Crafting Excellent Cover Letters: Land A Job This Week!

In today’s business world, numerous employers have begun to request many job seekers’ most dreaded phrase: the Cover Letter. Cover letters are meant to be attached to resumes as yet another way for managers to differentiate between applicants and make good decisions regarding the placement of employees within the company. As the number of applicants with college degrees constantly increases, it becomes hard for managers to differentiate between applicants solely based on their education and/or experience. Therefore, the cover letter becomes a way for the employer to get to know a little about the potential candidates and how they present themselves (at least on paper). Cover letters can act as an initial dialogue between a company and a potential employee and further could set the stage for the applicant to potentially get a call back for an interview.

There are a couple of general tips to creating good resume cover letters that all job seekers should be aware of. Like all things in the business world, having a well written cover letter is not the “silver bullet” to getting a job interview, but it could potentially help stack the deck in your favor.

As a typical job seeker, you are most likely pursuing many job leads. Rather than simply printing up a number of generic cover letters, it is more convincing to customize each cover letter to the exact job opportunity that you are applying for. Generic cover letters indicate to an employer that you did not look into their company specifically but instead found it by the luck of the draw. Some employers may see this as a nonchalant attitude and may pass over your application as a result. Letters that are customized to the position itself show that an applicant was devoted and focused when researching the opportunity to apply for a job within the company.

Customize your cover letters by studying the person who will be reading your cover letter and resume. Address the letter to them specifically by name rather than using a “To Whom It May Concern:” type greeting. This shows the employer you have done your homework and are not afraid to put in a little extra effort. Customize your accomplishments and experience explanation to the company as well. Research the kinds of things that are recognized within the company or that set the company apart from others in their field. Mention those accomplishments and experiences that would attract the interest of an industry insider rather than just show how smart you are.

Include your most up to date contact information so that the employer can contact you as easily and quickly as possible. Indicate that you are very interested in the position and in one sentence reiterate why you are the best candidate. Thank the reader for their time and then close with a professional salutation such as “Sincerely” or “Kind Regards”.

Tagged with: career • employment • Resumes

Filed under: Job Cover Letters

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