Cover Letter Research Articles

Theoretically-informed vs standard cover letter to improve participant response to mailed questionnaire: results of an embedded randomised retention trial.

Participant non-response is a source of bias in all research, especially in randomised controlled trials. Participants followed up remotely can have high non-response rates. Four such trials have been conducted of a cover letter with content informed by behaviour change theory to overcome hypothesised barriers to responding to a mailed questionnaire. Pooled results to date have suggested further research to be worthwhile. We conducted an embedded randomised study within a trial of such cover letters in the hope that we would improve response rates to our postal quality of life questionnaires. One hundred forty-eight participants in the CODIFI2 diabetic foot ulcer sampling trial were randomised 1:1 to receive one of two different cover letters at follow-up timepoints: either a standard cover letter accompanying their postal follow-up questionnaires or to an 'enhanced' (theory-informed) cover letter. Questionnaires were mailed at 39, 52 and (for some participants) 104weeks post randomisation. Outcome measures were response to mailing at each timepoint. Analysis was restricted to those for whom a questionnaire and letter was issued. Owing to limited recruitment, a reduced analysis plan, comprising solely observed response rates and 95% confidence intervals for difference in response rates was followed. Post hoc, we added our week 52 results to an already-published meta-analysis. Sixty-seven out of 74 enhanced cover letter group (Enhanced) and 67/74 standard cover letter group (Standard) participants who had not already died or withdrawn were sent their first mailing at 39weeks. The 39-week response rates were 47/67 (70.1%) and 39/67 (58.2%) for Enhanced and Standard participants, respectively. At week 52, the response rates were 45/64 (70.3%) and 35/63 (55.6%) for Enhanced and Standard participants, respectively. At week 104, the response rates were 24/33 (72.7%) and 19/33 (57.6%) for the Enhanced and Standard participants, respectively. Adding our week 52 results to a published meta-analysis increased the pooled estimate of differences in response rates to 0.04 (- 0.01 to 0.09) favouring enhanced letters. While this embedded randomised controlled trial observed greater response rates at all times among those randomised to the enhanced letter, the reduced sample size meant that these results are imprecise. ISRCTN registry ISRCTN74929588. Registered on 5 March 2019.

LEGAL PROTECTION TOWARDS PUBLIC COMPANIES FROM BANKRUPTCY

<p>Law Number 37 of 2004 on Bankruptcy and Suspension of Debt Payment Obligations (UU KPKPU) only requires the provision that a Bankruptcy/PKPU application to be submitted by one creditor, and that it can be proven that the public company has at least two creditors, one of which is past due. Financial Services Authority (OJK) has the authority to regulate and supervise activities in the capital market field or sector carried out by public companies. OJK should be responsible for providing legal protection for public companies that submit applications for bankruptcy. The research method used is a normative legal research method. The results of this research confirm that Article 55 paragraph (1) of the OJK Law and Article 8 paragraph 4 of Law Number 4 of 2023 on the Development and Strengthening of the Financial Sector (P2SK Law) are the legal basis or legal protection that gives the authority to the Financial Services Authority to carry out regulation and supervision of financial services activities in the capital markets sector, where financial services activities in the capital markets sector are also carried out by public companies. There must be rules that are made firmly and explicitly so that the OJK is given responsibility, function and authority in protecting public companies from bankruptcy by carrying out insolvency tests. This means that before a public company is submitted for bankruptcy, the OJK must first carry out an insolvency test to determine whether the public company is in a state of insolvency or is actually in a state of solvency. If the results state that the public company is indeed insolvent, then the OJK must provide a product stating either in the form of a cover letter or a certificate that the public company is suitable for the debtor to submit a bankruptcy petition.</p>

Writing Effective Cover Letters: Do Undergraduates Have the Written Communication Skills to Achieve the Spirit of SDG4 Quality Education?

