Mika W 's Guide to a Killer Cover Letter

Recently I was flipping through a reader’s digest magazine and came across this on the magazine's at work joke section:

“My friend had been pounding the pavement in search of a job with no luck. Frustrated, she asked her dad to look at her resume. He didn’t get much further than the first line of her cover letter before spotting the problem.

“Is it too generic?” she asked.

“I doubt it,” said her father.

“Especially since it’s addressed ‘Dear Sir or Madman.’” (Melanson 41)

Humor aside a cover letter plays an important part in landing that job of a life time. Your prospective employer will see hundreds of cover letters, perhaps for just one opening. So you have to make your cover letter stand out. Think of your cover letter as a piece of advertisement that will help sell your product. Put yourself in the employer’s position, would you want to meet the person who wrote the cover letter? Would you feel that they are right for the job?

To make your cover letter stand out -

• Make a good first impression – Your cover letter will serve as a sample of your writing skills for the prospective employer.
  
• Provide space between the introduction, body and the concluding paragraphs. Use simple typeface and limit your writing to a page.
  
• List your job, education and other experiences from present to past - focus on the value you added and the skills you gained. Draw out any examples of creativity, problem solving or entrepreneurialism.
  
• Include ex-curricular activities and interests to give a rounded view. Employers are looking for people, not just a set of qualifications and work experience.
  
• Have a friend or colleague read the cover letter too. Check for spelling errors, grammar and sentence structure.
  

Remember that a good cover letter will be well presented and skillfully crafted. If you invest the time, follow the guidelines I provided and use the information in following the YouTube video you will be able to deliver an engaging cover letter.


Reference:

Melanson, Giselle. "@ work ." Reader's Digest Jan. 2009: pg 41. Print.

Bobrin, Sidney, Christopher Keller, and Christian Weisser. Technical Communication in the 21st Century. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2008.