Your Cover Letter: Five Tweaks to Give It Zing
http://www.careerfeed.net/articles/11941/1/Your-Cover-Letter-Five-Tweaks-to-Give-It-Zing/Page1.html
Marlyn Damerick
For more information about writing an effective cover letter, get the free report Top Ten Secrets of the World's Greatest Cover Letter. By Marlyn Damerick
Published on 02/26/2010
You've found the job opening and revised your resume to fit it. You've written, edited and proofed your cover letter to go with it. Before you send, you wonder if there's anything you can do to make sure you stand out from the crowd. Here are five small changes you can make in just a few minutes to make sure your cover letter gets read and raises your odds of a response.
You've found an opening for a job that's made for you. You've modified your resume to fit its requirements. You've written a good cover letter and edited and proofed it. Is there anything else you can do to grab the attention of the employer?
Good question. If you imagine yourself in the employer's shoes, this hiring thing is a lot of work. If the company needs another employee, it means that there are not quite enough people to get the work done. And now, if the job has been advertised anywhere, the mailman is brining in sacks of resumes like in the courtroom scene of Miracle on 34th Street. How much time does the employer have to spend on each resume package? Not much.
You've already done the smart thing by writing a great cover letter. Here are a few last-minute tweaks that can make your cover letter really stand out.
1. Make sure you've kept it short. You want one page, with narrow margins and short paragraphs. Leave plenty of white space. Large blocks of text are intimidating. You want the letter to be so easy on the eye that the employer has read it before she can decide to put it away till later.
2. Use a headline or one-line, attention-getting first paragraph. Use a one-line, centered, bold-faced headline just below the greeting that captures the essence of your qualifications in an appealing way.
It might look something like this: Available immediately: Outgoing, detail-oriented office manager for XYZ Company
Or you might go with the ever-popular "three reasons" headline: Three reasons I may be the office manager you are looking for
3. Use bold face for key concepts in the body of the letter. One way to do this is to bold the first sentence in each paragraph. Another way is to choose a key phrase in each paragraph. You don't want to do too many, because that would defeat the whole purpose. The idea is to make the important information grab the employer's attention right away.
4. Use bullets or a numbered list. This simple device is popular on the web and in magazines for good reason. It promises good information that can be quickly gleaned. If you've got five indispensable qualifications or three key experiences, list them out.
5. Specifically ask for the interview. Your cover letter is no time to be shy or indirect. You need to ask specifically for what you want. "Please call me at (555) 555-1212 to schedule an interview." Or you might say, "If I haven't heard from you this week, I will call you at 10 a.m. Friday morning to arrange an interview."
6. Use a P.S. Studies have found that people will read a post script, often before anything else. It's your last, best chance to get some essential piece of your message across. It may be your call to action -- the request for an interview. It may be scheduling information "I'll be at the National Relevant Industry Trade Show this weekend and will be back Tuesday."
These simple changes in your resume cover letter will help your application package stand out from the mass of gray and lifeless resumes that cascade onto the employer's desk every morning. Your letter will show your respect for the employer's time and your understanding of business communications. By using these simple solutions -- modified for your situation, of course -- you will propel yourself past the great majority of your competitors.
Good question. If you imagine yourself in the employer's shoes, this hiring thing is a lot of work. If the company needs another employee, it means that there are not quite enough people to get the work done. And now, if the job has been advertised anywhere, the mailman is brining in sacks of resumes like in the courtroom scene of Miracle on 34th Street. How much time does the employer have to spend on each resume package? Not much.
You've already done the smart thing by writing a great cover letter. Here are a few last-minute tweaks that can make your cover letter really stand out.
1. Make sure you've kept it short. You want one page, with narrow margins and short paragraphs. Leave plenty of white space. Large blocks of text are intimidating. You want the letter to be so easy on the eye that the employer has read it before she can decide to put it away till later.
2. Use a headline or one-line, attention-getting first paragraph. Use a one-line, centered, bold-faced headline just below the greeting that captures the essence of your qualifications in an appealing way.
It might look something like this: Available immediately: Outgoing, detail-oriented office manager for XYZ Company
Or you might go with the ever-popular "three reasons" headline: Three reasons I may be the office manager you are looking for
3. Use bold face for key concepts in the body of the letter. One way to do this is to bold the first sentence in each paragraph. Another way is to choose a key phrase in each paragraph. You don't want to do too many, because that would defeat the whole purpose. The idea is to make the important information grab the employer's attention right away.
4. Use bullets or a numbered list. This simple device is popular on the web and in magazines for good reason. It promises good information that can be quickly gleaned. If you've got five indispensable qualifications or three key experiences, list them out.
5. Specifically ask for the interview. Your cover letter is no time to be shy or indirect. You need to ask specifically for what you want. "Please call me at (555) 555-1212 to schedule an interview." Or you might say, "If I haven't heard from you this week, I will call you at 10 a.m. Friday morning to arrange an interview."
6. Use a P.S. Studies have found that people will read a post script, often before anything else. It's your last, best chance to get some essential piece of your message across. It may be your call to action -- the request for an interview. It may be scheduling information "I'll be at the National Relevant Industry Trade Show this weekend and will be back Tuesday."
These simple changes in your resume cover letter will help your application package stand out from the mass of gray and lifeless resumes that cascade onto the employer's desk every morning. Your letter will show your respect for the employer's time and your understanding of business communications. By using these simple solutions -- modified for your situation, of course -- you will propel yourself past the great majority of your competitors.