Introduction: This study investigates the impact of English language instructors’ intervention on the cover letter writing process for job applications among specific ESL learners enrolled in a workplace communication course at a public university in Malaysia. This study adopts an action research technique, incorporating content analysis conducted before and after the intervention. The goal of this action research is to identify inaccuracies or issues in the format and content of cover letters written by the selected learners and implement instructor intervention to resolve the identified problems or errors. Generally, the results of this study revealed that the effectiveness of the learners’ cover letters improved after receiving extra input and feedback from their language instructors. A lack of learner-readiness and job knowledge resulted in some learners experiencing difficulty in writing coherent cover letters. More importantly, the learners indicated that their writing experiences raised greater awareness of the many aspects of cover letters and enhanced their confidence in writing cover letters. Overall, this study contributes the initiative to enhance learners' understanding of the ever-changing employment market and develop not only their ability to write cover letters but also their self-confidence and proficiency in the English language. Most significantly, the written communication skills will provide them with lifelong learning opportunities that are taught in higher education as stipulated in the fourth goal (SDG4) of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which emphasizes quality education. Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the learners' proficiency in writing cover letters by identifying their strengths and weaknesses. The aim is to evaluate the efficacy of the writing methods employed in cover letters and determine their appropriateness. Theoretical Framework: Kolb’s experiential learning theory (ELT) serves as the primary conceptual framework to define the sequence of activities in the research procedure. David Kolb's (1984) cycle of experiential learning stages perceives learning as a dynamic interaction between learners and their environment (Kolb, 2014). The Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) underscores a cyclical learning process that includes experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and experimenting (Kolb & Kolb, 2005). Method: This study adopts the action research methodology and employed a six-phase method, which comprises the first phase, the diagnostic test, the second phase, the evaluation of cover letters, the third phase, the pre-writing strategies, the fourth phase, the writing phase, the fifth phase, the instructor feedback phase, and the sixth phase is the re-writing phase. Results and Discussion: The results obtained revealed the necessity for graduating learners to possess enhanced skills and knowledge prior to entering the challenging work market. There is currently a strong demand for graduates to develop more modern and thorough tactics to successfully secure employment. The results of this study confirm the need for innovative methods in language acquisition, specifically grammar mastery. Research Implications: Learners need a helping hand with their language and should be guided closely beginning with the rudiments of writing and other integrated language skills that would help bolster their confidence in writing cover letters and improve their communication skills. They need to learn to be independent and proactive in the job-search process. As instructors empower learners with lifelong skills of writing cover letters, the learners themselves should constantly keep abreast of the changes in the dynamic job market. Originality/Value: This study helps learners comprehend the shifting job market, prepare cover letters, and improve their English and self-confidence. Most importantly, it will offer lifelong learning, as stated in the UN's fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4).

Reinvigorating Integrative Learning Experiences: Translating Graduate Program Skills to Careers

For the spring semester of 2021, two University at Buffalo faculty collaborated and built a course to address Council on Education in Public Health (CEPH) competencies and support student career readiness. This new course builds on the existing Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) to enhance its transmissibility for future employers and help students articulate their ILE as evidence of the strengths gained during their MPH program. Throughout the course, students focus their ILE on one public health topic as a set of high quality, written materials that promote synthesis, including a literature review, executive summary, and gap analysis. These assignments must demonstrate synthesis of foundational and concentration-specific competencies students gained from their coursework, including at least one competency related to equity, structural racism, or cultural competence. To supplement the ILE process, students develop additional components allowing them to translate skills and knowledge from the MPH program into career-ready materials such as a revised resume, a cover letter, and mock interviews. The goal for these supplemental components is to allow students to demonstrate their abilities with prospective employers. All students in the initial spring 2021 cohort and subsequent cohorts are currently working in public health-related jobs.

