How to Create Your Cover Letter, Part 3 Print E-mail


Begin Your Letter with a To-the-Point First Paragraph

The following starter paragraph, customized with specifics relevant to your opportunity, is a great way to begin your letter.

I am writing to introduce myself and to apply to the JOB TITLE position currently open within your company. Your organization's focus on FILL IN A BRIEF STATEMENT ABOUT ITS PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND MISSION is of high interest to me, and a good fit for my career focus and background. Following is a summary of my qualifications as they pertain to your position requirements:

Additionally, if you have the name of a mutual acquaintance who has referred you, the first paragraph is the ideal place to include this information.

List Three Bullets Highlighting the Most Important Aspects of Your Background

For the main part of your cover letter, choose three pieces of information about you that are most relevant to the company's priorities, and highlight them with bullets. Often, you can determine its primary needs from the job ad, or based on your own knowledge of the position. For instance, let's say that the position description listed, "Experience supporting customers in a fast-paced environment." In response, you could include a bullet such as this:

Regarding my ability to support customers in a fast-paced environment, my background includes five years of successful experience providing quality customer service in high-pressure situations. Feedback from my customers and management team about my results in this area has been excellent, including consistently earning top ratings on my performance reviews, and receiving numerous letters of appreciation from the customers I have supported.

Worried about choosing the "right" three points to cover with your bullet statements? Try not to sweat this step too much. Just pick the three that you feel are most important, and resist the urge to address everything about your background in the cover letter. It's too much for the hiring manager or resume screener to wade through! (Never lose sight of the fact that screeners might be reviewing 100 or more applications...make their jobs easy for them!) Instead, aim to "tease" the reader with a few highlights and then refer them to your resume for more details.


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