Cover Letter Design - Joplin Business Department



Cover Letter Design

Get advice from professional resume writers on how to design cover letters.

Formatting Your Cover Letter

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by [pic] - The Net's Premier Resume Writing and Editing Service

Because a cover letter is your first chance to make a lasting impression with a hiring manager, it must be professional. To accomplish this:

1. Always use the same heading for your cover letter that you have used in your resume.

2. Whenever possible, use the hiring manager's name. This personalizes the document and shows attention to detail.

3. Include in your opening paragraph what job you're interested in and a specific reason as to why you feel qualified for this position.

4. Include in the body of the letter the specific experience, skills or accomplishments from your past that dovetail with the requirements of the new job. This data should be bulleted, rather than presented in a solid block of text. The human eye is drawn to bulleted areas, and they provide the data in an easy-to-read format, so that the hiring manager can digest the information from one sentence before moving on to the others.

Examples of bulleted areas follow:

As my enclosed resume indicates, my background includes more than two decades of service at US Flight with significant experience in:

• Aircraft accident investigation as a member of the US Flight disaster team.

• Security checkpoints, where I handled countless calls for assistance.

• Training the Ground Security team to protect and promote public safety.

In addition to the above skills, I can also offer your firm:

• More than 30 years of experience in the airline industry.

• Expertise in dealing with government agencies, including the FAA where I facilitated communications to reduce company fines.

• Reduced absenteeism and occupational injuries -- standards I maintained at US Flight, where I achieved the best employee safety record of all US Flight cities.

5. If the letter is being addressed to a specific hiring manager, close your letter proactively indicating that you will be contacting the hiring manager's office within the next week to see if you might set up a time to meet.

Sending Your Cover Letter by "Snail" Mail

With today's technology, most resumes and cover letters are sent as attachments via email. However, if you have reason to send your cover letter and resume by "snail" mail, the documents should be printed on good bond paper (20 lbs.) with a watermark. Choose a color that evokes professionalism; the best choices are white or cream, though a light gray can also be considered.

Cover Letter Makeover

Dramatically improve the effectiveness of your resume cover letters with helpful tips from a career expert.

I, Me, My -- A Cover Letter Makeover

by Kevin Donlin

Since your cover letter is written by you and for the job that you want, it may seem natural spend a lot of time talking about you and your skills/qualifications.

Unfortunately, this often produces myopic (or "I-opic") cover letters...and poor results.

Remember that all employers listen to the same radio station: WII-FM. That stands for "What's In It For Me?"

To stand out from a stack of cover letters, yours must focus less on you and more on the results you can deliver.

If you do nothing else, try replacing the words "I", "me" and "my" with "you" wherever possible. This will put the emphasis back where it belongs -- on the employer and his/her problems.

Here's a before-and-after example of an actual cover letter. Note the number of times "I" and "my" appear:

"I am enclosing my resume for your review because I am very interested in obtaining a full-time position as an Investment Banking Analyst at Ace Financial.

"I am well qualified for this position. In addition to the strong quantitative and analytical skills I have developed as an undergraduate economics major and in my work experience, I have a proven ability to stay focused for long hours under pressure."

There are five instances of "I" and two of "my."

Now, here's that same cover letter, revised to focus more on the reader:

"I am applying for the position of Investment Banking Analyst where my combination of economics training and high-tech experience will add value to your operations. Please consider the following:

"You will gain from my strong financial background, which includes a recent bachelor's degree in economics, coupled with experience researching and trading securities as a successful investor (resulting in returns of 200%)."

Just one "I" and two "mys" -- a 57% reduction. With "you" and "your" thrown in twice for good measure.

Replacing "I" with "you" is an old advertising trick that's worked for decades. (Read any good advertisement and you'll always find "you" and "your" sprinkled liberally throughout.) And what's your cover letter? Essentially, it's an advertisement for your résumé...which is an advertisement for you.

So follow the rules of the world's most successful advertising copywriters. Focus on "you," the reader, to dramatically improve the effectiveness of your cover letters.

Best of luck to you!

Kevin Donlin owns and operates Guaranteed Resumes. Since 1995, he has provided resumes, cover letters and online job-search assistance to clients. This article and hundreds like it on topics ranging from networking to resume writing to finding internships also appear in The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need, a self-help job guide.

Cover Letter Strategies

Use six strategies recommended by a career expert to improve the effectiveness of your resume cover letters.

Cover Letter Strategies

by Kevin Donlin

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.

1. 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."

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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."

5. 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.

6. 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.

Best of luck to you!

Kevin Donlin owns and operates Guaranteed Resumes. Since 1995, he has provided resumes, cover letters and online job-search assistance to clients. This article and hundreds like it on topics ranging from networking to resume writing to finding internships also appear in The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need, a self-help job guide.

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