You've seen an advertisement for your dream job and you know that you'd be perfect for it. Now you just have to get an interview. Write a great cover letter in professional business letter format and your chances of getting that interview will increase significantly.
First, take the time to find out exactly who will be reading your cover letter. Make it personal to that person. If the information is not apparent from the job advertisement, phone or email to ask who is in charge of hiring.
Whatever you do, make sure you spell the person's name, position title and address correctly and find out if they are a Mr. Mrs. or Ms. Your attention to detail in these matters shows initiative and will impress your potential employer.
Employers are looking for specific things, so make it easy for them to pick you! In your cover letter, briefly highlight your relevant education, experience and personality traits as they relate to the job posting.
There's something else you can do that will put you far ahead of other applicants: Unless the advertisement specifically says "no phone calls", phone the company and ask for a "Statement of Qualifications" or job description. These documents will give you extra information about what qualities are important to the company and you can then emphasize how you can meet those criteria.
Use your cover letter to sell yourself. Highlight relevant skills, awards, and degrees you want the employer to notice. In business letter format paragraphs are generally short and to the point. Using bullet points is also (but don't make your cover letter exclusively bullet points). Lists and bullet points help the employer notice the relevant information while skimming the cover letter.
Keep in mind that although cover letter samples or writing templates provide a useful start (especially to show you the proper business letter format), they are a starting point only. You must customize your cover letter to fit the specific job, and to allow your personality to come through.
Any employer will sense a "canned" or copied letter that doesn't address the specifics of their company. Templates and samples are a good start but be sure to customize your cover letter for the specific employer and job you are applying for.
First, take the time to find out exactly who will be reading your cover letter. Make it personal to that person. If the information is not apparent from the job advertisement, phone or email to ask who is in charge of hiring.
Whatever you do, make sure you spell the person's name, position title and address correctly and find out if they are a Mr. Mrs. or Ms. Your attention to detail in these matters shows initiative and will impress your potential employer.
Employers are looking for specific things, so make it easy for them to pick you! In your cover letter, briefly highlight your relevant education, experience and personality traits as they relate to the job posting.
There's something else you can do that will put you far ahead of other applicants: Unless the advertisement specifically says "no phone calls", phone the company and ask for a "Statement of Qualifications" or job description. These documents will give you extra information about what qualities are important to the company and you can then emphasize how you can meet those criteria.
Use your cover letter to sell yourself. Highlight relevant skills, awards, and degrees you want the employer to notice. In business letter format paragraphs are generally short and to the point. Using bullet points is also (but don't make your cover letter exclusively bullet points). Lists and bullet points help the employer notice the relevant information while skimming the cover letter.
Keep in mind that although cover letter samples or writing templates provide a useful start (especially to show you the proper business letter format), they are a starting point only. You must customize your cover letter to fit the specific job, and to allow your personality to come through.
Any employer will sense a "canned" or copied letter that doesn't address the specifics of their company. Templates and samples are a good start but be sure to customize your cover letter for the specific employer and job you are applying for.
About the Author:
There are many free professionally written writing templates at Barbra Sundquist's site, including cover letter, testimonial and disclaimer examples to make your writing tasks much easier.. This article, Deadly Cover Letter Mistakes is available for free reprint.
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