1. Keep it brief. Your resume is the document that conveys your qualifications, therefore your cover letter need not go on and on about how wonderful you are.
2. Remember it serves a purpose. It is announcing you – and your enclosed information, your resume.
3. Tell them what you’re doing: I’m applying for the position of… Enclosed is my resume for the position of …
4. Clearly state what position you’re applying for. Don’t assume the Human Resources person will automatically know what job you want or that they only have one opening.
5. Highlight a few of your strong suits. Although brevity is the key here, you don’t want to merely say, “Here’s my resume. Bub Bye.”
6. Don’t be redundant with contact information. All that pertinent information should be on your resume.
7. Don’t staple your cover letter to your resume. Often photocopies need to be made and it just frustrates the person making the copies to have to remove your staples. Use a paperclip if you feel the need to attach it; else just send it on top of your resume.
8. Typos. That’s an obvious one. It’s hard to proof your own work. Find one other person to give both your cover letter and resume a glance over. You’re dead in the water if your cover letter has misspellings, poor grammar or typos.
Below is a same letter you can use as a guide:
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Date
Human Resources, COMPANY NAME HERE
RE: NAME OF VACANT POSITION
Enclosed please find my resume’. I am very much interested in working with you as your POSITION TITLE. As you will see from my enclosed resume’ I am qualified in a variety of areas. (Or I am uniquely qualified for this position because of my vast experience in …). My college degrees are in Business Administration with a minor in Management. I have spent the last two decades performing INSERT SIMILAR RESPONSIBILITIES.
I am anxious to discuss this opportunity with you further.
Respectfully,
Your Name
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You as can see, the above cover letter is short and to the point. It serves a purpose of prefacing your resume. Don’t waste your time going on and on and on. It will not get read. As it stands, you have a 50/50 chance that anyone will even read your cover letter. Are you willing to take 50% odds that it will be read, only to have a lousy cover letter that will essentially hinder your resume from consideration? Follow the above simple steps and you’ll make a great first impression. Of course, it’s up to you to have knowledge, skills and abilities to back it; but at least you’re starting off right!