Cover Letter Writing Tips

Job Application Cover Letters-16 Tips to Make Yours More Powerful

When you write a cover letter that is powerful, it highlights your best qualifications and gets your resume read.
While there is no single "best format" for a cover letter, there are some general guidelines about what to do and not to do in your cover letter. Follow these tips and you'll write a cover letter that is strong and polished.

Address Your Letter to a Specific Person
Whenever possible, address your letter to a specific person. If a job posting doesn't include a person's name, do some research to find out who the correct person is. Try calling the employer (but not if the ad states "no phone calls"), and ask a receptionist for the hiring manager's name. Keep your letter professional by using "Dear Mr. Smith," not "Dear Steve."

Be Specific With Names
When you write a cover letter, if you are unable to find the Hiring Manager's name, use "Dear Hiring Manager" or "Dear Human Resource Manager" or 'Dear Recruiter". Never use "To Whom It May Concern.

Hand Sign Mailed Cover Letters
If you're mailing the cover letter by U.S. Mail, be sure to sign it by hand - otherwise it looks like you're mass mailing letters.

Minimize Using the Word "I"
Avoid using the word "I" too much. Restate it as "you" whenever possible. Your cover should be about what you can contribute to the company, not about yourself.

Keep it Simple
Use Times New Roman 12 point font, short paragraphs and bullets. Do not use italics, bold type, underlining, etc. You want your words to stand out - not your text formatting.

Use a Creative Closing
Don't use the worn out "thank you for your consideration" or "Sincerely". Try something different that makes you stand out and be remembered, such as: ""With my best regards" "enthusiastically yours" or "with kindest personal regards" (best for a thank you note), "good wishes always" "Yours always".

Customize Your Cover Letter to the Job
Make sure you customize your cover letter to match each job for which you apply. It should specifically highlight the qualifications for that particular job opening and use plenty of keywords relevant to that job. Special Note: if you're applying for several very similar positions at several companies, you'll be tempted to create one cover letter and then customize only slightly as needed for each employer. This is okay, but BE SURE to remove all references to another company in your cover letter. Of every 100 cover letters I receive, About two or three were obviously written for another company and I usually don't read any further.

Make Printed Copies Attractive
For paper copies of your cover letter (and resume), use good quality stationary and a qood quality printer. This is the first impression you'll make, so be sure it's a professional one.

Keep it Short
Write a cover letter that is half a page in length - two thirds of a page at most. The purpose of a cover letter is to get the Hiring Manager to read your resume - not to restate your resume. When you're brief, you demonstrate that you understand the value of the reader's time.

Mention Accomplishments
Try Highlighting one or two of your most significant accomplishments or abilities. Selecting only one or two can help your chance of being remembered, if the accomplishments are significant.

Avoid Generalities
Avoid using ready-made phrases such as "self-starter," "proven leadership skills," "excellent interpersonal skills," etc., unless you have specific examples of accomplishments to back them up. Otherwise, you come across as throwing around today's buzz words with nothing substantial to back them up.

Don't Exaggerate
Never overstate your experience or skills when your write a cover letter. If you aren't found out in the interview, you certainly will be if you get the job. Even if you don't have every qualification listed in a job ad, be honest about yourself and highlight your strengths.

Consider Some Humor
As a Hiring Manager, I appreciate a bit of humor in a cover letter if it's appropriate. Your resume is a formal document and as a rule should never contain humor, but a cover letter gives you the chance to show a little personality. This can make you stand out among candidates. Just remember to keep your tone friendly and professional when your write a cover letter.

Avoid Gimmicks
Avoid gimmicks. An applicant once mailed in a box with two plastic toy teeth, a cover letter and note that said: "I'd give my eye teeth for an interview." Another Hiring Manager I know received a pair of dice and note that said "roll the dice and give me a chance." These things look corny and usually don't work, the one exception being for sales positions. Many Hiring Managers for sales jobs want to see some assertiveness and creativity, but bear in mind that unless your gimmick is truly original, it can backfire.

Use a Conversational Tone
When you write a cover letter, write in a conversational style. Don't use words in your cover letter than you wouldn't use in everyday conversation.

Have Someone Else Proofread
Finally, have someone else you trust read your cover letter for spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. You can read your own letter ten times and not spot an obvious error that someone else sees immediately. Don't let that someone else be the Hiring Manager.
Good luck in your job search!

