Cover Letter
The resume should be accompanied by a cover letter. It is a very important document. Many employers today won't even look at your resume if you don't submit it with a cover letter. Your cover letter gives employers the opportunity to evaluate your ability to communicate: Do you know the proper form for a business letter? Can you string together coherent sentences? Are you able to express yourself well on paper? Your cover letter will give employers insight into all of these things. Here are some tips to consider when writing your cover letter.
General Tips
Your cover letter should attract employers to your resume. Don’t clutter it with needless facts. Don’t restate your resume.
Keep it concise – no employer wants to read your life's history. A cover letter should be one page with 3-6 paragraphs.
Each letter should be an original: no photocopies. Don’t write one general letter and send it to several companies. Compose each letter individually for each specific job or company.
Write the cover letter with the employer's needs in mind – not your own. In other words, don't describe what YOU want, but explain what you can do for the employer. Don't assume that the employer will read between the lines of your resume and dig out the relevant information. They won't. To get their attention, you have to actively describe how you can meet their needs.
Be positive. Don’t complain about your boss or describe your present or previous work experience as "boring". Nobody wants to hire someone with a bad attitude. Above all, don’t sound like you are begging for a job.
Be confident, but not arrogant. Don’t be too humble. Tell them you are qualified for the job, but don’t demand it. Highlight your most significant accomplishments to attract further interest.
Demonstrate interest or knowledge about the firm or industry. Don’t profess to know more about the company/employer than you really do. Explain why you find the company/employer attractive and leave it at that.
Never begin a paragraph with "I".
No sentence should be longer than 12 words.
Use proper English and avoid slang or abbreviations.
Use action verbs instead of flowery phrases to describe yourself.
Check and recheck your cover letter for errors. Look closely for mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Have someone else proofread and critique your cover letter.
Cover Letter Structure
(1) Contact Information Section
Your name, address (the street address, city, state, zip code) and phone number should be placed at the top of the letter, each flush left or center.
Work phone number, fax or email are optional, but recommended.
The date should be placed two lines below the header (and to the left if you have centered your heading).
Do not abbreviate the date (March 4, 2008 instead of Mar. 4, 2008 or 04/03/08).
First of all, find out the name of the specific person who is doing the hiring, the correct spelling of his/her name, the appropriate title and the name of the company. You can call the company or research names on organizations' web sites. This only takes a few minutes, and recruiters appreciate people who take the time to find out who they are.
Type addressee two lines beneath the date on the left-hand side of the letter.
Be sure to include full name starting with Ms. or Mr. But never guess the gender of the contact person's name. Some names – like Alex, Jan, Kelly, Loren, Mitch, Pat, and Randy – can be either male or female. When in doubt, leave the Mr. or Ms. out.
Then write in the person's title, company name and address.
Greeting should be typed two lines beneath the company's address.
Dear Mr. or Dear Ms. is the standard salutation, followed by the person's last name. Never address the letter to Dear Sir or To Whom It May Concern.
Use a colon instead of a comma at the end of the salutation.
If no person is available, address letter as Dear Department + Position. (i.e. Dear Human Resources Director:)