(From CollegeGrad.com)
A basic cover letter formula
1. Standard business letter format
2. Salutation
3. 1st paragraph: Why are you writing?
4. 2nd paragraph: State two or three skills
5. 3rd paragraph: Close the sale. Be specific about follow up
A successful cover letter should be specific and personal. It should be clean, yet not mass generated.
Each letter should refer to a specific person at a specific company and provide a specific next step that you will be taking.
It usually requires a proactive response on your part to move the process forward. The “squeaky wheel theory” is alive and
well in the employment market place. If you wait for your resume and cover letter to magically produce results, you will likely
find yourself buried underneath reams of other resumes. Be the one who stands out.
The cover letter should cover two important points:
1) What your “product” (you) can do for your “customer” (the company to which you are applying)
2) What your “customer” will need to do to buy your “products.”
If that sounds like marketing mumbo-jumbo, please consider that most marketing people miss that point. They spend time telling about themselves and their great “product” when they really should be concentrating on how it will benefit the “customer.”
If you have no idea how you can benefit that “customer,” then you may be wasting everyone’s time (including your own) in even attempting a reasonable job search. You will most certainly fail any interview. Go back to square one and start over.
If you are uncertain what differentiates you from the rest of the market, find out! Research your background and make note of the areas in which you excel. And make that your number one focus in writing a cover letter. |