Creating Successful Cover Letters For Your 100k Job Search

Our cover letters for your 100k job search are one of the essential elements that cannot be overlooked. Without a winning cover letter it is quite likely no one will ever even look at your resume or consider you for their 100k jobs. There are volumes of job career advice on the Internet but your first step must be to create a cover letter that sells. Below are a few points that you must consider when drafting your cover letter for your job search.Research

You may have already heard this repeated again and again while looking at job career advice, but it is absolutely essential. What happens if you get through to an interview for a six figure job and are asked to do a presentation on the spot for one of the company's products or services? Researching now shows an employer you took the time to look them up and want to work for this company and are not just desperate to work for anyone. It also tells a potential hiring manager that you are familiar with their business and are confident you will fit in. Before drafting your cover letter make sure you have done your research on the company and it's executives and demonstrate this throughout out your cover letter for your next 100k job.

Targeted & Original

No matter how good you are, if you haven't taken the time to draft a targeted and original letter for your 100k job search your resume will probably just land in the trash. If you are applying for any executive jobs or 100k jobs you should be an expert. If you are too lazy to write a targeted cover letter how can you expect an employer to believe you are going to work hard on the job? Forget all the cover letter templates out there, there are so many job seekers for 100k jobs that they have probably seen the same outline again and again. Show an employer that you have read their job posting thoroughly and that this is the job you want and that you are qualified for it.

Words That Sell

Regardless of whether this cover letter is for finance jobs or a sales executive job the cover letter for this 6 figure job is a sales piece. It must spike interest and demand that the recruiter or hiring manager take the time to review your resume or call you for an interview. Consider stating your number of years in the industry but not your previous employer information so they must turn to your resume. Use words and techniques that sell without being cliche. One sales technique to use throughout your 100k job search is 'mirroring'. This can be done using the exact same words and terms they use in the 100k job posting. Repeat phrases or include technical terms that the employer used make them feel you are an instant match.

Highlights

Include a few bullets of what you have achieved in your previous 100k jobs. How many years experience do you have, have you successfully completed projects for their competitors who they envy, have you saved a company $100k, have you received any awards?

Hiring A Pro

If you really feel that you do not have the writing skills to make your cover letter shine for your 100k job search then consider hiring someone else to do it for you. How much is this new 100k job worth? Certainly a few dollars invested to ensure you get the job will return an incredible yield.

Cover Letters - 5 Top Tips To Impress The Employer

Most employers consider cover letters to be of equal importance as your resume. Some consider it to be more important as it gives an indication of the applicant's personality.

Here are five tips to make sure you create a great first impression on your potential employer:

1. Make sure your letter is addressed to the right person i.e. to the person who is going to decide whether or not to invite you for an interview. Mostly, this information will be given with any advertised job. Sometimes you may have to do a little detective work to find out who to write to. Never address it to 'Dear Sir/Madam' or 'To Whom It May Concern'. This is the number one thing that irritates employers!

2. Write clearly and concisely. Make your points engagingly. Don't waffle, use long words or tell your life story. The employer doesn't need to work hard to find out exactly what you are saying, they certainly don't want to be reaching for a dictionary. Keep it short and simple.

3. Your cover letter should be written as a story with a beginning, a middle and end. That is - a good introduction, the main part is telling the employer how you can benefit them and the conclusion is a call to action.

4. Target your letter to the particular employer. Don't use the same letter that you use for each job application. Let the employer know that you've done your research about their company. Give the impression that you only want to work for them. Make the employer feel special.

5. Check your spelling and grammar. You don't want to let yourself down by composing a terrific letter and then making mistakes. Proof read your finished letter. Get a friend to read it too as you sometimes don't spot your own mistakes.

Good luck with your job hunting!

How Your Cover Letter Can Land You an Interview

HR managers, recruiters and other hiring entities all agree: the cover letter is expected. Although not every cover letter received will be read, your cover letter will definitely be read before you are short-listed for an interview.

A cover letter allows you to pull together different pieces from your resume and prove that you are well-qualified. The cover letter can accomplish the following:

• Differentiate you from your competition
• Highlight appropriate strengths
• Minimize perceived weaknesses
• Mitigate perceived obstacles

Your cover letter must be customized to the company and to the position. Many recruiters will skip reading letters that begin like a generic, "same for every job posting" letter. Research the company, show genuine interest, and explain exactly which skills are relevant and how your experience applies. Share your passion for the field and knowledge of the company, and you'll have an engaged reader.

More tips on creating memorable job search letters:

• Stir immediate attention with a first line that is interesting. "Please find my resume attached in application for..." is not interesting. However, "I find that ABC's goals and mine are well aligned. I too have a reputation for outstanding customer service; in fact, I've won Secret Shopper awards several times" is far more interesting. Hook your reader at the outset.
• Overcome dense paragraphs by breaking out highly interesting facts in a few bullets. Make the content of these energetic and results-based. Not "I am service oriented," but "I've been voted No.1 in Customer Service by customers who complete our surveys."
• Highlight key projects and past experience that are similar to the position's requirements.
• Tell the reader what you can do for the company. And prove you can do it with a related accomplishment.

