Cover Letter Writing Tips

Creating a cover letter that not only, attract attention; but does do in a lucid and professional manner; can be awfully difficult. There is so much to remember. If you once thought that a cover letter was just a way to address your potential employer directly, you’re oh so wrong. This said, if you have never drafted a cover letter-or perhaps never done so successfully-here are the basic tips to follow in any cover letter construction.

Treat it as Its Own Document
The most common mistake that applicants make when creating their cover letter is that they treat it as an accessory to their resume-a way to introduce their resume-tadaaa; but the cover letter in many situations functions as the main event. The reviewer often takes the cover letter and reviews it to determine if they have interest in reading the resume. If it does not give them the information or is not presented correctly, they trash the whole application. So, this is why you have to include all the pertinent info from your resume, the reason why you fit the job, and what you goals are in a compelling overview-otherwise known as the cover letter.

Be Concise
Another fatal error that applicants make when drafting a cover letter is to go on and on-and basically reconstruct all the information found in their resume-along with all sorts of unnecessary additional info. Do not make this mistake. For one, hiring entities do not have the time to read your memoir-they want the most significant highlights quickly and to the point; so that they can decide if they want to interview you. For two, employers want an applicant who can be concise and professional-simply for work purposes. In business-no matter the industry or position-most often more is never better. Business runs quick and efficiently; and so must you. The first showing of that is in your cover letter.

Fine Tune
Aside from just running a spell check on your cover letter prior to sending, make sure you check it for errors that spell check might not catch; such as paragraph spacing, verb usage, wrong wording, or formatted sections. All of these will most probably be caught by a reviewer, and can quite possibly-lead to a negative reaction. So, after you spell check; make sure to read it through yourself aloud; and then ask a colleague to do so as well.

Format Simple
Though you may think that you need to dress up any cover letter to really make it stand out-do not do so with dramatic fonts, colors, or other techniques. Use simple fonts, bolding/italics/underlining very minimally, and use less as more in every respect. This communicates a value for the content over the design; as well as a reference for professionalism-which is valued in every vocation.