Patient Self-Guided Interventions to Reduce Sedative Use and Improve Sleep

Direct-to-patient interventions enabling transitions from long-term benzodiazepine receptor agonist (BZRA) use to cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI) by older adults has the potential to reduce BZRA use and related harms while improving sleep outcomes without requiring prearranged clinician involvement. To compare 2 direct-to-patient behavior change interventions with treatment as usual (TAU) on BZRA use, sleep, and other health outcomes, and uptake of CBTI techniques. The Your Answers When Needing Sleep in New Brunswick (YAWNS NB) study was a 3-arm, pragmatic, open-label, minimum-contact, randomized clinical trial. The study began November 2020 and ended June 2022. Participants were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 groups, including 2 different mailed behavior change interventions or no intervention (TAU). Participants were from communities across the province of New Brunswick, Canada, and included adults 65 years and older living independently with long-term use of BZRAs and current or past insomnia. The Sleepwell package (YAWNS-1) consisted of a cover letter and 2 booklets ("How to Stop Sleeping Pills" and "How to Get Your Sleep Back"). The other package (YAWNS-2) included updated versions of the 2 booklets ("You May Be at Risk" and "How to Get a Good Night's Sleep Without Medication") used in the Eliminating Medications Through Patient Ownership of End Results (EMPOWER) study. BZRA use at 6 months was the primary measure. Secondary measures included CBTI use, sleep, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, safety, anxiety, frailty, and quality of life. A total of 1295 individuals expressed interest in the study, and 565 (43.6%) completed a baseline assessment. Participants had a mean (SD) age of 72.1 (5.7) years, a mean (SD) BZRA use duration of 11.4 (9.1) years, and 362 (64.1%) were female. Discontinuations and dose reductions of 25% or greater were highest with YAWNS-1 (50 of 191 [26.2%]; 39 of 191 [20.4%]; total, 46.6%) compared with YAWNS-2 (38 of 187 [20.3%]; 27 of 187 [14.4%]; total, 34.8%, P = .02) and TAU (14 of 187 [7.5%]; 24 of 187 [12.8%]; total, 20.3%, P < .001). YAWNS-1 also demonstrated better uptake of CBTI techniques and sleep outcomes compared with YAWNS-2 (new CBTI techniques: 3.1 vs 2.4; P =.03; sleep efficiency change: 4.1% vs -1.7%; P =.001) and reduced insomnia severity and daytime sleepiness compared with TAU (insomnia severity index change: -2.0 vs 0.3; P <.001; Epworth Sleepiness Scale change: -0.8 vs 0.3; P =.001). Results of the YAWNS NB randomized clinical trial show that, as a simple, scalable, direct-to-patient intervention, YAWNS-1 substantially reduced BZRA use and improved sleep outcomes. It could be implemented to transform insomnia care for older adults at the population level. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04406103.

Enhancing the hiring process: A predictive system for soft skills assessment

Human Resource Management faces the ongoing challenge of identifying top-performing candidates to enhance organizational success. Traditional recruitment methods heavily rely on assessing hard skills alone, overlooking the importance of soft skills in identifying individuals who excel in their roles. To address this, our paper introduces a novel predictive model that leverages Artificial Intelligence in the hiring process. By analyzing soft skills extracted from CVs, cover letters, websites, professional social media, and psychometric tests, the model accurately predicts potential candidates suitable for specific job roles. This system effectively eliminates poor hiring decisions, reduces time and effort, minimizes recruitment costs, and mitigates turnover risks. The implementation of our proposed model employs various predictive machine learning classifiers, with key input soft skills including creativity, collaboration, empathy, curiosity, and critical thinking. Notably, the Support Vector Machine classifier emerges as the top-performing model in terms of predictive accuracy

Conceptual Framework of Upper Cross Syndrome: A Delphi Study.

Upper cross syndrome (UCS) is one of the most common postural dysfunctions due to prolonged flexed attitude. Good posture plays an important role in maintaining musculoskeletal balance and protecting it from further injury. Conducting research on the conceptual framework will help clinicians to identify and plan treatment strategies for the correction of this syndrome and prevent secondary complications. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a conceptual framework for UCS. The Delphi method was used to conduct the study and develop a conceptual framework. A total of 30 multidisciplinary experts participated in the study, and a list of 41 items was finalized after an extensive literature review. A cover letter along with all the items was mailed to the experts to obtain their input. Three rounds of Delphi were conducted until a consensus was reached. The following parameters were used to determine consensus: moderate Kendall's coefficient of concordance (Kendall's W), agreement greater than 51.0%, interquartile range (IQR) below 1.5, and standard deviation (SD) below 1. By the end of the third round, 37 items were finalized. The conceptual framework consisted of four items in postural alignment, eight items in muscular imbalance, 20 items in functional limitation, and five items in the psychosocial domain. We successfully developed a conceptual framework for UCS. Four domains, including postural alignment, muscular imbalance, functional limitation, and psychosocial, were identified. This will lead to a deeper comprehension of UCS, which will facilitate its early detection and treatment. The multidimensional approach of the study will provide a better scope for the clinicians to educate the patient about good posture, which not only will impact physical performance but also improve quality of life. The development of this framework will help to prevent, monitor the progress, and correct UCS.

