Recent Major Administrative Reforms

Recently, the Union Government gave the information on Major Administrative Reforms which were introduced in recent years and emphasised the importance of these reforms in making governance more accessible.

These reforms aim to encourage greater efficiency, transparent and corruption free governance, accountability and reduce scope for discretion. The Government follows the maxim “Minimum Government – Maximum Governance”.

Mission Karmayogi

  • This is a National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB). It is a comprehensive reform of the capacity building apparatus at individual, institutional and process levels for efficient public service delivery.
  • It is aimed at building a future-ready civil service with the right attitude, skills and knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India.
  • The capacity building will be delivered through iGOT-Karmayogi digital platform, with content drawn from global best practices.

Lateral Entry

  • Lateral entry means when personnel from the private sector are selected to an administrative post of the government despite them not being selected in or being part of a bureaucratic setup.
  • This is significant because contemporary times require highly skilled and motivated individuals at the helm of administrative affairs, without which public service delivery mechanisms do not work smoothly.
  • Lateral Entry helps in bringing the values of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the Government sector. It will help in building a culture of performance within the Government sector.

e-Samiksha

  • A real time online system for monitoring and follow up action on the decisions taken by the Government at the Apex level in respect of implementation of important Government programmes/projects.
  • It is a digital monitor for bureaucracy to rein in slackers.
  • Also, the government has been taking an intensive review for weeding out inefficient and Officers of doubtful integrity by premature retirement.

e-Office

  • e-Office Mission Mode Project (MMP) has been strengthened for enabling Ministries/Departments to switch over to paperless office and efficient decision making.

Citizen Charters

  • Government has mandated Citizen Charters for all Ministries/Departments which are updated and reviewed on a regular basis.
  • It is a written document that spells out the service provider’s efforts taken to focus on their commitment towards fulfilling the needs of the citizens/customers.

Good Governance Index 2019

  • It assesses the Status of Governance and impact of various interventions taken up by the State Government and Union Territories (UTs).
  • The objectives of GGI are to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all States and UTs, enable States and UTs to formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance and shift to result oriented approaches and administration.
  • It has been launched by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.

National Conference on e-Governance

  • It provides a platform for the government to engage with experts, intellectuals from industry and academic institutions to exchange experiences relating to e-Governance initiatives.
  • In 2020, the 23rd National Conference on e-Governance was organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) along with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in Mumbai.

Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS)

  • It is an online web-enabled system developed by National Informatics Centre (Ministry of Electronics & IT [MeitY]), in association with Directorate of Public Grievances (DPG) and Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
  • The CPGRAMS provides the facility to lodge a grievance online from any geographical location. It enables the citizen to track online the grievance being followed up with Departments concerned and also enables DARPG to monitor the grievance.

National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment: It aims at assessing the States, UTs and Central Ministries on the efficiency of e-Governance service delivery.

Comprehensive restructuring of the Scheme for ‘Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration’ in 2014 and thereafter in 2020.

Way Forward

  • Reforms are an obvious response to the new challenges confronting the state institution managing public affairs; what lies at the root of such an exercise is the effort to enhance administrative capability in the changed scenario.
  • Since the civil servants are accountable to political executives and that results in politicisation of civil services, the focus must be on external accountability mechanisms like citizen charters, social audits and encouraging outcome orientation among civil servants.
  • Civil servants should provide unbiased, rational and meritorious suggestions to the political executive in policy formulation. It requires an impartial Civil Services Board that can look after all the aspects related to promotions, transfers, posting and suspensions.

Is Climate Change happening now?

 The effects of climate change are very evident with the temperature rise experienced globally. Change in temperature, frequent forest fires, melting of ice, extreme and unusual rainfall, should be a wake up call for us to consider the phenomenon of climate change seriously. 

In 2020, the number of fire alerts for wildfires went up by 13% globally as per the World Wide Fund for nature (WWF). The planet became 5 degrees warmer in 5,000 years, but the predicted rate of warming in the next century is 20 times faster. The matter of concern is that a 3 degrees celsius rise in temperature can affect upto 43% of the glaciers of the Himalayan mountains. As a consequence of losing the glaciers, the region can suffer from water scarcity. 


Climate Change in India

In a recent report in the Indian Express, the director general of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Mr. Mrityunjay Mohapatra had explained the causes and projections of extreme weather conditions in India. Heavy rainfall was seen in states like Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha, and Maharashtra. Whereas a low rainfall was seen in Kerala, Jharkhand and some other areas. But the total amount of rain received remained constant. This indicates that in some places, either it rained to an extreme extent or there was no rain at all. 

