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Cover Letter Strategies
By Kevin Donlin,
CollegeRecruiter.com
In a nutshell, your cover letter should say, "I'm the
right person for the job. I have unique skills and experience that
will help your company right away. I hope you're as excited about
this as I am." The accompanying resume should then prove your case.
Put another way, the cover letter is the advertisement for your
resume.
To get your resume read, and to get that job interview, your cover
letter must do the following six things.
- Focus on the needs of employers and how you
would solve their problems. Employers have problems. That's why
they're hiring! Your cover letter should say (although not in so
many words): "I'm the answer to your problems."
- Display knowledge of the company. With the glut
of information available on the Internet and most public
libraries, you should be able to drop one or two facts/names into
your cover letter to show you've done your homework on the company
and its products, needs, challenges, etc. If you offer
well-researched suggestions that will work right away for a
company, they WILL call you.
- Briefly state your best qualifications AND
achievements. Don't spend a lot of time rehashing your resume. But
do include enough tidbits to generate interest in the mind of the
reader.
- Show your enthusiasm about the job. Avoid
sounding like 90% of applicants, who say (not in so many words):
"Give me a job where I can advance and make more money." Instead,
convey this: "I'm excited about the possibility of bringing my
skills to work for you."
- State that you will follow up to schedule an
interview. If you politely inform the reader that you'll be
calling within a few days to answer any questions and schedule an
in-person interview, you set yourself apart from the crowd with
your determination and confidence.
- Keep your letter short and focused. Most
letters ramble on in excruciating detail for one or even two full
pages. Show respect for the limited time your reader has and limit
yourself to four, five or six paragraphs at most.
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Best of luck to you!
-- Kevin Donlin is the author of "Resume and Cover Letter
Secrets Revealed," a do-it-yourself manual that will help you find a job in 30
days ... or your money back. For more information, please visit
CollegeRecruiter.com
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