Friday, June 22, 2007

How Your Cover Letter Gets You the Job

The thing about first professional impressions is that it is not always visual. Preceding your face to face encounter with the human resource representative or anyone in charge of screening applicants is your cover letter. It is quite ironic that few people pay close attention to this piece of paper which pretty much determines whether they will be considered for interview or if their resumes will merit perusal of the busy person who is screening various cover letters like yours.

Cover letters are for mind-setting. You do not really need a psychology degree to make a lasting impression. A well-written cover letter will precede you, give you an inherent good impression and erase all your inhibitions. If you are able to pull off the writing of your cover letter with flair, you can definitely expect pools of job offers to come your way. This is for real, and you got to give it a try. The only way you can talk your way into getting the job is by means of selling yourself well in your cover letter.

Excellent cover letters which produce job offers to applicants highlights best qualities of the applicant. If you want your cover letter to lead you to getting hired, you need to fire it up with your good qualities. Be careful not to overdo this, however. You will have to be able to catch up with whatever image you are painting in your cover letter. If you place there that you are punctual and speedy, you must be able to deliver that promise. Make sure that you are selling yourself but not going beyond true facts about yourself.

In a way, the cover letter is a way of introducing yourself to the company or the person who will be reviewing your application. This is very vital. It is like shaking hands with a stranger for the first time. The even crucial fact is that you must leave that stranger impressed and confident of your capabilities. Your cover letter must be polished, no grammatical errors whatsoever and having the best quality of paper you can afford. Make it as pristine as possible, concise and with neat spaces that communicated utmost professionalism. Remember, until you see your interviewer face to face, the only thing they will remember are the things in your cover letter.

Your cover letter is also the usher for your resume. Yes, you may have worked hard to make your resume as meaty and impressive as possible, but if your cover letter is badly written, your resume might go ignored. The cover letter is the very first thing that the person will read in your application details. It is the usher that paves the way to your more specific resume details. If you are not able to pull this off effectively, you will find yourself at the losing end.

Generally, the best jobs are most sought after. Many applicants will most likely be vying for that job. In a way, you will be competing against all the other applicants for this position. It is, at least in the beginning of the application process, a battle of the cover letters. Yours must stand out and show out your very best facets. In this aspect, you can never afford to be mediocre with your approach. You must always give your cover letter your best shot, because it does not just cover your resume, but it defines if you are going to be hired or not.