How To Write A Good Cover Letter

Many job applicants don’t know how to write cover letters and as a result fail to convert their written applications to job interviews. Knowing how to write cover letters that grab attention and maintain interest is a central job search skill.

When you apply for a job, a good cover letter must always accompany your resume when you send it to the potential employer. Ideally, an effective cover letter will be one page, concisely written and will do the following:

1. Capture the potential employer’s interest.
2. Explain your reason for applying for this position.
3. Explain broadly how you meet the selection criteria or stated job requirements.
4. State why you believe you would be the best person for the company (how you would benefit the company).
5. Inspire the employer to offer you an interview.

Write a cover letter that fits one page in maximum length. There should preferably 3 paragraphs, with the first line of each paragraph bolded. Try this out and see how professional and powerful the letter looks compared to a regular cover letter that is so plain, employers won’t even read it. Make most of the white space effect. Having lots of line breaks and double spacing between paragraphs creates a cleaner and tidy look.

Your paragraphs should be 3 to 4 lines long. In these lines, you should convey your message of wanting an actual interview. You need to separate yourself from the every other applicant that “sound” robotic (even though a cover letter is a written piece of work, try to use conversational English as much as possible, instead of sounding like you know every word in the dictionary)

It’s good to print out the letter and scan it clearly, so that you can give a clean finished appearance. You can even create a PDF file out of your word processing program, using free PDF creating software on the web. Just make sure your letter looks like it has many white spaces and professional at the same time.

Cover letters should be written in plain English using formal but simple and natural language. Use positive language and avoid any mention of negative situations in previous employment. They should be printed and proof read so that there are no errors in the document. Do not indent your paragraphs; instead, use block paragraphs with a line space in between them. Make sure there are no smudges or marks on the paper.

If you are still unsure of how to write cover a letters, there are many wonderful online resources available that can guide you in the process. The easiest way to get your killer cover letter is to use a piece of software like the Amazing Cover Letter Creator. You can literally point and click your way through, and out will come your killer cover letter – in minutes.

Avoid These Cover Letter Mistakes

If you’re going to write a cover letter you need to make it a good one to get noticed and called for an interview. There are so many applicants that you need to make sure youd don’t make any mistakes when you write your cover letter. Here are some most popular mistakes to avoid when writing a cover letter.

1. Resume re-write – Some people simply rewrite their resume as their cover letter. This is wrong for so many reasons but mainly it shows a lack of imagination. It’s boring to the reader and you will get nowhere if you make this mistake.
2. Writing informally – A cover letter doesn’t need to be boring, stuffing, or overly informal, but you’re still writing a business letter to a stranger. Make sure to keep things dignified and don’t try to be too personal with the reader.
3. Keep it short. As the general rule of thumb it’s a bad idea to keep your document overly long. Remember, your letter is one of many that employer receives on a daily basis. Competition is tough in this economy and you need to grab recruiter’s attention the second they glance at your document. No one has time to read five page life story, so keep it short, preferably no longer than one page.
4. Don’t use tiny or hard to read fonts. Use 10-point of higher. If it spills on more than one page, revise and keep it short and relevant. Also fonts should be easy on the eye and easy to read. No one has time to try to figure out what your cover letter says. If they can’t read it, there is a good chance they won’t respond.
5. Grammar – Watching your grammar is a must and you’d be amazed at how many people write cover letters full of spelling or grammar mistakes. Proof read your letter twice to make sure everything is top notch. If you have doubt in your grammar, don’t be afraid to ask your friend or two to proofread yet again and to make sure everything is correct. Seek out feedback and other people opinion in regards to your job search document.
6. Lack of research – You need to show that you know something about the organization you’re applying too, so do some research. It shows that you’re serious to include some minor facts and exhibiting that you’re familiar with the organizartion’s core values.
7. Not writing your contact information – How are you going to be called for an interview if they can’t reach you. Make sure you’re easy to find by providing several ways to get a hold of you.
8. Finally remember, each cover letter you send out should reflect the position you’re applying for. Use right keywords and match the skills to the specific job offered. Just like there are no two exact same job positions, there should not be two exact same cover letters you send out.

Jimmy Sweeney has created the amazing cover letter creator which he claims would help you quickly and easily create a cover letter in less than 4 minutes.

Click here to learn more about Jimmy Sweeney Cover Letters