You prepared a great resume and now need to sell it to a Human Resource Manager. What you require is a cover letter that compliments your resume and that provides all the information that piques interest, but does not give the entire story away. A cover letter resumes your story line and makes employers keen to discover more about you. After employers read your cover letter, they will be eager to read the rest of the story in your resume and then decide whether they like it or not. Many times you can read that cover letters are not very important in comparison to resumes but the truth is that a carefully written cover letter sprinkled with a few proven, magical marketing ingredients can fill your calendar with job interviews. 

What you should consider when writing a cover letter:

1.1  Keep up formats

Your resume and cover letter must be consistent in appearance and aesthetically pleasing. Format your one page letter using short paragraphs, bullet points, and white space to make it easy to read. Use the same heading and fonts in each and when "snail mailed" use a high-quality printer and paper.

1.2  Explain what you want

Be specific when you explain what you are asking for! Are you interested in a specific position or inquiring about future employment opportunities or just in a summer internship opportunity? Tell the potential employer why you are especially interested in his or her company and make a clear declaration of your job objectives. Also, cover letters are most effective when they are addressed to a specific person in order establish a personal connection with the reader of your letter as quickly as possible. As a general rule, always use the hiring manager’s name in the salutation. If you don’t know a contact name you should check in the companies home page or call the companies secretary to get this information. Avoid wherever possible letters addressed to "To Whom It May Concern" or "Dear Sir or Madam".

1.3  How did you learn about the organization or the open position?

Did a friend tell you about this job or did you see an ad in the internet or newspaper? If someone suggested that you apply for this position it is appropriate to mention the name of this person.

1.4  Market your resume

If an employer is unconvinced by your cover letter, he or she may never even give your resume a chance. The essential function of the cover letter is to convey your qualifications, as well that you will be in touch and that you are extremely interested in obtaining the open position. Consider your cover letter as a Sales Letter of your resume.

1.5  Explain why you are the best candidate

Present your qualifications in a way that you convince the recruiter that you're a good fit for the job. Presenting your qualifications be as specific as possible, using examples. In order to find all relevant elements of your background (education, experience, leadership, etc.) you need to research as much as possible about the organization and the open position. Use the internet (company homepage), business and financial magazines, business sections of newspapers or your professional and personal network. Ask yourself the following questions and include as much as possible of this information into the body of your cover letter to create a winning sales pitch:

• What are the skills and experiences required to be the ideal candidate?

• How can you demonstrate that you have the required skills or experiences?

• What personality characteristics is the employer looking for in the perfect applicant and what aspects of your personality are important to highlight in order to become a productive member of the employer’s team or company?  

1.6  Show personality

Give the employer a sense of your personality through your writing style, direct statements about your character, motivation, enthusiasm, communication skills or testimonial references.

1.7  Consider any information specifically requested

Provide or refer to any information like availability date that is requested in the job advertisement and that is not covered in your resume. 

1.8  Write a powerful closer

The best way for your cover letter to initiate action is a confident request for an interview. Use wherever possible a proactive approach and instead of the standard closer "I look forward to hearing from you” it’s better to take the initiative to follow up, saying something like, "I will contact you in the next two weeks to see if you require any additional information regarding my qualifications" or "I will call your office next week to see when an interview can be arranged". If you are writing a letter of inquiry (i.e. not applying to a specific job opening), you might close with something like, "I will contact you in two weeks to learn more about upcoming employment opportunities with (name of organization)." 

1.8  Professional Cover Letter Writing Services

If you feel that you still need more help, check out our review of Professional Cover Letter and Resume writing and editing services.