to blunt the growing chorus of complaints about layoffs. Regardless of how they say it though it means: you’re out of a job.
U.S. engineering unemployment was at a historically low 0.5 percent, but jumped to 2.8 percent last year, and this year’s rate is expected to go up substantially.
An effective letter can draw a recruiter to your resume. If done the right way, it also can showcase your initiative, creativity and writing skills. A cover letter should contain three main sections:
FIRST PARAGRAPH
- Identify the position for which you are applying.
- State how you learned of the position and why you are interested in the position or organization.
SECOND PARAGRAPH
- Summarize why you are a strong candidate for the position.
- Target the job description and specifically discuss how your skills relate to the job requirements.
- Highlight one or two of your accomplishments or abilities that show you are an excellent candidate for the position.
- Detail positive characteristics and past experiences that illustrate how your qualifications will benefit the organization.
CLOSING PARAGRAPH
- Thank the person for considering your resume and offer to provide additional information.
- Include your phone number and when you can be reached.
Source: www.michigan.gov
Number of layoffs since Nov. 1, 2008, at America’s 500 largest public companies: 514,931
Mar. 24: Cummins fires 127 workers.
Mar. 22: Freeport-McMoRan lets go 50 employees.
Mar. 19: Lam Research cuts 375 jobs (10% of the company’s workforce).
Mar. 17: Caterpillar adds another 2,454 layoffs to a growing total.
Source: Forbes.com
Several weeks after a young man had been hired, he was called into the personnel manager’s office.
“What is the meaning of this?” the manager asked. “When you applied for the job, you told us you had 5 years’ experience. Now we discover this is the first job you’ve ever had.”
“Well,” the young man said, “in your ad you said you wanted somebody with imagination.”
*****
A man applied for a job as an industrial spy. Together with several other applicants, he was given a sealed envelope and told to take it to the fourth floor. As soon as the man was alone, he stepped into an empty hallway and opened the envelope. Inside, a message read: “You’re our kind of person. Report to the fifth floor Personnel Office.”
*****
Employer to applicant: “In this job we need someone who is responsible.”
Applicant: “I’m the one you want. On my last job, every time anything went wrong, they said I was responsible.”
*****
A Manager of a retail clothing store is reviewing a potential employee’s application and notices that the man has never worked in retail before. He says to the man, “For a man with no experience, you are certainly asking for a high wage.”
“Well Sir,” the applicant replies, “the work is so much harder when you don’t know what you’re doing!”
*****
“During the interview, an alarm clock went off from the candidate’s brief case. He took it out, shut it off, apologized and said he had to leave for another interview.”
You need to have a job and a good credit rating in order to take advantage of this great opportunity. But once Resumark.com helps you find the job, it might be a very good time to buy real estate. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1) features the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers who purchase a home on or after Jan. 1, 2009 and before Dec. 1, 2009. Details of the tax credit include:
- Buyers claim the credit on their federal tax return to reduce their tax liability. IRS form 5405 is to be used for the First-Time Homebuyer Credit. This form also answers many questions about the tax credit.
- A first-time buyer is defined under the tax credit as an individual who has not owned a home in the last three years. For married joint filers, both must meet the first-time homebuyer test to take the credit on a joint return
- The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the cost of the home, up to a maximum credit of $8,000
- Eligible properties include any type of property that will be used as a principal single-family residence (including condos and townhouses).
- There are income guidelines on the credit. It is not available for those with an income above $95,000 (or $170,000 if filing jointly)
- The new tax credit does not have to be repaid if the buyer stays in the home at least three years
- People who purchased homes under the 2008 $7,500 tax credit program will still be required to repay that credit to the government over a 15-year period
To get more information or if you have questions, consult with your realtor or tax advisor.
It’s no secret that times are tough and when the economy begins to weaken, jobs become harder to secure and fewer in numbers. So what are the best jobs to have in a bad economy?- Financial adviser - 47% growth rate - $74,000 median income
- Software program manager - 29% growth rate - $103,000 median income
- Database administrator - 29% growth rate - $77,000 median income
- Physical therapist - 27% growth rate - $67,000 median income
- Physician’s assistant - 25% growth rate - $84,000 median income
- Environmental specialist - 25% growth rate - $53,000 median income
- Hydrologist - 24% growth rate - $59,600 median income
- College professor - 23% growth rate - $79,000 median income
- Certified public accountant - 18% growth rate - $64,000 median income
- Teacher - 12% growth rate - $48,000 median income
Source: fivecentnickel.com
The following is a list of common mistakes people make when writing a resume:
1. No cover letter. Employers want to see a cover letter with a resume. Use separate sheets for it.
2. Typing errors. A resume with typos and grammatical errors will make an employer think that you do not pay attention to details. A computer spell check does not always pick up every mistake.
