A cover letter is going to present you. It must be written in a manner to sell and market you to a prospective employer. Do not ever take a cover letter as something to be prepared very quickly.
If you don’t have a previous cover letter then takes a sample from internet to make the job easier. Start by customizing your cover letter.
Check your contact information. Before sending out your cover letter make sure your contact information is up-to-date and valid.
Address your cover letter to the right person. Here you have to write company’s name and address, phone number and a person you are sending the cover letter to. Usually it is a hiring manager or HR specialist. This information should be available in job posting. If there is no contact information do your best to find this information on the internet.
Write in the body. Usually the body consists of 3 to 4 paragraphs. Paragraph 1 consists of mainly three to four skills that are relevant to the job posting. Details of these skills are provided in paragraph 2 and 3. Here you have to give more details and relate them to the job you apply to. Conclusion is paragraph 4. Here you just summarize what you said in the first 3 paragraphs.
This is just a structure of a cover letter. Please remember that the aim of your cover letter is to promote you and thus attract attention to you. To help it work please note the following.
You will have to spend a certain amount of time writing your cover letter. Never ever be in a hurry of doing that; it just doesn’t work. Imagine that you are working on some report your boss gave you. You are attentive and serious about that because you are just doing your job.
Try not to repeat information from your resume. Hiring managers will not be interested in your resume after reading cover letter. Why should they waste their time to read the same information? This will give them a different vision of you, a vision you don’t want actually.
Never ever use the same cover letter for different job postings. You will have to adjust cover letter each and every time you apply for a new job. Adjust your skills, body paragraphs etc. Making it more personalized will for sure select you out of pile.
If you hesitate or unsure about your cover letter it would be a good idea to consult local career or community center.
Good luck!
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