DIVULGING YOUNG POPULATION’S WILLINGNESS TO PURCHASE GREEN PRODUCTS

The aim of this study is to investigate the influencing factors of consumers’ purchase intention of green products. The population of this study was the young people who are basically students. For this study, data were gathered through a Google Form sent by email, along with a cover letter for respondent convenience. The respondents made up the final sample size of the research. The study collected data from current members of the several e-commerce website users in USA. They were sent invitation to take part in and after their approval, their responses were gathered. Five-point Likert scale has been used where ‘1’ stands for ‘Strongly Disagree’ and ‘5’ stands for ‘Strongly Agree’ to find out the item-wise questionnaire. The final sample size was n=514. Moreover, to evaluate the hypothesis, a 5% significance level and SPSS software was used to analyze the data for research purpose. The outcome of this study shows that health consciousness, environmental awareness, and green product knowledge have a positive and significant impact on consumers’ intention to buy green products. Overall these variables are able to explain 46.80% of the variance in predicting behavioral intentions to buy green products. It is found that among the three determinants, health consciousness ((β = 0.413) had the highest impact on the purchase intention of green products among USA young people compared to other variables. This research might provide significant clues to the manufacturers of green products that can severely influence to consumers to buy green products for their wellbeing.

DIVULGING YOUNG POPULATION’S WILLINGNESS TO PURCHASE GREEN PRODUCTS

Over the past few years, the concern of growing consumer interest in green products has rapidly expanded throughout the world. This study investigates the factors influencing consumers’ purchase intention of green products. The target population of this study is the young users who are basically students from several universities in Framingham, USA. For this study, data were gathered through Google form sent by email, along with a cover letter for the respondents’ convenience. The respondents made up the final sample size of the research. They were sent invitations to participate, and their responses were gathered after their approval. A five-point Likert scale was used where ‘1’ stands for ‘Strongly Disagree’ and ‘5’ stands for ‘Strongly Agree’ to determine the item-wise questionnaire. The final sample size was n=514. Moreover, to evaluate the hypotheses, a 5% significance level and SPSS software was used to analyze the data for research. The outcome of this study shows that health consciousness, environmental awareness, and green product knowledge have a positive and significant impact on consumers’ intention to buy green products. These variables can explain 46.80% of the variance in predicting behavioral intentions to purchase green products. It is found that among the three determinants, health consciousness (β = 0.413) had the highest impact on the purchase intention of green products among young people compared to other variables. This research might provide significant clues to the manufacturers of green products that can severely influence consumers to buy eco-friendly goods for their well-being.

DIVULGING YOUNG POPULATION’S WILLINGNESS TO PURCHASE GREEN PRODUCTS

This study investigates the factors influencing consumers’ purchase intention of green products. The population of this study was the young people who are basically students. For this study, data were gathered through a google form sent by email, along with a cover letter for the respondents’ convenience. The respondents made up the final sample size of the research. The study collected data from current members of several e-commerce website users in USA. They were sent invitations to participate, and their responses were gathered after their approval. A five-point Likert scale was used where ‘1’ stands for ‘Strongly Disagree’ and ‘5’ stands for ‘Strongly Agree’ to determine the item-wise questionnaire. The final sample size was n=514. Moreover, to evaluate the hypotheses, a 5% significance level and SPSS software was used to analyze the data for research. The outcome of this study shows that health consciousness, environmental awareness, and green product knowledge have a positive and significant impact on consumers’ intention to buy green products. These variables can explain 46.80% of the variance in predicting behavioral intentions to purchase green products. It is found that among the three determinants, health consciousness ((β = 0.413) had the highest impact on the purchase intention of green products among USA young people compared to other variables. This research might provide significant clues to the manufacturers of green products that can severely influence consumers to buy green products for their well-being.

The art of writing an effective cover letter.

The art of writing an effective cover letter.

