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Cover letter writing is almost
as important a skill for a job seeker to learn as resume writing.
The cover letter accompanies the resume at all times as the primary
support document. Whether you use traditional mail, email, faxing,
or another type of electronic submission, a cover letter should
always be sent with the resume. There are, of course, other tools
you’ll use when job seeking. Your cover letter and resume come
first of course, followed by follow-up letters, thank-you letters
for after the interview, reference sheets, salary histories, and job
acceptance letters. If you have good cover letter writing skills,
and good resume writing skills, the other written tools should be a
snap to compose.
Your goal in cover letter
writing is to get the attention of the hiring manager, just as it is
with resume writing. The method and format are a little different
however. Your resume will cover all, or most of your professional
career, and will be from one to two pages. Your cover letter will
be a very brief page serving as an introduction to the resume.
Cover letter writing style must be direct, to the point, and able to
grab the attention of the reader quickly, with a goal of making the
reader want to read the attached resume.
Many people, when engaged in
cover letter writing, have a tendency to say too much. Good cover
letter writing is short and punchy, and will take two or three key
points from the resume and emphasize them. The old adage “tell them
what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what
you told them” holds true in both resume writing and cover letter
writing.
As an example, let’s assume that you are a
materials handling manager for a defense contractor, seeking another
position. In your line of work the buzz words are MRP, lean
manufacturing, ISO 9000, and cost savings. Your cover letter
writing efforts should reflect these buzz words to show your value
to your current employer and any future employers. Your resume will
go into more detail about how you accomplished these goals. The
cover letter will simply point out to the hiring manager that you
accomplished them. An example of this would be two bulleted
paragraphs in the body of the cover letter that say….
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Experienced in quality
assurance and quality control, MRP, ISO 9000, QS 9000, and Lean
Manufacturing.
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Demonstrated results in saving
significant money for employers through cost savings, inventory
level reductions, and on-time supplier delivery.
The hiring manager, according to
many surveys, devotes only about fifteen seconds to each resume and
cover letter he or she reviews. With that in mind your cover letter
writing skills need to be top notch to get this person to look at
your resume. Your resume writing skills need to be just as good to
get the reader to want to grant you an interview. In turn, your
interviewing skills need to be excellent to get the hiring manager
to offer you the position. This long, and hopefully positive chain
of events begins with good cover letter writing skills and ends with
job satisfaction and a nice paycheck. |
