subject: What Makes A Great Cover Letter? [print this page] Are you aware that there are different kinds of cover letters but you can still use the same guidelines for writing each one of them? The foundation of your cover letter depends on how you put into writing your intention, your interest, your motivation, your enthusiasm, your experience and your skills. Technically, it should show your personality and professionalism.
For you to understand what makes a cover letter great, you should know the dos and don'ts in a cover letter. The first thing you need to get informed with is to how you should address your cover letter. A great cover letter is addressed to the person who is in charge with the hiring process. Otherwise, your cover letter and resume will have a difficult time reaching the personnel department. Therefore, do some research to know exactly who is giving the hiring decision; in addition, ensure that the name, title and company information is spelled correctly.
Likewise, create your cover letter with a personal touch. Nowadays, generic cover letters are as boring as seeing foreign movies without translations. Write your cover letter in a conversational tone however keep the formality and professionalism. Your letter should sound like you and it should not sound like a history book. To do this, be natural when creating your cover letter. At first attempt you may feel nervous and awkward about it as you try to deflect grammar and spelling errors. Do not mind the mistakes first. You can check and proofread them after.
When creating your cover letter, make sure that your interest is displayed. You can do it by expressing your knowledge about the company or the industry. Obviously, there is where you also need to do research. However, do not go overboard that it might appear you copied all the information of the company. As a guide, the two things you need to bear in mind are: who are they and what they do.
To build a bigger impact, make use of terms and phrases that are significant to the hiring manager or employer. For example, if the company requires particular skills and experience for a certain job position, use those requirements and match them to your skills and experience. If you must, bold them to make them stand out even more.
Technically, a cover letter should not have bulleted lists; though some people use bulleted lists to make the cover letter much easier to read, it is still suggested that this list is included only in your resume. Therefore, your letter should be in paragraphs form. It should comprise at least three paragraphs. The first paragraph should briefly state what position you are applying for, how you learned about the vacancy, and how qualified are you and what are your general qualifications.
On the other hand, the body of your cover letter broadens on how qualified you are. State the pertinent skills and experience you have and discuss them as brief and detailed as possible. If you can, show how your skills and experience make you qualified for the job. The final paragraph of your cover letter should bear your request for an interview. Be specific and direct about it.
