What To Know About Cover Letters

What To Know About Cover LettersA cover letter is your chance to make a good first impression and it is potentially more important than a resume. Resumes are usually impersonal lists of experiences, education and accomplishments. Your cover letter allows you to tell an appealing story that complements and extends your resume. It allows you to make yourself stand out from other candidates, it provides you with an opportunity to convince an employer to read your resume and it lets you explain what a great candidate you are for the job.

As a preliminary step to writing a cover letter, you should make sure that you have carefully read the job description. Highlight qualifications and tasks that relate to your profile and ensure that, if there are any gaps in your resume, you can fill them with your cover letter.

It is also important to do some research about the company and, if possible, the person who will get your resume. Your cover letter is your first chance to show how you are a good fit for the company and make a personal connection with the employer.

Cover letters should be formatted clearly. If they are sent as an email attachment, you should format them as you would format professional correspondence. If they are sent in the body of an email, heading elements can be skipped, as they might look awkward.

In the first paragraph, you should identify the position you are applying to. More importantly, it should grab the reader’s attention and make it clear that you are highly qualified.

In the middle paragraph, you should focus on matching your qualifications to the job requirements. This will not only emphasize that you are serious about the job, but it will also make it easier for you to show how you can help the organization in reaching its goals.

Your last paragraph should accomplish four main tasks. You should direct the employer to your resume, request an interview, indicate a time period during which you will get in touch with them and express your appreciation to them for their time and consideration.

Once your letter is ready, make sure to proofread it. Avoid Grammatical and spelling errors. Remove contractions. Your cover letter should not be longer than a page. Be concise and do not provide too many details. Show what experiences you have had that make you well suited to the position.

Ensure that your cover letter is professional looking, and, if possible, matches your resume. Use a simple, clean font. If you are sending a standard letter rather than an email, use the same sort of paper as your resume. If you are sending an electronic document, use the recommended file format.

Employment911 is a premier provider of cover letter and professional resume writing services.

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10 Comments

  1. Saw your blog bookmarked on Delicious. I love your site and marketing strategy.

  2. Good advices! really good! I think a lot of candidats understand the meaning of a cover letter, but isn’t sure: what to write

  3. Excellent Web site! I was wondering if I might be able to quote a portion of your pages and use a few items for a school assignment. Please drop me an email if its ok or not. Thanks

  4. All essential tips - great article. 

  5. Nice article and to the point. Remember also that each cover letter should be TAILORED to the employer. Unlike the resume, which can be the same, the cover letters are all unique.

  6. Making each cover letter unique and addressed to the employer is a great way to stand out and make it seem more personable. Great point Robin.

  7. Excellent post on a task I do not enjoy. Thanks for keeping it short, to the point, and simple. I’m sure everyone who hates their job will be enthused to read this piece. I think your point about proofreading is important to note. Doing a glance over on your own isn’t always enough. We can miss our own mistakes sometimes.

    Thanks!

    Aaron Wong

  8. Proofreading is very important and even though a person may be qualified for a job and interviews great, they may not get a chance if their cover letter has a typo in it.

  9. Really nice and in a way easy to understand though in short. I was looking for tips on cover letter and found your article. Found very informative.

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