3. Unprofessional email address. Email addresses should not be amateurish. For instance, beautifulgirl430@yahoo.com is not appropriate. A better email would be StaceySmith@yahoo.com.
4. Resume lacks focus. A resume should show the employer what you want to do and what you’re good at. You should write your resume to match your experience and education with the job you are seeking.
5. Focusing just on the “duties and responsibilities” of previous positions. A resume should include the benefits of a candidate’s efforts and contributions, including any quantitative information that best defines the level and scope of that responsibility and achievement.
6. Disorganized content. It is important to list the most important information at the top of the resume. Experience and employment history are the most important parts of the resume.
7. Resume is not bulleted. Use a bulleted style to make your resume more reader-friendly. The bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it.
8. Leaving off quantitative information. (e.g., “Increased sales by 45%,” “Reduced costs by $30K per year,” “Led a team of 50 professionals in…”). Numbers, figures, dollar amounts and percentages. Quantitative information provides a sense of the size and scope of the positions and responsibilities held, and the real value of the stated achievements.
9. Job Experience too old. It is important not to go back too far when listing your employment experience. Keep it to 7-10 years in most cases.
10. Resume is more than two pages. The length of your resume should be 1-2 pages.
11. Includes personal information such as married, homeowner, two children, etc. Leave it off. It is unrelated to the position, and risks possible discrimination.
12. Includes unrelated personal interests and hobbies such as “enjoy reading, long walks, music, travel, knitting, and puzzles”. Include interests ONLY if it is related to your career Objective.
511,925 jobs lost since November 1, 2008
Mar. 17: Corning cuts 200 jobs at North Carolina plant.
Mar. 17: Weyerhaeuser - 307 worker layoff.
Mar. 16: TRW Automotive Holdings lets go 42 salaried employees in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Mar. 13: Baker Hughes - 1,500 (about 4% of workforce).
Mar. 13: PPG Industries 2,500-worker layoff.
Mar. 13: Sunoco lets go 750 salaried workers–about a fifth of its workforce.
Source: Forbes.com
Never walk down the hall without a document in your hands. People with documents in their hands look like hardworking employees heading for important meetings. People with nothing in their hands look like they’re heading for the cafeteria. People with the newspaper in their hands look like they’re heading for the bathroom. Above all, make sure you carry loads of stuff home with you at night, thus generating the false impression that you work longer hours than you do.
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Use computers to look busy. Any time you use a computer, it looks like work to the casual observer. You can send and receive personal e-mail, calculate your finances and generally have a blast without doing anything remotely related to work. These aren’t exactly the societal benefits that everybody from the computer revolution expected but they’re not bad either. When you get caught by your boss–and you will get caught–your best defense is to claim you’re teaching yourself to use the new software, thus saving valuable training dollars. You’re not a loafer, you’re a self-starter. Offer to show your boss what you learned. That will make your boss scurry away like a frightened salamander.
* * *
Messy desk. Top management can get away with a clean desk. For the rest of us, it looks like you’re not working hard enough. Build huge piles of documents around your workspace. To the observer, last year’s work looks the same as today’s work; it’s volume that counts. Pile them high and wide. If you know somebody is coming to your cubicle, bury the document you’ll need halfway down in an existing stack and rummage for it when he/she arrives.
* * *
Voice mail. Never answer your phone if you have voice mail. People don’t call you just because they want to give you something for nothing– they call because they want YOU to do work for THEM. That’s the way to live. Screen all your calls through voice mail. If somebody leaves a voice mail message for you and it sounds like impending work, respond during lunch hour. That way, you’re hardworking and conscientious even though you’re being a devious weasel. If you diligently employ the method of screening incoming calls and then returning calls when nobody is there, this will greatly increase the odds that they will give up or look for a solution that doesn’t involve you. The sweetest voice mail message you can ever hear is “Ignore my last message. I took care of it.” If your voice mailbox has a limit on the number of messages it can hold, make sure you reach that limit frequently. One way to do that is to never erase any incoming messages. If that takes too long, send yourself a few messages. Your callers will hear a recorded message that says, “Sorry, this mailbox is full”–a sure sign that you are a hardworking employee in high demand.
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