A good resume is a cover letter in disguise. In order to make the best impression with your prospective employer, you need to make sure that your letter gets read.
One mistake that many people make when writing a cover letter is not including the resume portion of the letter. Although you may be well aware of the importance of a strong resume, it’s often hard to catch the attention of the person who is reading your letter.
Another thing that you should do is to have your resume and your cover letter appear in sequence. This way, the letter gets to the point first and gets your readers to read your resume before they move on to the next paragraph. Some resumes are formatted to automatically place the letter at the beginning of the resume.
Your letter should be written as simply as possible. To make sure that your letter can stand out from the rest, make sure you include:
A very brief and concise sentence to introduce yourself. Make sure that your letter is short and simple and doesn’t clutter up the reader’s eyes with unnecessary information.
A detailed introduction of what you are looking for in a job, how you would provide this, and why you deserve the job. It is important to remember that your goal is to catch the attention of the reader, so if you’re too specific in this section, then your reader will get distracted.
Provide as much information as you can about the position that you are applying for, and what your qualifications are for the position. Let the reader know that you have what it takes to meet the expectations of the company.
End with a small list of accomplishments you’ve achieved in the past and tell the reader how you feel you can contribute to the success of the company. Some employers might not even look at your resume unless they find something on your letter that clearly states that you have the skills that the company is looking for.
Finally, your letter needs to demonstrate to the reader why you should be hired. If you are not writing this letter to land the job, then your cover letter needs to create a reason to the employer why they should hire you.
So if you’re going to write a cover letter for a position you are not applying for, you need to ensure that your letter communicates a positive message about you. If you don’t, then the employer might not even bother to read your letter.
A good cover letter template will help you in this regard. These templates are usually easy to use and can help you produce a highly effective cover letter without being overly specific about your own needs or skills.
Make sure that you use the template properly, and don’t just copy the template word for word. Also, make sure that you understand the letter so that you know what the cover letter template is trying to communicate.
Modern Cover Letter Templates | Free to Download | Resume Genius
Le Marais Free Modern Cover Letter Template for Word (DOCX
120+ Free Cover Letter Templates | MS Word Download | Resume Genius