Friday: Write a Love letter

I have received offers for positions that were never advertised. No, this is not an internet scam. I researched companies where I would 'fit' and companies where I would like to work. I wrote them an unsolicited letter of interest. As it happened, those companies had openings and I was the first and best impression HR had of a candidate pool. People are always hiring or considering future hires, even if they cannot do so immediately. This could be the impression you need to make.

Here's how to write a love letter to your future employer:

1. Research companies you would like to work for
2. Out of this list, choose those with which you would best fit (organizational culture, past experience, etc.)
3. Practice by writing a love letter to the PERSON you love most
4. Write your actual letter to the company
5. Send in the MAIL to both HR and to the person who could be your future boss. Not email; response can be too immediate. Simply printing out a letter and forking over $.37 for a stamp shows that you really do care. It does.

Now, I realize #3 has the potential to turn salacious. Please remember these are love letters, not lust letters. A love letter talks about why you love that person, why you would be perfect with that person, how they complete your life, how you plan to complete theirs and all those lofty things true love provides. A Lust letter would say something like, "I like you because you're hot and I want your body. This is what I want to do with you..." While this may be true of the one you love as well, it doesn't have the staying power of the hows and whys you want to be with that person and be with them forever. Bodies get saggy but a cheerful disposition does not.

A lust letter to a business might say, "I want to work with you because I could earn lots of money and have insurance and climb the corporate letter." A love letter talks about your values and how they match those of the company's mission statement. A love letter to a business talks about how your past experience is so completmentary to that company that the love would be mutual.

And if you've ever fallen in love before (NOT lust, love) remember how they were so perfect for you that it made the whole process easier? YOUR letter is making their job search easier for THEM. And they will love you for it.