Practical guide to writing cover letters and response letters for scientific journals

Communicating with scientific journals is a central part of the publication process, yet sparsely covered in the medical literature. A cover letter to the editor(s) should always accompany new submissions, whereas response (or rebuttal) letters relate to revisions and replying to referees' comments following peer review. This review describes the two types of letters, focusing on content, style, and structure, and provides helpful tips for handling challenging reviewer scenarios.

MOBILE-BASED APPLICATION PROTOTYPE DESIGN USING DESIGN THINKING METHOD (CASE STUDY OF POLSUB ACADEMIC SERVICES)

The use of mobile-based technology today is widely used in the campus environment. Academic services are one of the services available at the Subang State Polytechnic. In it there is a process of checking the authenticity of diplomas, legalization, active lecture certificates, research permits, PKL cover letters, and college dispensation letters. The mobile-based academic service system is very important and needed to provide services that facilitate students and alumni in the campus environment because the use of mobile devices itself has become commonplace in everyday life. The purpose of this study is to design a prototype of a mobile-based application for academic services. This research uses the design thinking method which is generally used to build protoyping. This method is used to ensure the designed application meets the needs of the user and provides a better experience. Case studies are conducted in the academic services department of Subang State Polytechnic to understand existing problems and create innovative solutions. It is expected that the results of this prototype design can be applied in the future in building mobile-based applications for academic services. From the results of the entire prototype design process, it can be concluded that the prototype design of mobile-based applications can provide an overview of the academic service system at the Subang State Polytechnic.

Disentangling the influence of CSR initiatives on the performance of banking institutions

This study aims to investigate the effects of different corporate social responsibilities (CSR) on the organizational performance of the banking sector. The target population of this study was bank employees working at various bank branches in Bangladesh. In this investigation, the data gathering procedure was conducted utilizing a Google Form distributed via email, accompanied by a cover letter, to facilitate participation among bank employees. The study collected data from the current bank employees of several banking institutions in Bangladesh. They were sent a survey invitation to participate, and after their approval, their responses were gathered. A five-point Likert scale was used to determine the item-wise questionnaire, with ‘1’ indicating ‘Strongly Disagree’ and ‘5’ indicating ‘Strongly Agree’. The final sample size was 263. Moreover, to evaluate the hypothesis, a 5% significance level and SPSS software were used to analyze the data for research purposes. The outcome of this study shows that internal and external CSR activities have a positive and significant impact on the organizational performance development of Bangladesh’s banking sector. These factors can account for 52.70% of the variability observed in forecasting the performance of bank organizations. External CSR initiatives (β = 0.318; t = 5.937) have the highest effect on a bank’s performance. Additionally, a substantial correlation coefficient (r = 0.436) is present between internal CSR and bank performance. This study might provide significant clues to the management committees of the banking sector that can severely influence a bank’s performance development.

ABOUT BUSINESS E-MAIL AS A GENRE OF PROFESSIONAL INTERNET COMMUNICATION IN THE COURSE OF “LANGUAGE OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION”

The research focuses on exploring lexical-grammatical, syntactic, punctuation features of the text of business e-mail as a genre of professional Internet communication in the course of “Language of business communication”. The tasks are outlined as follows: 1) to reveal the contents of the course of “Language of business communication”; 2) to highlight the importance of the content module on professional Internet communication; 3) to analyze business e-mail as a genre of professional Internet communication. The descriptive method and various types of linguistic analysis are applied. Emphasis is placed on the motivational-practical (speech) component of the course as a defining feature of the “Language of business communication” discipline, which determines the approach to the thematic content of the four content modules. The proposed research highlights the fourth content module, which reveals the peculiarities of Internet business communication and encompass follows themes: “Internet communication: specifics, types, genres”, “Language organization of business Internet communication”. The analyzed content module involves familiarizing students with the concept of Internet style, types of network communication, genres of business Internet communication, types of posts in social networks, and the culture of Internet communication. To improve the practical skills of business electronic correspondence, an educational model (formulated in linguistics) was used, which consists in the synthesis of four interrelated aspects. The first aspect is based on mastering the theoretical foundations of the researched problem: philology students reveal the essence of the concept of an electronic business letter, systematize the basic principles of creating and rules for writing business e-mails. The second aspect is practical. It consists primarily in the formation of skills and abilities to analyze the texts of business letters. For example, the structural-compositional, lexical-grammatical, and punctuation features of an electronic Cover Letter and a Request Letter are considered. The third aspect is research. It involves independent processing of the text of an electronic business letter in accordance with the proposed algorithm. The fourth stage is creative. It provides for the independent creation of an electronic business letter taking into account the specified requirements. The results of the research can be used as materials for practical classes on the language of business communication, Ukrainian language for professional purposes, language culture, etc. Key words: “Language of business communication”, business e-mail, professional Internet communication, etiquette of business correspondence.

