Nuts & Bolts
Business of Freelancing

A Perfect Match: Linking Your Experience to Working the Job Bank

By Linda Wolfe Keister, WIW Member

Writing a response to a WIW Job Bank ad requires the same skill and attention to detail that any writing job demands. To come up with the perfect match between your experience and the potential employer’s needs, try focusing on the following seven-step process.

Step 1: The Ad
Read the ad several times. Read it for overall understanding and to see the big picture. Read it to dissect the information. Make a list of every issue addressed in the ad and note how your experience relates to those issues. To help cull up the various pieces of your experience, create an industry-genre matrix and a subject matter-genre matrix.

Step 2: The Cover Letter
Get the information right. Verify the spelling of the contact’s name and the accuracy of the address. Write an opening paragraph that grabs the reader’s attention. Address and highlight each issue that was mentioned in the ad. Describe the writing samples (one or two pages each) you are sending and explain why you chose each one. Include follow-up information to make it easy for the potential employer to get back in touch with you. Proofread the letter by reading it aloud.

Step 3: The Résumé
Create a flexible resume that enables you to highlight the skills and experience that relate to the particular ad. Make sure the information is current and correct. Proofread the resume aloud to make sure it is letter perfect.

Step 4: References
If the ad requests a list of references, choose your references carefully. Make sure they know about your experience that relates to the ad information. Contact the references, ask permission to use their names and relate the information in the ad. (E-mail is the ideal medium for making this contact.) Prepare a separate list of contacts with names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses.

Step 5: Writing Samples
Keep your clip files well organized in preparation for your Job Bank responses. Archive the files as hard copy in your file drawer, as attachments in fax software and as stored items accessible through the World Wide Web. Choose samples to demonstrate your experience in a particular industry, a specific genre or an indicated style. List the samples and briefly describe them in your cover letter. Keep the samples brief.

Step 6: Sending
Follow the instructions in the ad. Choose the quickest method of response, taking into account the appearance of the materials. Mailing provides the cleanest copy, and Priority Mail delivers in two days. Fax provides a quick response, but the copy may be distorted on the receiver’s end. E-mail responses provide clean copy, but the receiver needs to be cyberspace savvy.

Step 7: Follow-up
To call or not to call—that is the question. If the ad specifically says, "No phone calls," heed the advice. Otherwise, a follow-up call to verify that the potential employer received the materials is appropriate. The most important follow-up is a note following an interview.

A well-prepared response illustrates your experience as a professional writer and helps create the image of the perfect match for the advertised job.

Linda Wolfe Keister, former WIW vice president and a longtime WIW member, presented a Job Bank workshop that addressed the issues mentioned in this article. Linda is an editorial consultant and the author of The Complete Guide to African-American Baby Names (Signet, May 1998).