When you apply for jobs the type of cover letter you will send with your resume depends on how you are applying for the job and what information the company is asking applicants to submit.

Here are cover letters examples, both written and email, that work for a variety of job applications and employment inquiries including cold contact cover letters, referral cover letters, customized cover letters, job promotion cover letters, networking outreach letters, and letters to inquired about unadvertised openings.

Related: Cover Letter Samples | Cover Letters | Cover Letters A - Z

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Taking a career test is a little like playing "what do you want to be when you grow up?" with a twist. The twist is that personality tests and career aptitude tests can give you ideas about what you possibly should do rather than you simply pondering what you want to do. It's also fun to see the options for your future.

There are a variety of online free career tests, so, spend a few minutes and see what could be your new career!

What do you think? Do you have ideas about what you might want to be when you grow up? And even if you are grownup already, it's never to late to think about what you want to do next in your career.  

Here's advice on deciding what you want to be when you grow up, along with tips on when and how to decide about career options.

How about you? Let us know What You Want to Be When You Grow Up and take a look at the types of jobs and careers other About.com readers are interested in.

Read More: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? | Career Tests | Career Aptitude Tests

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Dice.com, the tech jobs and careers site, reports that 40% of tech consultants said obtaining a certification helped them land a new gig.

Which certifications are the most important?  Of course, it depends on the type of gig you're looking for and the experience and skills you have, but here are the top 10 tech certifications that survey respondents reported as helping them find a job:

1. A+
2. PMP (Project Management Professional)
3. CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate)
4. Security+
5. MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer)
6. Network+
7. MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional)
8. CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)
9. ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
10. MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional)

In addition to thinking about certification, if you're looking for a tech job be sure to brush up on your interview skills in advance.  Here's a list of the top 50 tech interview questions you can expect to be asked during a job interview.

Read More: Top Tech Jobs for 2012 | Dice Report

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Are college grads equipped with the skills they need to perform in the workplace? According to a Woods Bagot Research Study of over 500 elite business decision-makers, a majority of grads don't make the grade and only 21% have the potential for promotion beyond an entry level job.

• 65% of business leaders say graduates are only somewhat prepared.
• 40% of C-suite executives say that graduates are not prepared at all.
• 47% say that fewer than a quarter (21%) of graduates applying to their company have the skill to advance past entry level jobs.
• 77% saying that business has changed more in the past 15 years than education and education hasn't kept up.

What skills do college graduates need to succeed? Business leaders say the top three skills for success in business are:

• Problem-solving (49%)
• Collaboration (43%)
• Critical thinking (36%)

Tech and social media skills were ranked the least important, though they were the skills that college graduates ranked highest as having.

How can colleges and universities better prepare grads for the business world? The leaders surveyed suggest:

• (77%) of business leaders say the physical space where students learn is important to fostering these critical skills.
• 63% say that small meeting rooms centered around a work space are most conducive to preparing students for success versus only 20% who say that traditional classrooms or lecture halls are best.

Read More: Woods Bagot Research Study

More: College Student Interview Tips | College Job Search | Jobs for Grads

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