The reason for this extreme weather condition was cited to be the rise in temperature. The Global rise in temperature has gone up by 1.2 degrees Celsius as compared to the past hundred years. In India, it has increased by 0.6 degrees Celsius. It has mostly affected the Northern, Central and Eastern parts of the country. 

This rise in temperature not only affects the surface but also the troposphere. The moisture holding capacity of the atmosphere increases, as a result of which extreme rainfall is experienced. The recent trends show that light and moderate rainfall has decreased and heavy rainfall has increased. 

This extreme weather leads to an increase in floods, rainstorm, thunderstorm and lightning. A rise in the intensity of cyclones from the Arabian Sea has also been reported. The current projection by IMD is frequent and intense weather events. According to the weather bureau chief, the probability of experiencing heavy rainfall has increased. 

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had also expressed his concern over the issue of climate change recently. On 25th July 2021, he called for the leadership of G20 to address the issue of climate change.  Climate Change and extreme weather conditions are a raging concern for the world right now and also predicted to be in the future.


Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Introduction

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a clean drive that aims to cover 4041 legal cities and cities throughout India. Cleaning roads, roads, and other infrastructure in the country.

Beginning of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is also known as the clean Indian name for Clean India driving in the Swachh Bharat campaign. It is a national-level campaign by the Indian government to cover all cities that are legally back to clean up. The campaign includes the construction of a toilet that will improve sanitation in rural areas, clean up roads and change the country’s infrastructure to lead the country. Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, once said that “sanitation is more important than independence” in his pre-independence India era. And he was well aware of the deplorable and unclean state of India. As he emphasizes to many people in India about its cleanliness and hygiene and its use in daily life. But the failure was less effective due to incomplete human participation. Prior to the campaign it was officially launched by the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi on the 145th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, 2014 at Rajghat in New Delhi, which is the site of Mahatma Gandhi’s cremation.

People Selected for the Swachh Bharat Campaign

The first nine people nominated by the Prime Minister for the campaign are Salman Khan, Anil Ambani, Kamal Hassan, comedian Kapil Sharma, Priyanka Chopra, Baba Ramdev, Sachin Tendulkar, Shashi Tharoor and the team of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (the popular TV series). And few other celebrities have helped to promote this work or campaign such as Akhilesh Yadav, Swami Rambhadracharya, Mohammad Kaif, Dwivedi, Manoj Sharma, Kailash Kher, Raju Shrivastav, Suresh Raina, Amitabh Bachchan, etc.

How You Are Viewed

People all over the world are cleaning the place and the place to keep their place clean and green. The Prime Minister called on all Indians to take the campaign as a challenge and to try their hand at a successful campaign. The chains of nine people are like a branch of a tree.

He asked ordinary people to take part in the event and upload a video or photo of hygiene to the internet through various social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Significance of the Swachh Bharat Campaign

The campaign helps the government solve the problem of sanitation by improving India’s waste management practices.

Benefits of the Swachh Bharat Campaign

The completion of the Swachh Bharat project could indirectly attract business investors to India, which will boost road and road growth. Attention by tourists from all over the world brings a variety of employment resources, lowers health costs, lowers the mortality rate, and reduces the incidence of deadly diseases, and much more. Pure India will attract more tourists and improve its economic situation.

The conclusion

The work of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Clean India should not only be the responsibility of the government or ministers of India, but also the responsibility of the union of all citizens living in the country . Achieving the goal of a clean India will never happen until unless we work together and join hands to clean up our environment and stop others from being polluted. A healthy country and a healthy society needs its citizens to be healthy and clean in all aspects of life.

Rich dad poor dad : review

Book Review


Name of the Book: Rich Dad Poor Dad
Name of the Author: Robert Kiyosaki
Publisher: Plata Publishing; Second edition (11 April 2017)
Language: English
Originally published: 1997
Pages: 336
Genres: Personal finance, Economics, Non-fiction

About Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki is an American businessman who founded Rich Global LLC and the Rich Dad Company. The latter focuses on private financial education through the mediums of books, videos, and speeches. He is also the author of over 26 books, including this book.
Introduction
Rich Dad Poor Dad has been called the number one personal finance book of all time. Robert Kiyosaki illustrates the mindsets and beliefs that define those who become wealthy. He contrasts these mindsets with those who are poor. In this book, Robert’s example of a poor man was his dad, while the rich man was Robert’s financial mentor. Robert’s father was a genius, while his mentor didn’t even finish eighth grade. The only meaningful difference was their mindset.
Summary
Education & two perspective
In this book Kiyosaki believes that an individuals attitude towards money and their tendency to be richer or poorer can be traced back to the education they receive at home. Parents are responsible for teaching the fundamentals of finances as it’s not something that schools focus on. Kiyosaki explains that this education at home is the driver behind the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the middle class continues to struggle with constant debt. He believes that the considerable debt that countries face is a result of politicians and government officials having very little education on money, yet being in a position of power.
Robert Kiyosaki emphasizes six key points through out the book. These points — which differentiate between his “poor” dad (his real dad) and the “rich” dad that helped him understand business and become wealthy — are:
The rich don’t work for money
The importance of financial literacy
Minding your own business
Taxes and corporations
The rich invent money
The need to work to learn and not to work for money
Good Points in this Book
Flawed Educational System
As Robert mentions many times in the book, our traditional educational system is flawed. Our education system is designed primarily to create employees and could be a negative influence for an entrepreneur. As Kiyosaki mentions, he’s not suggesting that people skip higher education; he’s suggesting higher education does not assist with “street smarts.” Financial literacy is something that is rarely discussed in school, and if it is discussed, it is only at basic levels. Based upon my personal background, I’ve made this a personal focus and will make sure my children are well educated in this subject.
Strong Points:
The original idea of the book Rich Dad,Poor Dad, and also the extremely effective presentation of educational financial concepts are not as simple as they seem.
An incredibly motivating book inspired by the personal experience of the author, who is himself a millionaire,
Weak Points:
A certain lack of detail in some areas mentioned by the author is regrettable.
As he says himself, his books are motivational tools, not books by a financial expert.
Why I chose this book
This book teaches us many important lessons which apply in our daily life. In this book Robert describes how you can get started in your journey towards financial education and wealth which was not included in any bookbook in easy language.
My Learning from this book
I learned many important things from this book that is:

  • Choose your friends carefully: Don’t choose your friends based on how much money they have. That said, you should be careful about being around cynics or people who don’t like talking about money. They will rub off on you. Do your best to learn from people who support you, teach you, and make you a better person.
  • Pay yourself first: If you don’t do this, you’ll find nothing left to pay yourself. This is an essential shift in mentality.
  • Assets buy luxuries: Don’t buy a luxury until you have created an asset that pays for it.
  • Teach, and you shall receive: The more you teach people, the more you will learn.
  • Look for new ideas: Read books on different subjects and learn from them.
  • Be willing to learn: Learn every skill you can. Never assume you are already knowledgeable enough on a topic.
  • Learn from history: Study successful people from the past and emulate them.
  • Action always beats inaction: If you are not sure what to do, you should just do it. Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction
  • Conclusion- Rich Dad, Poor Dad is an extraordinary book, in the literal sense. I cannot fully express how much this book transformed my vision of money and most especially my perception of wealth. Before I read this book part of me was convinced that all “rich people” were born that way. That you needed to have money to get rich and that the only solution was to join the rat race, although that is not what I called it at the time. Nowadays, I am firmly convinced that you can learn how to become rich and that financial freedom is a realistic goal if you move towards it methodically and patiently.
  • The poor and the middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them.Fear is what keeps people in jobs that they don’t enjoy. Assets and liabilities are different. Assets generate money whereas liabilities suck up your money.A rich man’s perspective is that your income is a direct result of your assets, not your job. Therefore you need to commit to investing in the right assets.
    In order to be rich, you need to have a decent financial IQ. This is made up of considerable knowledge in accounting, investing, understanding markets, and the law. Rich people “groom” their children so that they can have a complete understanding of business operations and how the family manage their finances. Management skills that should be taught include managing cash flow, managing systems and managing other people.
    Reference
    Rich Dad Poor Dad Book by Robert Kiyosaki

Hygiene

Hygiene is the science of rules of healthy living. Food hygiene is very important for healthy living because most of the diseases and disease producing germs are transmitted through food. The food may be contaminated at any stage during its journey from the producer to the consumer. It is contaminated during handling, distribution and serving. Hence hygiene refers to hygiene in the production, handling, distribution and serving of all foods. Each and every item of the food should be maintained under hygiene condition. Thus there are milk hygiene, meat hygiene, fish hygiene, fruit hygiene, vegetable hygiene, personal hygiene, etc.

