How to Write a Strong Cover Letter - Associated Content

Are you having difficulty finding a job, earning interviews, or getting hired? If you are like most applicants, then take a look at your cover letter. Yes, cover letters are important  and necessary. I only hire candidates who submit cover letters. Why? Well, let me tell you. As a business professional, hiring manager, and person of many hats my time is limited. Cover letters give me another bit of valuable data about you before we meet. Most of the mistakes I see are easily avoided and can be lumped into three categories: Unprofessional, Inattention to detail, and Unmotivated. Do any of these categories sound flattering? I certainly do not think so. I review hundreds of applicants for each of my job postings and cover letters are great barometers of the total package.

Unprofessional

I am in the service industry and our customers expect and deserve excellence. Therefore, professionalism is a hallmark and cornerstone to our success. Your cover letter needs to reflect this characteristic or it will be filed accordingly.

1. Inappropriate email address
a. Do not use mustangsweetie@yahoo.com if you want me to contact you.
b. An inappropriate email address gives me the impression of immaturity and lack of wherewithal, both of which do not help to convey professionalism.
c. You need to create an email account specifically used for job hunting. Primarily, it is used to keep emails from getting lost in the sea of Facebook notifications and the latest offerings from your local retailer.

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3 Vital Cover Letter Tips - Associated Content

Succeeding in today's job market requires you to make all of your applications perfect. Employers receive thousands of applicants for each position, and hiring managers do not have time to go over every single word  just to see if you make a good applicant. Cover letters are part of the application, which means that you need to adhere to the following cover letter tips in order to make sure your application is acceptable.

Cover Letter Tips

• Keep it Short

Cover letters should be limited to one page for all basic cover letters (cover letters for non-executive/management jobs). This is one of the most forgotten cover letter tips - many applicants like the idea of going on and on in order to convince the employer they make a great applicant, but hiring managers rarely read every word of the cover letter and that increased length is going to scare them away.

• Keep it Limited to Important Information

Young applicants tend to overvalue their life experiences. If you are applying for a job at Microsoft, the employer doesn't care that you worked at McDonalds or that you had a blog about how cool the Zune is. They care about relevant work experience that truly makes you qualified for the role. Make sure that everything you place in your cover letter is important to the job, not just important to you.

• Follow Standard Cover Letter Tips and Setup

There was once a day where playing around with cover letter style could get you noticed. However because there are so many thousands of applicants in today's economy, it is extremely difficult to get your cover letter to stand out. Instead, the best course of action is to follow standard cover letter setup exactly as it is described. Stand out with your resume and qualifications, not your cover letter.

Utilizing Cover Letter Tips

Published by Mike Abe

As a professional copywriter, I have written over three million words in the past two years alone for clients all of the world. My extensive experience writing about job interviews, dog training, relationshi...   View profile

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