One thing you must remember: Any writing is subject to personal preference. Your letter, written in your typical bold and brash style, may land in front of a person who prefers mild and meek. That's okay! You have to fit in with the company's culture in order to succeed. If the company hires mild and meek, you are unlikely to enjoy career success. When you send your letter to a company that values bold and brash, you'll receive that interview-invite.

What's the key then? Be true to yourself and write authentically, and fill in the dotted line between your abilities and the company's bottom line with strategically chosen samples of your result-producing achievements. Does a cover letter carry any weight? Absolutely. If written with strategy, your cover letter will influence the reader, and you will soon receive that much-desired invitation to an interview.

Good Job Application Cover Letter Will Secure Interviews

A job application cover letter is the single most important document in your job search package when you apply for a job. A well prepared letter can make a difference if you're going to get interviews or not.

Therefore, it is important to learn how to write a professional letter.

Hundreds of candidates with good qualification and work experience will react to a job ad. The employer will usually do a quick scan on the application packages to pick the best candidates to interview. The hiring manager will never have time to go through the whole stack of resumes. Based on information from the cover letters, the employer will pick a few candidates that look professional and meet their requirements. The rest of the resumes will probably go into the dustbin.

You need to have an effective job application cover letter to get noticed. So, how to write a letter with great impact?

1) What to include

Since the employer will only have time to browse through your cover letter, the letter will have to be prominent to motivate the recruiting manager to find out more about you. Usually, you just need to highlight specific information from your resume such as your professional experience, skills, strengths, and the value you can offer to the future company.

2) Benchmarking the best

Since cover letter will determine if you will get interview or not, you should make use of all available resources online and offline to craft your job application cover letter. This includes the use of samples from the professional and valuable software tools.

Today, the job market is full of high caliber and experience people. To win in the job search competition, the only way is to rise above the battle and show the future employer that you're the right candidate. Make use of the letter samples that are proven to attract interviews. You do not need to reinvent the wheel.

3) Important things to keep in mind

When writing your letter, here are some things to remember.

• Do research on the company, the job and the industry. This will help you in writing your letter and handling the interview.
• Send your application package to a real person.
• Proofread your letter to make sure it is free from spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.
• Stay within one page with 2 to 4 paragraphs. Thank the hiring manager for reading your application letter and request for an interview.

To get interviews of your dream job, you must put in efforts in preparing your job application cover letter.

Writing a Job Search Thank You Letter With These Ten Tips

 

You think you are done with the entire job search process. You have written the perfect resume and cover letter and had a great interview. Now you think your part is done, and all you have to do is wait for the interviewers decision. This is where many job seekers fall short... they do not follow up after the interview. Regardless of how smoothly you think everything went, you need to continue your job search campaign. Take action and write a Thank You letter to increase your chances of receiving a job offer.

In our technological and fast paced society, this old-fashioned courtesy is often overlooked. Your Thank You letter should briefly reiterate your selling points and outline how you can add positively to value to the organization.

Here are 10 pointers...

Keep it Simple. Do not go overboard with your thankfulness - limit your Thank You letter to one page. Employers do not have the time to waste on idle chit chat.

Refer to the Interview. Mention an important detail of your discussion, this shows your attention to detail and will help them to remember you.

Prompt Delivery. You should send out your Thank You letter right after your interview... at least within 24 hours. If you wait too long, you may have already been placed to the bottom of the pile.

Use Professionalism. Do not handwrite your Thank You letter. It should be typed and printed on a very good quality paper just like your resume and cover letter. No colored or flowery prints.

Reiterate Your Assets. Make sure you reemphasize your skills to reassure them of any doubts they may have about your ability to get the job done.

Add Additional Details. If you forgot to mention a relevant quality you have, make sure you mention this in the Thank You letter.

Unique and Individual. As in everything in life, when you are yourself you will come across more confident and honest. You will achieve nothing by copying and pasting a sample Thank You letter off of the internet. When you dedicate yourself to putting in the extra effort in the interview process, you are sending the message that you are willing to go the extra mile.

Contact Information. Make sure you include all of your contact information, such as email, home and cell numbers... you can use the same letterhead as your resume and cover letter. This easily allows the prospective employer to get in touch with you.

Edit. Once you have written the Thank You letter, make sure you proofread it. Let someone else review it, because sometimes another set of eyes will pick up an error otherwise missed.

Close with Appreciation. Make sure you let the prospective employer know that you are thankful they took the time out to interview you.

This simple Thank You letter that you write and send may be the difference between getting the job and almost getting it.