Job Cover Letter, Doing It Right
By Teresa Brashear
A lot of people spend time on making good resumes so that the reader is impressed with their skills and offers them a job. But such generic applications fail to make an impact. Most companies are tired of looking at a good resume and short listing the candidate only to find that the person has no passion for the job. This is where a job cover letter can be put to use.
Non verbal communication
The job cover letter is the best way to show your passion and the best form of non verbal communication. People think that before they meet the hiring manager how is it possible to impress them with their interest in the job. This can be done with a well drafted job cover letter which can be attached with an optimal resume to create that extra impact.
Win your Interviewer with your Job Cover Letter
How do you define a job cover letter?
The job cover letter denotes much more than your introduction and basic information regarding the reference of the source and so on. It is the way you use the words that will convey your thoughts in a pleasant manner. While it is nice to mention your skills and what makes you different from other applicants but it is also important that you don’t impose arrogantly.
Confidence is good but over confidence can be fatal sometimes. One needs to always ensure that the message goes out in a balanced way in a job cover letter.
Categories of job cover letters
There are various purposes served by a job cover letter. Someone who has been hunting for a job for long will write mails of enquiry or for seeking information from various prospective companies. This is a type of a job cover letter. Some are attached with resumes being sent as a reply to an advertisement or job opening mail.
There are many reasons and every document that you attach with your resume for any reason must be well defined. You must put your best foot forward to impress the reader.
Beginning with Greetings
A job cover letter has a specific format you need to follow. Whether you are sending a hard copy of your resume or writing an email to apply for the job, a correct greeting is very important. While some may feel that the reader concentrates only on the matter, they are wrong.
As cover letter writer service says: “Any reader will first read the greeting even if it is a ‘Hi’. But in this case, writing ‘Hi’ is inappropriate. Ideally a job cover letter should begin with ‘Dear Sir/Madam’. In most cases, you may not know the name of the interviewer or the person you are addressing the job cover letter to. Thus Sir/Madam is always a safe alternative.” Many job cover letters may begin with ‘to whom it may concern’. However, this kind of greeting must match with the scenario. A good professional cover letter will always have an appropriate greeting or salutation.
Application with Recommendation
Many times you might have some contact or ex-colleague who refers you to a particular company and the job opening there. Even though you already have a link with the organization through the person who recommended you, but it is essential that you still forward your own resume and also a job cover letter along with it.
A recommendation does not mean that you walk in and are selected immediately. You just need to go through the same procedure again. The only difference between this and a regular job cover letter is that here you will mention the name of the person who has recommended you. Also in this case the job cover letter must be as impressive as any other, since you have not yet been selected for the post just because you have a recommendation.
Cover Letter Templates
You can find quite good cover letter templates that are available on the internet. You could use professional services for writing a cover letter too as they will be able to perfectly help you with every type of sample at a very nominal fee. You could use any of these templates to guide you. The use of templates is highly recommended in the resume tips 2019. It is as important as getting a resume template when writing a professional cover letter.
What Differentiates a Job Cover Letter from a Resume?
Many people tend to make a mistake of trying to copy paste things that are mentioned in their resume in their job cover letter. Both the documents are different and cater to different needs. You must try and portray personal attributes and some other special skills that are not present in the resume while drafting a job cover letter. It is also a platform to show your interest in the profile.
Ideally one must try and emphasize on the fact that the profile matches your interest and how you match to the requirement. If you can manage to create a perfect balance of words in your job cover letter to describe your interest, it is half the battle won.
How to conclude your Job cover Letter?
Thus, every applicant must understand that just like resume formatting, one must take care that the job cover letter is also formatted well. Every minute detail, the exact format, the use of salutations, words and content must be taken into consideration while drafting it to get the best cover letter for you. It is a very important piece of document and must be taken seriously as it can get you your dream job with just a little extra effort.
Also if you are planning to send the application by email, then this document can be placed above the resume or can be mentioned in short in the text body. In this case the text body must be drafted properly to serve the purpose right to present the job cover letter in the best way.
AUTHOR BIO: Teresa Brashear grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from California State University. She spent seven years working in Washington, D.C. in PR agency and moved back in LA. Now she is HR-manager in IT company, successful writer and mom. When she isn’t glued to a laptop screen, she spends free time working in the garden, learning French and Chinese, and trying to be good volleyball player in amateur team.