The Purpose of the Cover Letter

Before you can expect to write an effective cover letter, you must understand its purpose. Without a clear understanding of what this letter is intended to accomplish, chances are it will be poorly designed, vague, and totally ineffective. On the other hand, understanding the purpose of this letter is truly paramount to maximizing its impact and effectiveness.

What is the purpose of the cover letter? What is it intended to do?

Well, first and foremost, it is a business letter used to transmit your resume to a prospective employer. So, it is a business transmittal letter. Second, it is a letter of introduction. It is used not only to transmit your resume but also to introduce you and your background to the employer. Third, and importantly, it is a sales letter, intended to convince the prospective employer that you have something valuable to contribute and that it will be worth the employer's time to grant you an interview.



To summarize, then, the purpose of a cover letter is:

1. To serve as a business transmittal letter for your resume.
   
   
2. To introduce you and your employment credentials to the employer.
   
   
3. To generate employer interest in interviewing you.
   

Certainly, knowing that these are the three main objectives of a well-written cover letter will provide you with some basic starting points. For now, it is important to simply keep these objectives in mind as we further explore the topic of effective cover letters.

In many ways, the methodology used in conducting single-firm research is similar to that already described for industry-wide research. You will note some of these similarities as you review the following guidelines for researching the single firm.

1. Determine the firms you would like to target for individual research {firms for which you would really like to work).
   
   
2. Using industry trade publications and key newspapers (available at your local library) as well as annual reports, 10K forms, and product literature (available from the target firm's public affairs and marketing departments), thoroughly research for answers to the following questions:
   

• What is the general state of the company?
  
  
• How does it stack up against competition?
  
  
• What are the key problems and issues with which it is currently wrestling?
  
  
• What are the key barriers that must be removed in order to resolve these problems/issues?
  
  
• What knowledge, skills, and capabilities are needed to remove these key barriers?
  
  
• What are the company's strategic goals?
  
  
• What are the key changes that will need to come about for realization of these goals?
  
  
• What new knowledge, skills, and capabilities will be needed to bring about these critical changes?
  

Here, as with research of industry groupings, individual company research enables you to use the cover letter to highlight your knowledge, skills, and capabilities in areas that are of importance to the firm. In the case of individual firm research, however, there is the added advantage of being able to tailor the cover letter to target your qualifications to very specific, known needs of the employer. This can provide you with a substantial competitive advantage!

Another technique that you should employ when doing individual firm research is networking. If you don't already belong, you might consider joining specific industry or professional associations to which employees of your individual target firms belong. Using your common membership in these organizations as the basis, you can call these employees for certain inside information. Here are some questions you might consider asking:

1. Is the firm hiring people in your functional specialty?
   
   
2. Are there openings in this group now?
   
   
3. Who within the company is the key line manager (i.e., outside human resources) responsible for hiring for this group?
   
   
4. What are the key things this manager tends to look for in a successful candidate (e.g., technical knowledge, skills, style)?
   
   
5. What key problems/issues is the group currently wrestling with?
   
   
6. What kinds of skills and capabilities are they looking for to address these issues?
   
   
7. What are the major strategic changes this group is attempting to bring about?
   
   
8. What qualifications and attributes is the group seeking to help them orchestrate these strategic changes?
   

Answers to these questions can give you a tremendous competitive advantage when designing an effective cover letter and employment resume. You will have substantial ammunition for targeting and highlighting those qualifications of greatest interest to the employer. Here, you can make the most of your opportunity for successful self-marketing by focusing on the critical needs not only of the organization but of the functional hiring group as well. Clearly, this is a technique you should employ if you want to maximize your chances of getting hired!

The underlying principle behind this needs research methodology, whether industry grouping or individual company research, is that organizations are always looking for individuals who will be "value adding"-that is, individuals who can help them solve key problems and realize their strategic goals. These are the candidates who are seen as the value-adding change agents-the leaders who will help move the company ahead rather than cause it to stand still. Employer needs research that will allow you to design effective cover letters that can truly set you apart from the competition and substantially improve your chances for landing interviews.