In at least one point of our lives, we will have to look for a job and apply for one, ask for funding for an important project, or ask for assistance in any mode or form. With today’s businesses having more concerns, and with today’s companies and prospective donors becoming ever busier, anyone in need of help has to be more polite and persuasive.

One way to grab attention is to write a cover letter – and the best way to stand out among all the other piles of requests and applications is to write a cover letter that will grab the recipient’s attention immediately.

How do you write that attention-grabbing cover letter? Before you set pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, you have to answer the following questions:

What is your goal? Are you applying for a job that you want? Are you asking for funding for a research project that needs to move forward? Are you looking for a deal that will ensure a company commercial exposure? Let this goal guide you in writing that cover letter. All language embellishments and good grammar aside, a cover letter will grab attention only if its goal is firmly and completely established.

How well do you know the company that you are applying to? If you are a job applicant, do you know the company’s goals and objectives? Do you know exactly what duties you will have once you take on that job?

If you are applying for funding for your research, are your research goals in line with the company’s goals? If you want to give the company commercial exposure, will your event ensure that the company’s prospective market will be present?

Know the company first before writing that cover letter. Remember, these companies do not care what you know. They want to know that you care about them first.

Do you have all the supplementary materials? Do you have your resume for that job application, the details about your research or company activity? The cover letter has to cover something – and that something has to be well written and complete.

Once you have answered all the questions, then you can start writing your cover letter. To write the best letter, follow these tips.

Address your letter to the person most concerned with its contents. Do your research, and never start that letter with “To whom it may concern.” This shows that you are not interested in the company you are contacting – and if you don’t show interest, why should the company show interest in you.

Be polite but brief. Introduce yourself, and provide only relevant information. State the purpose of the letter and the attachments in as few words as possible. Do not go beyond two paragraphs in stating your purpose, and keep your letter to one page. Remember that you are only one in a pile of thousands, and the person concerned has to sift through thousands of letters a day. The shorter the letter, the faster it will catch attention.

Provide all your contact information, and make sure that all the information you state is correct.

Sign your name above your printed name. This shows that you are personally taking care of your correspondences, and not sending letters out randomly.

Print your cover letter on clean paper, and make sure that it is neat. First impressions count, even in paper correspondences.

So, if you want to get that job, if you want your project to push through, and if you want to move forward in your career, write that great cover letter to go along with your documents. It might just be your ticket to a better job, a good project, and stardom, no matter where in the business world you may stand.