The cover letter is sometimes called a job application letter. Whatever the name, it should always accompany your resume and should always be a personal letter. Don't send your resume without sending a cover letter with it. The cover letter is a personal piece of communication, addressed to someone; a resume is not. The letter is therefore slightly more likely to be read, judged and passed to someone else who is looking for a worker like you.
Address the recipient by name if you can, not by title only. Don't write, "Dear Sir or Madam" or "Dear Dr. Morrison." If necessary, call and ask the name, the spelling and the preferred courtesy title (Mr., Ms., Miss, Mrs.) of the person you are writing to. That is much better than a guess. Anything you can do to get your letter to a person capable of hiring you is worthwhile. Otherwise, your effort-and your chances of getting hired-could go in the waste basket along with ads, announcements and appeals for contributions to the Tricycle Hall of Fame.
What Should Go in Your Cover Letter
When the personnel officers of the Fortune 500 companies were asked to agree or disagree with statements about cover letters, here's what they strongly agreed on:
- Good grammar and correct spelling are essential. (97 per cent agreed)
- The tone of a letter of application is important. (90 percent agreed)
- Letters of application are welcomed even though there are no jobs open at the time. (89 percent agreed)
- The cover letter and the resume should be typewritten. (88 percent agreed)
- Letters of application should include a reason why the applicant is interested in the particular job. (81 percent agreed)
They also turned thumbs down on catchy first sentences in letters of application. ("Dear Mr. White: Your company can survive without me but not very well!") The survey of 200 college recruiters and 25 communications teachers revealed that:
- Most cover letters are quickly evaluated-only those that put across the writer's strong points quickly are fully evaluated.
- Cover letters are usually scanned or retrieved when new jobs open.
- Cover letters should be one page.
- Spelling errors.
- Poor grammar.
- Poor organization.
- Little evidence of performance level.
- Abilities not matched to company needs.
- Over-emphasis of applicant's needs. ("I am the best so I require your top salary.")
In most cases, a cover letter has to be only three paragraphs long.
The First Paragraph:
State what position you are applying for, and if appropriate, how you found out about it. ("I am applying for the position of programming analyst, advertised in the most recent issue of Computer Tech News.")
The Second Paragraph
This is your "highlights" paragraph. You tell why you are especially suited for the position and what particular talents or experience you have that makes you a good candidate. ("I have an associate degree in programming and two years' experience in programming for an engineering firm.")
The Third Paragraph
This is usually the closing paragraph. Tell the reader that you would like an interview and make it easy for her or him to give you an interview. One way to do this is to offer to set up the appointment. For example, say that you will call a few days after the letter arrives to ask for an appointment. Then make that call.
