Key Cover Letter Advice
November 1st, 2008
In today’s tight job market, all of us could probably do with some good cover letter advice. These days, in order to get a leg up on the competition – and goodness knows that there is a lot of it – you have to write not only an excellent cover letter, but also an excellent resume and CV as well. It is incredibly important to consider submitting all three. After all, the more information a potential employer has at his or her disposal, the better your chances of getting hired for the position.
First of all, please note that the cover letter advice contained in this article will work for both a hard copy and an email cover letter. The only real differences between the two involve the signature block. In an email, it goes below your name; in a hard copy, it goes at the top of the page. As well, a hard copy requires a hand written signature. Naturally, this is not required in an email.
Now, the best cover letter is going to contain some key points. When using cover letter examples to draft your own, you need to make sure that the template you use has all of the following factors. To begin with, your cover letter needs to explain why you are sending in your resume in the first place. As well, you need to be consistently specific. The prospective employer reading your cover letter should not have to guess or wonder about anything. If you want an internship, a full time position, a part time position, you need to say so. If you are looking for a job starting after you graduate, if you are looking for a long term job track – you need to include everything.
You also need to tell how exactly you learned about the job opening and the organization it is for, no matter how you learned. An important but often overlooked piece of cover letter advice is that, if a person told you about the job, you need to include his or her name.
The most important thing a cover letter does is convince your reader to read your resume. For today’s job seekers, this is especially important. After all, you will more than likely be in a serious competition with other qualified people. You need to make sure that employer is interested enough to want to know more about you. Your cover letter is the first impression you will make, it will be seen before anything else. As such, you also need to include what makes you look good, such as information about your background: your education, your leadership abilities, and any experience you have relevant to the job for which you are applying. It also needs to be a reflection of you yourself: your attitude, your personality, your enthusiasm as a job candidate, how motivated you are, and your technical skills.
A final key piece of cover letter advice is to include follow up information. This often requires paying close attention to the job advertisement. For instance, if it says no calls, then definitely do not call – otherwise, make sure to include your phone number and feel free to suggest that you will call within a set time frame to see if any addition information is needed. This will show your initiative, yet you will not seem pushy. And always remember: you are presenting yourself with your cover letter, it is your first impression. You need to make it a good one.

