Submit a poorly written cover letter and
chances are your resume will end up in
trash bin without even being looked at.On
other hand, a well written cover letter can almost guarantee you get an interview.
Interview Winning Cover Letters
Ok, you may not win any awards for
cover letter that you enclose to your resume, but you may increase your odds it actually getting read, if you follow a few simple steps.
1. Keep it brief. Your resume is
document that conveys your qualifications, therefore your cover letter need not go on and on about how wonderful you are.
2. Remember it serves a purpose. It is announcing you – and your enclosed information, your resume.
3. Tell them what you’re doing: I’m applying for
position of… Enclosed is my resume for
position of …
4. Clearly state what position you’re applying for. Don’t assume
Human Resources person will automatically know what job you want or that they only have one opening.
5. Highlight a few of your strong suits. Although brevity is
key here, you don’t want to merely say, “Here’s my resume. Bub Bye.”
6. Don’t be redundant with contact information. All that pertinent information should be on your resume.
7. Don’t staple your cover letter to your resume. Often photocopies need to be made and it just frustrates
person making
copies to have to remove your staples. Use a paperclip if you feel
need to attach it; else just send it on top of your resume.
8. Typos. That’s an obvious one. It’s hard to proof your own work. Find one other person to give both your cover letter and resume a glance over. You’re dead in
water if your cover letter has misspellings, poor grammar or typos.