Dear Sir / Madam,

Throughout my work and life experience I have developed many skill sets which would be beneficial to your organization in numerous positions and levels of employment from entry level to lower level management in departments ranging from Information Technology to Sales. My favorite areas of employment are interviewing, training, marketing, and sales (all of which I do have experience with). However, I am a quick learner and I am confident I can quickly be trained to excel in any position I am able to secure. Past experience has shown me that a position involving human contact is preferable to my disposition. Below I have provided five skill arenas where I have proven myself. Although I feel my skills exceed this list (please see my resume @ http://www.tommyc.us/resume.html) I have organized this catalog for the purpose of a terse letter in which I can provide concrete examples of situations where I have applied these skills.

Training and Interviewing

In my position as Area Sales Manager with Dillard’s Department Stores I was responsible for interviewing, hiring, and training my own employees. At the time of my resignation I was directly accountable for 17 employees. I enjoyed interviewing and was respected by other managers to the extent that I often interviewed and made recommendations with regards to other departments. Furthermore, I was not only responsible to train my own employees I also taught Shoe University to new shoe associates in the Orlando, Florida area once a quarter.

Currently I am instructing an independent study for Entrepreneurial Studies majors at Muhlenberg College as part of my Community Fellowship for Lehigh University.

Problem Solving & Client Relations

It is my belief that every job involves problem solving in one form or another. To explain, I have been involved in problem solving ranging from employee difficulties, client dissatisfaction, technological problems, and communication between different departments within an organization.
As a Licensed Funeral Director I was involved with problem solving that included but was not limited to; interfamily disagreements, extreme grief, dissatisfaction with services, payment difficulties, and uncooperative clergy.
My position with Dillard’s Department Stores has provided me with experience involving; employee disputes, scheduling conflicts, and client dissatisfaction with purchases.
While employed at Muhlenberg College as the Web Content Coordinator my problem solving skills were expanded to (and again, not limited to); accessibility issues, technological limitations, communication among completely unrelated departments, etc.

My present position as the Project Director for the 19th Street Development project has helped me further develop these skills.


Teamwork & Colleague Relations

It is my experience and belief that all organizations operate most effectively and efficiently when everyone can execute as a team. Sometimes individual achievement is necessary but in the big picture a successful workplace involves colleagues who respect and are willing to work with each other.
Licensed Funeral Directors in large Funeral Homes are a great example of teamwork. To expand, each Director needs to be able to trust and rely on his colleagues to a degree in which I have experienced in no other occupation.
A recent example of teamwork I can offer involves a web page I created in December 2003. I created an online Alumni Newsletter for Alumni Relations at Muhlenberg College. This project would have proven very difficult without the teamwork of colleagues from; my own department (OIT), Alumni Relations, and Public Relations. It was the suggestions, feedback, and execution of all three departments that delivered the newsletter as desired before the deadline.

As a member of the College Valley Steering Committee I have applied these skills in areas I had not previously been afforded the opportunity. Furthermore, as the 19th Street Project Director I am responsible for the minutes at all Champions' Committee meetings and facilitating many action items that were the direct product of those meetings.

 

Responsibility

The most important responsibility I have had in my lifetime was the supervision of nearly 20 employees whose collective payroll could exceed $18,000 per month.
Responsibility for the human remains of a client’s loved one is an immense responsibility that could never be assigned a monetary value.
The total volume of sales I was responsible for while managing shoes for Dillard’s Department Stores was more than $ 1.5 million dollars per year.

 

Responsive to Training & Deadline Oriented

The most stringent deadlines I have been exposed to are the legal deadlines imposed by mortuary law. However, sales deadlines from Dillard’s Department Stores and project deadlines in Muhlenberg College Office of Information Technology have reinforced the sense of urgency implicit by a deadline.
My previous position in the Office of Information Technology at Muhlenberg College is an ideal example of my responsiveness to training. I began the position with limited to no knowledge of web design. In the year I spent working in this department I was trained to run maintenance on much of the College Website, develop pages, and relieve some duties of the college webmaster.

Some projects with important deadlines I am currently working on for my Community Fellowship at Lehigh University are a merchant map, Street Fair, Community Film Series, and web update policy.

To conclude, I believe these skills in addition to others I have acquired and developed (such as leadership qualities) would make me a perfect fit for a diverse range of positions in any organization.

Thank you very much for you time and consideration. Please contact me via email. I hope to hear from you soon and look forward to any opportunity you can offer me or direct me to.


Sincerely,
Thomas Carr



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