Milk Hygiene

Milk is a suitable medium for most of the disease producing germs. Hence it is an efficient vehicle for many disease producing germs. It is contaminated by three main agents. They are:

The dairy animal. The human. The environment comprising contaminated vessels, polluted water, flies, dust, etc. The important diseases which are transmitted through milk are as follows:

Typhoid and paratyphoid fevers. Tuberculosis. Diptheria. Salmonellosis and streptococcal infections.

The milk hygiene is maintained by the following methods:

The dairy animal should be maintained clean and healthy. The udder should be washed and cleaned before and after milking. The dairy house should be sanitary. The vessels must be sterile and kept closed. Water used must be free from bacteria. Milkers must be free from contagious diseases. Milkers must wash their hands properly before milking. Milk should be stored at 50°F after milking. This will prevent bacterial growth.

Meat Hygiene

Meat includes a variety of edible animal tissues. The common diseases transmitted through meat are tape worm infestations and bacterial infections. Meat Hygiene is maintained by 1. Meat inspection and 2. Hygiene slaughter houses.

1. Meat Inspection:

The slaughtering animals should be subjected to proper antemortem and postmortem inspection. The unhealthy infected and pregnant animals should be eliminated.

2.Slaughter House:

The places where edible animals are killed are called slaughter houses. The hygiene of slaughter houses is very important to prevent contamination of meat. The slaughter house should satisfy the following conditions:

1. It should be located away from residential places. 2. Floors and walls should be easy to clean. 3. Provision for antemortem and postmortem inspection. 4. Provision for adequate and continuous water supply. 5. Other animals should not be allowed. 6. Meat should be stored in fly-proof and rat-proof rooms.

Fish Hygiene

Fish loses its freshness or deteriorates because of autolysis after death. The deterioration of fish is due to the infection of bacteria. The stale fish should be condemned. The signs of good fish are:

1. Stiffness or rigor mortis. 2. Gills are bright red and 3. The eyes are clear and prominent.

Hygiene of Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables should be properly washed before they are used.

Personal Hygiene

1.The food handlers should be thoroughly examined medically and physically at the time of appointment.2. Hands should be properly washed and cleaned before handling food. 3. Finger nails should be trimmed and free from diet. 4. Head coverings should be provided, especially in the case of women to prevent loose hairs entrance into foodstuffs. 5. Coughing and sneezing should be avoided near the food. 6. Licking the fingers before picking up a food is prevented. 7. Smoking is avoided.

House

 House is a place where we spend most of our life .House provide us shelter, the food where we eat most, sleep . 

In today’s world ,Getting a good house is a dream for most guys due to high rates, poverty 

House provide us a way to enjoy, to achieve dreams by spending our most indispensable time there

Happiness

 Happiness is something which everybody wants whether it is teenager or old guy 

It is something which every person wants in life 

Happiness can be achieved by doing work 

It is something which is not hard to get

forest

 Forest is a place for animals ,birds,insects to live better than others ..

Forest is also liked by many people as it is calm ,quiet, and people love to spend time here 

People love to see animal, birds and want to enjoy nature beauty 

Indian food

 Indian food is a food  which is not only a food but gives other health benefit also 

It helps to gain strength, energy, metabolism 

Indian food is a great love for all Indians and also for foreign living people here

QUALITY OF LIFE

       

BY : NEHA SHAHAB                                                                                          

Quality of life is a highly subjective measure of happiness that is an important component of many financial decision . Factors that play a role in the quality of life vary according to personal preferences, but they often include financial security, job satisfaction, family life, health, and safety.  standard indicators of quality of life include wealth , employment , the environment , physical and mental health , education , recreation , leisure time , social belonging , religious beliefs , safety , security , freedom.

WHO defines Quality of Life as an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.

top 10 ranked countries

 1.CANADA



2. DENMARK

3. SWEDEN

4. NORWAY

5. SWITZERLAND

6. AUSTRALIA
7. NETHERLANDS
8. FINLAND
9. GERMANY
             

10. NEW ZEALAND
             

Valuing Friendship!

 

Often, there are times when we all get busy with our office work or in order to become a successful person, we  all just  forget to enjoy our life, or to just to something relaxing for ourselves . We tend to forget the happy memories we made with our friends at school and college! 

According to my opinion balancing out personal and professional life is very important. We all should know how to manage our personal relationships as well which includes friendship!

Personal opinion on friendship

Friendship, according to me is
derived from two words; “friend” and “ship”.

A ship sails
forward even if the weather condition is bad. Similarly, friendship means
having friends living on a ship. There are some pirates who are there on the
same ship but they have their own personal motives such as finding treasure. 

