Submit a poorly written cover letter, or no cover letter at all, and chances are your resume will not even being considered. A well written cover letter can almost guarantee you get an interview.
- Your resume is the document that conveys your qualifications; therefore your cover letter need not go on and on about how wonderful you are.
- Your cover letter serves the purpose of announcing you and your resume.
- Tell them what you are doing and clearly state what position you’re applying for: “I’m applying for the position of… Enclosed is my resume for the position of …” Don’t assume the Human Resources person will automatically know what job you want or that they only have one opening.
- Highlight a few of your qualifications as they pertain to the job posting you are applying to. You may even want to quote a few requirements directly from the ad that match your skills. Although brevity is the key here, you don’t want to merely say, “Here’s my resume. See ya. Bye.”
- Don’t be redundant with contact information.
- Make sure there are no typos. It’s hard to proof your own work. Find someone to give both your cover letter and resume a glance over. If your cover letter has typos, you will not get very far.
- Since most resumes today are delivered through email to prospective hiring managers, this cover letter can also be the body of your introductory email.