Cover Letter Resource Packet (Page 14 of 15) in pdf

SUMMARY

The c over l etter g ives t he w riter a n o pportunity t o s how e ffective w ritten c ommunication a bilities. I f

you t hink o f t he c over l etter a s a “ sales” l etter, m uch l ike t he f und-‐raising a ppeal l etter y ou n o d oubt

have h ad c ross y our m ailbox a t o ne p oint o r a nother, i t b ecomes e asier t o w rite. Y ou m ust t hink o f

yourself a s t he “ product”. Y our o bjective t o i s t o g enerate a n a ction, i n t his c ase f or t he r eader t o f eel

interested e nough t o w ant t o r ead y our r esume.

Some c areer p rofessionals a nd r ecruiters t ell u s t hat o nly c over l etters i ncluded i n t he b ody o f t he e mail

will b e r ead. O thers s ay t hey a re l ess l ikely t o o pen B OTH a c over l etter a ttachment a nd a r esume,

instead t hey o nly o pen t he r esume, s o s ome s ay m ake t he c over l etter t he f irst p age o f t he r esume. T he

risk h ere h owever, m ight b e h aving t o c ondense y our r esume t oo m uch s o y ou d on’t g o o ver t wo p ages,

or o f h aving a r ecruiter s ee t he u nfamiliar f ormat o f a l etter i nstead o f a r esume a nd t oss y our r esume

out b ecause t hey d idn’t s ee w hat t hey e xpected r ight a way.

Finally, m ake s ure y our c over l etter i s f lawless. P ROOFREAD! T hen p roofread a gain. H ave a nother

person r ead i t t o m ake s ure i t c onveys i nformation c learly a nd c oncisely. M ake s ure y ou h ave s pelled

the c ompany n ame c orrectly A ND s pelled t he n ame o f t he h iring m anager c orrectly. M any f orgive t he

occasional t ypo, b ut g etting t he c ompany n ame a nd c ompany c ontact w rong i s u nforgiveable!

There a re t housands o f e xcellent r esources o n t he i nternet o n w riting e ffective c over l etters. Y ou’ll e ven

find s ome c ompanies t hat a llow y ou t o p lug i n i nformation w hile t heir s oftware c reates a n icely c rafted

cover l etter f or y ou. S till, i t’s a lways b est i f y our c over l etter r eflect t he r eal y ou. T his i s t he o pportunity

to s howcase n ot o nly y our s kills, b ut y our p assion a bout t he f ield o f w ork y ou h ope t o d o. E mployers

may g o t o y our L inkedIn p rofile o r y our F acebook p age t o s ee m ore a bout y ou t hese d ays, b ut t here w ill

always b e s ome h iring m anagers w ho g et a s ense f or w ho y ou a re f rom w hat y ou w rite!

Cover Letter Resource Packet Page 14