A Fine Howdy-DoA cover letter introduces you, and your résumé, to an employer. Here’s how to look sharp. Bob Lankard |
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 [ 2009-11-06 ] |
Contrast that with a hasty, name-only exchange: “Bob, this is Jim.” Where to begin?
A good cover letter is just like a great introduction. The employer will feel they know the person whose résumé they are about to read. If you’re the type of jobseeker who sends the same cover letter to every employer, chances are you are guilty of a hasty, dead-end introduction of yourself. An uninspiring cover letter is likely to leave a potential employer inclined to move on to the next candidate.
One way to ensure your résumé will be read is to establish common ground with the employer. This can usually be done in the first or second paragraphs of the cover letter. Common ground allows the employer to feel comfortable about hiring you.
For example, a jobseeker might explain how he or she learned of the job opening in the cover letter’s first paragraph.
You could write, “My uncle, Don Jones, who works in your shipping department, told me of the billing clerk opening.” Suddenly, you are no longer an anonymous person. The employer now associates you with Don, a valued company employee who told you about the opening.
The jobseeker might go on to explain why he or she wants to work for this company in the second paragraph. This is also a good “common ground” moment.
One way to establish common ground here is to mention any prior contact you may have had with the hiring authority.
For example, you might say, “I delivered your newspaper two years ago,” or “I was on the wrestling team with your son, Randy.”
Other ways to establish common ground would be to say you have heard good things about working for the company from current employees or to tell the employer you are a long-time satisfied customer of the company.
An effective cover letter writer uses the requirements for the job as an outline for paragraph three.
This paragraph should be devoted to showing how the jobseeker meets these requirements. For each requirement write one sentence explaining your qualifications. Use some of the same key words or phrases from the job listing in your third paragraph.
The cover letter also should highlight information in the résumé that applies to this job opening without parroting back the same words.
A cover letter can include worker qualities that somehow do not fit into a résumé. If the ad says a company is looking for a dependable worker you might tell the employer that you did not miss any school during high school. Let’s say as a college student, I sold lamps door to door.
If I wrote in my résumé, “I sold lamps door to door,” who would that impress? Now, what if I said, “As a door to door salesman I sold 25 lamps per week”? Some employer might see me as a potential salesperson.
Presenting your accomplishments is nearly always more powerful and effective if you can quantify your achievements. Tell me specifically the number of widgets you were able to turn out in a day. Or that you increased sales 12 per cent in one quarter.
It seems obvious that the jobseeker should request an interview toward the end of a cover letter. However, I have read cover letters that never get around to requesting an interview or they do so in a very weak, passive manner.
In your cover letters, be proactive. Say that you will call the employer to request an interview or spell out your availability for phone calls or interviews.
It is important that your cover letter be free of spelling, grammatical and typing errors. Employers conclude that the person who sends a cover letter with errors will be careless on the job.
You needn’t be an English teacher or a writer to be a good proofreader. After you have written your cover letter to your satisfaction take a break. Come back to the letter later, or the next day. You’re more likely to notice errors after getting away from it for a while.
Another technique is to read your letter aloud. This will help alert you to possible errors in grammar and sentences that are clumsily worded.
The final test is to have someone else read your letter. When it sounds perfect, it probably is.
Are you aware of substance abuse in your workplace?