The Trickiest Cover Letter Trick
Want to know the cover letter trick that recruiters and executives use. The trick that gets their resume the attention it deserves? Want to increase the odds of a hiring company calling you back? This is the mechanic that no recruiter will share with. If you want to receive a callback from a darling of a company, pull this little resume and cover letter trick.
This is especially effective in medium to large companies where the CEO has an Executive Assistant. The secret? Send a cover letter to the CEO and the VP or C level who is leading your department of interest.
The big Kahuna’s desk
When your cover letter and resume comes across the CEO’s desk, the CEO or their administrative assistant will forward your resume to HR. In a large conglomerate, the CEO isn’t going to follow up on your resume. The CEO has people who follow up. This person will simply push your resume directly to the HR department.
If your resume arrived via email, your resume will be forwarded via email. If your resume arrived via postal mail (what we recommend) then your resume will be forwarded to HR via a “route to” tag and hand-delivered to the HR department. That “route to” tag will also state what department your resume is coming from. The thing is, your resume isn’t coming in as a random candidate. Your resume is coming from the desk of the CEO. This is the head cheese and the big Kahuna. Tricky huh?
Corner office demands kid gloves
Because your resume came from that corner office on the top floor, it will be handled with kid gloves. The HR department won’t know if you are the nephew of the CEO or a random stranger. The recruiter won’t know who you are and isn’t going to take any chances. It’s the fear that the CEO might follow up on “that resume I forwarded to HR” that will keep your resume in play. Who doesn’t want this kind of attention paid to their resume?
Of course, Career Tracker has you covered. Check out our Cover Letter Creator tools and templates and expect a callback.
HR people won’t like us for sharing this cover letter trick, but what is the point of hearing from an HR person if you aren’t going to hear the real deal?
Key Takeaway: Get away from the traditional approaches and connect via the secret door straight to the CEO to make sure your resume and cover letter are seen.
Was this post was helpful? Give us a Like on Facebook and subscribe to the free updates. Thank you!
Check out our free resume builder, cover letter creator, email generator and job application tracker.