How to Make Your Cover Letter Shine
Ah, the dreaded cover letter. Many people cringe writing it but truth be told, a recruiter and hiring manager probably won’t spend too much time on it anyway. The key to standing out during their limited attention is to know your audience.
So, in the media realm depending on the tone of the outlet you’re targeting, your letter can be punchy and succinct or a bit more serious; technically it’s not unlike a freelance pitch for a story. David Noble, Ph.D., and author of Gallery of Best Cover Letters, advises, “The more you know about the reader of your cover letter, the better you can tailor its content to appeal to that person.”
While his book provides more than 300 samples of cover letters, the author says to make the letter as personal as possible. That is, avoid the “To Whom It May Concern” salutation and instead address it to a specific person.
His advice? “If you have not been able to make a personal contact, at least do everything possible to find out the name of the person who will read your letter and resume, and then address the letter to that person.” Athough a magazine’s masthead may make it easier for us in the print world, digital outlets may make the name hunting a little bit more challenging. Therefore, cold calling the receptionist is a place to start.
As for how to handle it if a contact suggested you forward it to his or her contact, be sure to “say this in the first sentence of your cover letter.” Mention the mutual contact’s name so you can get past a gatekeeper who may be sorting through the letters.
In addition to the basics like researching the company and tossing in some information like a recent positive news blurb to show you’re keeping abreast of them, end it on a light note. Noble explains, “Toward the end of the cover letter, consider repeating the recipient’s name to convey friendliness and to provide a personal touch.”

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online
Monster updated its jobs board a few days ago when it added a “friends” connection. Essentially, this allows its members to view who they know at companies who post jobs on the site.
As in, keeping your job search a secret may be a challenge but it’s well worth it.
So, you wanna be EIC, huh? Depending on the size of the publication and the stability of the market — which, let’s face it, has not been that kind to print publications lately — the magazine masthead is not the playground of overnight sensations. You can, however, climb the editorial ladder with a little strategy and lots of hard work. For example…
Sure, with the IPO news splashed across all the headlines, the question is, can you leverage Facebook to find a job and/or connect with decision makers who extend job offers?
Ah, the gap on a resume. We know it all too well; in other words, blocks of unemployed time that seem to blare loud and clear there’s a hole.
As creator of The Real World and Road Rules and producer of Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Project Runway, 
Even if we say all the right things on a job interview, it won’t matter if you don’t have the enthusiasm to back it up.
Ok, it’s not time to cue the hysterics just yet. But there’s this new site out there for job seekers and employers called 


MediaJobsDaily Twitter feed loading...