Job Cover Letters: A Few Tips for Success

Job cover letters can make you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Most people don’t give any thought to their cover letters and spend all their time on their resumes. Considering the fact that the cover letter is the first impression that your potential employers get of your ability to fulfill the job duties, you should spend the majority of your time working on your cover letter. Here are a few tips that you can add to any cover letter to increase your chances of getting the interview.

Tip #1 – Treat your cover letter like a first date

This may sound a bit weird, but thinking about it this way will help you frame your cover letter in the right way. If you go on a first date and just talk about yourself the whole time, chances are you won’t get a second date. The same is true with your cover letter. Even if you’re desperate to get a new job, you shouldn’t make the cover letter all about you and your wants.

A much better strategy is similar to what you should do on a first date – take interest in the other person. Each job cover letter you submit should be customized to the company to which you are applying. This way you can make specific references to what the company does and how display how much you know about the industry. This way you’re showing the company that you take interest in what they do and you aren’t just sending out a standard cover letter to every company.

Tip # 2 – Use a “passion” paragraph.

Too many cover letters come across as wooden and unfeeling. When an employer asks you to come in for an interview, they want to see you in person and get to know more about your personality. It’s hard to make that determination if you don’t show any of your personality coming through your cover letter. Although you shouldn’t get overly casual in your letter, don’t be afraid to show your passion for their business, this particular job and working in general.

Your passion paragraph can really make your resume memorable. When you think about how many resumes a hiring manager receives for any given job it becomes clear that you need to show some personality through your letter. A passion paragraph does exactly that for you and gives you some personality that your potential employer can remember you by.

Tip #3 – Emphasize the highlights of your resume

Many cover letter writers make the mistake of providing an overview of their entire resume. This isn’t the purpose of the cover letter. Your cover letter should read like a “best of” album and only cover the “hits.” Those “hits” should be directly related to the nature of your potential new job. This means that if you’re applying for a sales job you shouldn’t bring up your experience working as a receptionist, or vice versa.

These tips will help you craft an interesting and memorable job cover letter that shows the employer exactly what you can do for them.

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