Many people are astounded when you tell them that Cover Letters can be as important as their resume.
Generally I see Cover Letters with every paragraph starting with “I”, and making a vague attempt to repeat everything that is in the resume. Margins are crowded, and formatting does not invite interest. One can almost see the document floating toward the slush pile.
Worse, there is a date all right, but absolutely no contact information on the letter. In other words, the document is anything but in proper letter form. The biggest mistake about this is the following: often, for not necessarily logical reasons, the Cover Letter gets separated from the Resume. If this happens, you are toast if your Cover doesn’t have contact information for you.
Now you know that your Resume gets 20 to 40 seconds of perusal, but do you realize that the Cover Letter gets a mere 15 seconds of attention. When the eye falls upon the letter, the document must be so compelling that interest is not only captured, but held.
This has to make the first sentence perhaps the most important thing you have ever written—for the moment. If you lose them here, you are indeed lost.
Get straight to those skills that you can bring to the job. Summarize effectively, for the reader may or may not read further in your presentation.
Templates or a generic letter don’t work. Use bullet points to demonstrate skills and detail past achievements. Emphasize results you have achieved. This gets attention. Leave out boring job descriptions.
This document must never be more than one page! Here is where you get the chance to demonstrate that you can write. They’re looking for your communication skills, and right here is the first place to shine.
Read the letter out loud, seeing how it actually sounds. Typos and grammar mistakes will kill you off. Formatting is so very important, as the layout can either capture interest or put off the reader.
Be sure you choose a good font, and also pick a font size that is readable—no matter what. If the font is too small, it will compact to absolutely nothing in case the document is faxed.
To summarize: here are the basic facts about Cover Letters.
• This is your opportunity for positioning yourself in the reader’s eye.
• A Cover Letter must never be more than one page in length.
• There are generally four paragraphs:
o The Opening
o A summary about yourself appropriate for this target
o Your bulleted accomplishments
o The close
When stating your accomplishments in a Cover Letter:
• Think of which of your accomplishments are of interest to your target market.
• Definitely use different accomplishments for the various industries to which you are writing.
• Rank your bulleted accomplishments generally in order of importance to the reader, as opposed to chronologically or alphabetically. It may be that some other logic would be more appropriate in your case. Then do that.
Lots of variations are possible. Just try to follow the basic outline of four, or at most five, paragraphs.
This Letter is your basic calling card. Make it nothing less than the best of the best.
Beth Ross, Ph.D.
Career and Executive Coach
www.bethross.com
212-876-1759
beth@bethross.com