                                                                       

                                                                 

Such type of pirates may flatter their captain to achieve their purpose, but in
times of need they might jump from the ship or join hands with another ship, knowing
that they shamelessly betrayed their comrades. In friendship too, there might
be some people who would be there with you in order to fulfil their “greed” but
they won’t be there in times of “your need”.

                                                                     

There are
some pirates who are not close to each other but their loyalty to their captain
is unquestionable. Although, not close but they are still willing to give their
lives for their captain and for the safety of other comrades. These people
would never betray their team members, although they don’t express themselves
much, but their actions always speak louder than the words. 

                                                                      

                                                                           

                                                                      

Friendship
also works in a similar manner. There are some friends who do not have a
special kind of emotional bond but loyalty connects them till death. Here, we
can say that loyalty   is that component of friendship which brings a
sense of belonging to these people. It is due to this factor that such kinds of
people are always there for each other.

There are
some pirates having different interests, morals, preferences but still no
outsider can separate them because they have already accepted each other and
rather than having quarrel, they prefer to “grow” on each other’s differences. 

                                                                        

If
we talk about friendship, it does not necessarily mean that it involves
interaction between two people having similar interests. Different people
having different cultures, ethics, morals and values and personality also have
a strong bond. 

This is because they accept each other for differences;
understand each other and grow with each other. There are times that such kind
of friends have such a strong emotional connection that they can find out the
sadness behind the smiles and the love behind their anger.

                                                                        

Excluding,
the first category of friends, the second and third category of friends show the
true meaning of friendship. These people are the heart and soul of the ship
because of which the ship sails forward. These kinds of people, even though
they are distant or far apart, they will always be connected and will always be
there for each other.


                                                                    

Friendship
means being loyal, having respect for each other, enjoying with each other,
having good times together and fighting together when the storm comes. It means
accepting and understanding each other’s differences and growing on those
differences. It means to be there for each other even though you are distant.
It means to care for each other, to love each other and having an unbreakable
trust. If two people have an unbreakable trust, no one can separate them. 

                                                                         

                                                                     

This
is because even if an outsider tries to break their bond, those two people
won’t need each other’s explanations because they know each other two well.
Last but not the least, Friendship does not involve explanations and
misunderstandings but it involves forgiving each other and growing with each
other, laughing with each other and always being there for each other!

 

 

 

FIRST CITY TO ACHIEVE

      

                                    FIRST CITY TO ACHIEVE

BY : NEHA SHAHAB

Naveen Patnaik led Odisha government has declared Puri as the first city in the country to have city-wide safe drinking tap water .Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday inaugurated the ‘Drink From Tap’ mission in Puri, making it ‘the first city in India’ to achieve 24/7 quality drinking water supply.



 The initiative to provide water supply adhering to ‘Quality Standards of IS 10500’ will benefit the city’s 2.5- lakh population and 2 crore tourists who visit the holy place annually, he said. 

The State Government has planned to cover all urban areas of Odisha by March 2022, making it the state first to do so in India. Supplying drink-from-tap quality water to every home, similar to developed nations like USA, England, Japan, Singapore,” the state government said in a statement.  

Drinking water foundation at public places to discourage use of plastic water bottles. It will help eliminate of 400 metric tons of plastic waste per annum in Puri city. Under implementation in 16 more towns including Cuttack, Rourkela, and Berhampur benefiting around 40 lakh urban population.

CHILD HAS THE RIGHT

                                                      CHILD HAS THE RIGHT 

BY : NEHA SHAHAB

 A plea by a minor girl’s father seeking direction to the authorities to reflect his name as his daughter’s surname in the documents and not her mother’s name. Justice Rekha Palli, however, declined to pass such a direction and said, “A father does not own the daughter to dictate that she should use only his surname. If the minor daughter is happy with her surname.

The court said every child has a right to use his/her mother’s surname if he/she wishes to. During the hearing, the man’s counsel submitted that his daughter is a minor and cannot decide such issues on her own, claiming that the surname was changed by his estranged wife. He claimed that the change in name will make it difficult to avail insurance claims as the policy was taken in the name of the girl with her father’s surname. The mother had changed the surname from Shrivastava to Saxena.

        The court, which declined to allow the plea, noted that even the birth certificate on      August  10, 2018, issued by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) also will have both the names.

The judge disposed of the petition with a liberty to the man to approach his daughter’s school to show his name as the father.