Marketing yourself as a new grad: ePortfolios, cover letters and CV/resumé

As stated by motivational speaker Jim Rohn, “You don’t get paid for the work that you do, you get paid for the value you bring to the marketplace”.3 This session covers several essential tools that new graduates should use to showcase to potential employ­ers the value they bring to a veterinary position. The impor­tance of possessing skills that go beyond being an excellent vet­erinarian will be highlighted as a pathway towards achieving differentiation in the self-marketing process.

Verb-centered means of expressing self-presentation in the English-language job-hunting discourse

This article presents a semantic, syntactic, and contextual analysis of the language means of self-presentation, conceptualized as the dominant speech strategy in the job-hunting discourse. The scope of our research is limited to the written variety of texts expressed via the genres of CVs/resumes and cover letters. The material was taken from English-language job-hunting resources: Balance, Career Addict, Career Blog, Indeed, Resume.io, StandOut CV, and Zety. It is stipulated that self-presentation can be viewed as a system of interrelated speech tactics: self-nomination, self-description, presentation of professional achievements, description of professional responsibilities, and identification with an ideal candidate type. Each tactic has its unique semantic profile. All self-presentation tactics roughly fall into two major categories—nominative and verb-centered. The latter category, which incorporates the tactics of presentation of professional achievements and description of professional responsibilities, was the primary focus of this research. A careful semantic and syntactic analysis revealed that active verbs with two-complement (in some cases, three-complement) valency are the core of the aforementioned tactics. This leads us to believe that the actant situation almost always includes the agent and theme, sometimes the benefactive. As a result of semantic analysis, lexical units were classified according to their sentimental modality—positive, negative, or neutral. Our research documented the prevalence of positive evaluation semantics in self-presentation units. A syntactic analysis was employed to identify the formal aspects of sentences containing self-presentation. The analysis showed that most sentence structures fall into three basic types of syntax reduction: a) subject omission ([I] perform regular check-ups); b) omission of the subject and the link verb ([I am] professionally trained); c) the omission of the subject and the verb of possession ([I have] numerous awards). The authors conclude that the self-presentation blueprint of verb-centered constructions identified in this article persists across all verb-centered tactics proving to be an effective means of constructing written job-hunting discourse.

A guide to creating a high-quality cover letter.

A guide to creating a high-quality cover letter.

The Exclusionary Potential of “Professionalism” in Hiring Situations

ABSTRACT Using data from 88 students, 20 advisers, and 24 hirers, this article examines the rhetorical persona of the “Professional” in résumés and cover letters. Participants often explained professionalism by its inverse: items, formats, and language that are labeled “unprofessional.” Their discussions suggest that professionalism can be a problematic requirement for applicants with work history or formats associated with feminized sexuality, or for applicants whose names trigger biases about White English Vernacular.

How gendered language emerges in applicant materials and leadership descriptions in the hospitality industry: A text analysis study

The hospitality industry faces a gender gap in leadership. Further research is needed to explore if gender stereotypes emerge naturally in applicant materials, like resumes and cover letters. This paper examines the use of agentic and communal language in men and women's self-descriptions in applicant materials, as well as differences in agentic and communal language in descriptions of successful leaders in the industry. Across Studies 1–3, women used more communal language than men in self-descriptions in applicant materials, though differences in agentic language did not emerge. Study 4 found that agentic characteristics were strongly associated with leadership in respondent descriptions of successful leaders in the industry. These findings suggest that gender stereotypes in selection contexts can be attributed to women using more communal language in applicant materials and highlight the need to assess potentially biased selection processes in the hospitality industry.