Cover Letter Secrets

Contributed by Elaine Landau

Your cover letter is probably the last thing you think about when updating your resume and sprucing up your portfolio. Unfortunately, that resume will not be read and the portfolio will collect dust instead of raves if you don’t get in the door in the first place.

How do you get on top of the pile?
Companies are deluged with resumes everyday. Some are accompanied by cover letters, surprisingly, some are not. Those that are not usually end up in the “I’ll get to it when I have more time” pile. Why? Because potential employers don’t usually have time to read about your hobbies that may include horseback riding, crocheting, and telling time with sundials. Your cover letter cuts through the details and says, “Hey! I’m the person you’ve been looking for!” Here are some helpful hints.

Helpful Hints.
A professional presentation is key to being taken seriously. Handwritten notes are not recommended. Using handsome, quality paper is always a nice touch.

Be yourself when you write. If you write a cover letter that implies that you are a die-hard conservative, the employer won’t expect to be interviewing a tattooed liberal. Be you. Be your cover letter.

Here is a list of things to remember when you are writing your all-important cover letter.

Put some personality and verve into your words. If you start yawning when you read it, imagine the poor person who gets it.

Don’t start every sentence with “I”. “I am interested in …” “I know about your company…” “I think a lot of me…”

If the person you are writing to is not a friend, stay formal with a Miss, Mr., Mrs., or Ms. Using a first name is often off-putting to the recipient.

Be concise.
If the position and company expect you to be computer savvy, be sure you drop a few well-placed factoids. Starting a sentence with “Being proficient in PowerPoint® after taking an advanced computer tutorial, I …” or “Having a basic computer education background and having completed basic Internet training, I am able to research any topic …” or “Having recently completed online computer training, I …” With key phrases such as these, you will entice the reader in your cover letter and impress them with details in your resume.

Ask for an interview and explain which job you are interested in. Don’t expect the reader to know what you want. Many companies have more than one position advertised for more than one department. If you don’t define what you are looking for, the employer might not take the time to try to figure it out. Make things easy for the employer, not difficult.

Be available for an interview. Believe it or not, you may not be the only candidate seeking that job. If you and another job seeker have similar backgrounds, your stock will rise if you make yourself available for an interview at the employer’s convenience, and not necessarily what works best with your schedule. This is not the time to play hard-to-get or cat-and-mouse.

Don’t leave it up to the employer to call you for a meeting. Suggest in your cover letter that you will be calling in a week to set up an appointment. That puts the responsibility for making this happen squarely on your shoulders, where it should be.

After you have written your short yet impressive letter, end it professionally. Don’t write something cute, too warm or familiar, unless, of course, you know the person. This is not a personal letter. It is a professional introduction. If you are too familiar, the reader might think you are cocky.

Add a P.S. As with all effective direct marketing pieces, the P.S. will be read before the body copy. Research has shown it to be true, so since you are selling yourself, you might as well sell yourself most effectively.

Show some knowledge of the company and the job for which you are applying. Every employer wants to think that his/her company is important. It also shows that you have a real interest in the company and the position if you have done your homework. Any job candidate who sits in an interview chair, looks around and asks, “So what do you guys do around here?” might as well wear pajamas and put his/her feet on the interviewer’s desk to complete his/her very poor first impression.

Now you can go ahead and ignore all of these ideas. You’ll still get the job if your cover letter begins, “Dear Dad, I know you have always wanted me to go into the family business…” But for those of us who cannot depend on nepotism, give your cover letter a once over. If it doesn’t incorporate any of the above ideas, you may want to rethink it.

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