Guides: Thinking Playfully: Spring 2021: The Cover Letter

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LinkedIn Learning - Online Video Tutorials

LinkedIn Learning (previously Lynda.com) is an online training library that provides access to video tutorials covering a wide selection of topics, including cover letters, resumes, and career development. New and improved courses are added weekly. University students, faculty, and staff have access to LinkedIn Learning.

Here are just a few of the many video tutorials available:

Cover Letter resources

Cover Letter Writing Guide - Penn Career Services - A writing guide on cover letters prepared by Penn Career Services that covers the purpose of cover letters, cover letter etiquette,
Job Search Letters - Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) - These OWL resources will help you write job application letters, thank you and follow up letters, as well as effective acceptance and rejection letters. Also included are links to other OWL resources geared for entry-level and skilled labor positions.
Microsoft Office Templates - Access a wide selection of MS Word templates with formatting for various styles of resumes and cover letters.

How to Write a Successful Cover Letter (eBook) by 50MINUTES.COM
ISBN: 2808000219
Publication Date: 11/03/2017
Ready to take your career to the next level? Find out everything you need to know about writing a perfect cover letter with this practical guide.
Knock 'em Dead Cover Letters (eBook) by Martin Yate
ISBN: 9780996662321
Publication Date: 2015-09-20
Step-by-step guide for how write cover letters and every type of letter you will use in a job hunt. How to build, edit and polish professional letters for maximum impact and how to use them to get four times the interviews.
Job Search Letters for Dummies (eBook) by Joyce Lain Kennedy
ISBN: 1118436423
Publication Date: 2013-07-03
From sparkling cover letters to six-word bios, a fresh bevy of job search letters has grown powerfully useful for successful career communications. Job Search Letters For Dummies delivers the quality of New Era know-how you need right now to land good jobs and thrive.

Résumé Resources

Preparing Effective Résumés - Penn Career Services
Résumés and CVs - Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) - These OWL resources will help you compose effective résumés and curricula vitae (or CVs) for your job search. This section includes resources on page design (which includes using white space, headings, and fonts), as well as resources on tailoring your résumé for specific employers. This section also contains links to other OWL resources geared for entry-level and skilled labor positions.
CareerOneStop Résumé tutorials guide job seekers through resources for resume types, design, and essential features.

The Elements of Résumé Style by Scott Bennett
ISBN: 0814433944
Publication Date: 2014-09-03
In The Elements of Résumé Style, Bennett shows readers how to craft clear, compelling, targeted résumés and cover letters that actually work.This new edition includes social media and online-application tips.
The Infographic Resume: How to Create a Visual Portfolio that Showcases Your Skills and Lands the Job by Hannah Morgan
ISBN: 0071825622
Publication Date: 6/2014
Infographic resumes are in, and they’re not just for designers. The Infographic Resume provides essential tips and ideas for how to create visual resumes and portfolios that will make you stand out from the crowd.
Knock em Dead Resumes and Templates by Martin Yate
ISBN: 9780991270422
Publication Date: 2014-01-27
Knock 'em Dead Resume Templates shows you how to write a killer resume and includes 105 ready-to-use Microsoft Word resume templates. You get resume writing advice from a New York Times career bestseller, plus 105 Microsoft Word resume templates.

Researching Prospective Employers

Use these websites and resources to research potential employers.

Corporate Affiliations
Corporate Affiliations is an international directory of more than 170,000 public or private parent companies and their subsidiaries. Historical data about company linkage goes back approximately 10 years, and the directory is updated weekly.
Hoover's Online
Hoover's Online provides company profiles for approximately 12 million public and private international companies. Information provided includes company histories, strategies, market positions, and major events, and in-depth coverage is given to the top 25,000 businesses worldwide. Hoover's is searchable by company name, industry keyword, ticker, or executive name, and you can browse companies by name, geography, industry, and stock index. Other search options include a search of news sources, reports, and IPO companies. The database is updated daily.
Thomas Register
Thomas Register is the most comprehensive online resource for finding companies and products manufactured in North America. The resource requires free registration to search. Company profiles are rather sparse, but the Thomas Register is a good way to look up companies' contact information and a good way to find competition by seeing who sells a particular product.
Factiva
Factiva is an excellent place to find news stories on topics of interest and lets you search for information by industry, geography, and other criteria. For more information on searching for company information in Factiva, please see Lippincott's Factiva search guide.
LexisNexis Academic
LexisNexis Academic is another source that can be used for company profiles, in addition to news. From the home page, click on the link at the left entitled Business. This will bring you to a list of options, including news, company information, and a business directory. Clicking on any one of these options will give you a search screen, from which you can search either for information about a specific company or for a list of companies that match criteria that you set. For more information on using LexisNexis for company information, please see Lippincott's LexisNexis search guide.
Lippincott Library's list
Lippincott Library's list of other company profiling sources may have some additional resources that could help you find company or industry information.

Career and Internship resources

Handshake - Penn Career Services
Handshake is Career Services’ powerful platform for University of Pennsylvania students, postdocs and alumni. Handshake uses cutting edge technology to help you more easily connect with employers and source jobs and internships, event information, and schedule appointments with Career Advisors.
Online Subscriptions - Penn Career Services
Career Services at Penn offers access to a number of e-resources to assist you in your job search and career exploration. The resources are listed alphabetically and updated regularly as Career Services acquires new subscriptions. (PennKey login required)
Career Journal
The Wall Street Journal's career center. It contains links to job listings, a place to upload your resume, and articles on salary, hiring information, and job hunting advice.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle has listings for jobs in various academic areas. Access to the full text requires a password. Following the link above will lead you to an authentication page, where you will be required to authenticate yourself as an authorized Penn user.
CollegeJournal.com
A site for students either looking at graduate schools or seeking employment after graduation. It contains salary links, as well as tips for negotiation and setting career goals.
Penn Student Employment Office
Students at the University of Pennsylvania have access to a wide variety of work opportunities, made centrally available through the Office of Student Employment in Student Financial Services. Learn about employment options and search open positions here.

Knock Em Dead Secrets and Strategies for First Time Job Seekers by Martin Yate
ISBN: 0983973466
Publication Date: 2014-03-10
It's tough landing that first job out of school and starting your climb up the professional ladder in such an uncertain world. In Knock 'em Dead Secrets & Strategies for First-Time Job Seekers, you will learn how to climb the ladder of success and get what you want out of life.