The Stranger: A Book Review

Buy The Stranger ALBERT CAMUS (Vintage International) Book Online at Low Prices in India | The Stranger ALBERT CAMUS (Vintage International) Reviews & Ratings - Amazon.in

Someone said many years ago, “no man is an island”. Humans need human contact to exist, to continue and to be happy. However, authors, poets and philosophers have often used isolation and the idea of being broken as chief plots of their story.

Camus gives life to an indifferent and emotionally detached Meursault who is introduced as a character who refuses to cry at his mother’s funeral. One thing after the other, that also demonstrates his lack of empathy and emotional connection leads to a murder he commits. In the prison, he refuses to go to god, and speaks about his perceived understanding of life, death and human actions. He, in his last days, understands his mother’s feelings while she would have seen an imminent death. And that he shall no longer be lonely as a large crowd shall be seeing him die – each getting rid of its loneliness. And there the story ends.

The Stranger is a classic in both philosophy and Algerian French literature. Meursault is a truthful and emotionally detached man – something that scares those around him, the established judiciary and the lawyers. He frequently exclaims how he lives in the present and refuses to live in the past or the future. All these traits are so odd for the people around him that he becomes the stranger in the story.

It is an excellent book, originally written in French and is the recipient of the Nobel prize in literature. But it is full of monologues and might not exactly be to the liking of thriller lovers. However, story telling and philosophy build up this novella as one of the best to read.

Hope you like reading it, happy reading!

My guide to writing a bomb cover letter



You’re an old pro at crafting your resume to catch employers’ eyes, but a cover letter? Say what now? Everyone has heard of that strange, elusive document before. But chances are unless you’ve applied for a job or a certain internship, you’ve never had to write one. But fear not! I’m here to save you. You’re about to learn the ways of writing a cover letter so you can land that job and teach all your friends (and then feel super cool).

WHAT A COVER LETTER IS (A.K.A. WHAT TO DO):


The conundrums your cover letter should be able to answer “(1) Is it clean? (2) Does it demonstrate that the applicant researched the publication and has a good faith basis for believing they are a good fit, and (3) Does it tell a story?”

The most important thing about cover letters to keep in mind: It’s okay to brag. And actually, you should. Employers first learn about you in your cover letter, so you want it to create a good reflection of who you are and make a good argument for why you should get the job. The most important thing to remember is to be yourself, but also highlight your strengths and accomplishments

WHAT A COVER LETTER IS NOT (AKA WHAT NOT TO DO):

A cover letter shouldn’t be a mere recitation of the resume. Also, know that a cover letter is not a biography or even an essay. It’s a letter, just like its name suggests. Your cover letter shouldn’t run longer than a page if even that. The ideal length ranges to around four paragraphs, which sounds daunting, but if you use the suggested breakdown below, you should be good to go.

COVER LETTER BREAKDOWN:

Paragraph 1:

Your first paragraph, otherwise known as the introduction, should introduce you and why you’re writing. Think of it as the opening paragraph of a news story. It should answer all your “W’s”—who you are, what you’re applying for when you want the position, where you are in your education (as in what school you attend, where it is and what year you’re in) and why you’re the best option to hire.

Paragraph 2:

In the second paragraph expand upon your first, particularly in terms of your education and experience. Connect the dots in a cover letter. Explain how the experiences you’ve had and the person you’ve become as a result have led you to the point where you can honestly say you’d [be] of use to the employer. Try to pick the two or three most important or applicable experiences to the job and describe them succinctly. Here you may copy a bit from your resume. It’s also the place where you get to brag the most, so make sure your pride shines through.

Paragraph 3:

This paragraph involves discussing your transferrable skills. Here you can show off things not mentioned in your resume and your knowledge about the position you’re applying to. Be deliberate about which skills you discuss and be specific when explaining why those skills are relevant to a particular job. You want to show an employer that you’re interested in the job they’re offering, not just a generic job (even if that might be the case).

Paragraph 4:

This follows a pretty basic formula. Make to restate the position you’re applying for (full title and all). Very briefly restate your credentials and say you’re both qualified for and interested in the job. Always end with a sentence that says something like, “thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.” Finally, sign your name at the end. While you don’t have to physically sign it, closing with “Sincerely, [your name]” not only fits the letter format but gets your name in their head one last time.

Always end your cover letter with a strong closing statement. The closing statement will either make or break your cover letter. Remind the employer how and why you are qualified for the job in one sentence. Tie everything together by giving the location of work samples. Avoid language such as “I hope to hear from you soon.” Instead, include a more assertive closing like, “I’d love to discuss the position in further detail.” This will allow the employer to see how interested you actually are.