Cover Letters - Are you telling them what they want to know?

Let's face it, recruiters (or employers) are smarter than we think.
Big organizations pay a hefty salary to their HR department to
filter out and sieve through hundreds and thousands of resumes.
The idea is to build an organization with people of the right
mental aptitude. Most of the top organizations believe strongly
in a motto - "People are our greatest assets". Your cover letter
goes a long way in capturing and retaining the attention of these
people whose main job is to recruit people and coordinate with the
workforce.

A well-written cover letter engages the recruiter and pushes him to
spend more time reading your detailed resume. Before you start off
writing your cover letter, write down what you want to convey on a
paper. Read it once, twice, thrice and then set off for a good
start. Pack in as much power as you can, because it is these 400
or 500 words that can make the difference.

Have these things on your mind before you start off writing:

Keep your sentences short and avoid using really long sentences
because you don't want the recruiter to read it twice to understand
what you're trying to convey. Got the point.?
"Keep your sentences s-h-o-r-t."

Keep your language simple. "I take immense pleasure in applying for
this esteemed position in this esteemed organization." Hell.! Your
employer knows more about his organization than you do. So you can
as well cut the "false" praise. Maybe a subtle mention can do
wonders. "I look forward to work with JK Industries".

Organize the content of your cover letter into small paragraphs or
bulleted points, not exceeding three paragraphs. Typically each
paragraph can contain 3 or 4 sentences.

Do NOT use slang or spoken words like "Lookin' fo a kewl break into
yo IT world".

Make sure your cover letter (and resume) is free from spelling
or grammatical errors.

And most important: Deliver what the employer is looking for.

So, what should you put in your cover letter?

Ask yourself two questions. One, why should the employer choose
you over others? And two, what can you give to the company that
others cant? Skills, yes. Proven experience, better.

A good way to start writing is with the correct greeting phrase.
If you know the name of the person you are addressing then you
can start with 'Dear Ms. Stevenson' or 'Dear Mr. Washington'.
Do not use their first names. A bad greeting would be 'Hi Jane'
or 'Hello George'.

The first paragraph is to contain a reference. If this is a
response to an advertisement or a vacancy listing, this is
where you refer to get their attention. Alternatively you
can put in a separate line mentioning your reference.
(Ref: Your advertisement on Jobsite.com - Ref # 12345).

If you're mentioning your reference in the first paragraph,
you can continue on to include why you applied for that position.
A good way of connecting the reference to your application is
"my skills and your requirement are a good match."
Put that in your own words.

In the next paragraph, you justify your statement about why you
think that your skills and the skills required for the position
are a good match. Make a single line reference to a particular
achievement in your current (or previous) job that is along
similar lines so that the employer will know exactly what he's
looking for. A good example would be "Set up a fully operational
network of franchisees in Southern France for retailing ABC Coffee".

Avoid mentioning skills you don't have or projects you have
never worked on. Because sooner or later, you're going to face it;
when the interviewer looks into your cover letter (or resume) and
says "OK, Mr. Stephens, can you give me an instance of how you can
use XML to port data from a backend system into a Middleware
application"? And that's when you mind starts racing, "XML??
Middleware?? Port..?? Is that my resume he's got..???". God bless
you if it's not your resume.

If there are more achievements you want to include, write them down
in bulleted points. It's easier for the employer to read, comprehend
and get a good picture of your capabilities. Do not reproduce your
entire resume here. 2 or 3 such points will do perfectly fine. Of
course do not include irrelevant achievements like "Won a Silver
Medal in 200 x 4 Men's Relay Race conducted by Louisville Young
Adults Club in 1991". Not unless you're applying for the post of a
Physical Trainer or Coach.

You have made your point here. You know why you're applying. And
recruiters like that. You know your responsibilities, the risks
involved and the tasks you'll be handling. You're just the person
they're looking for. At least, you're one of the persons they'd like
to talk to before handing over the employment contract.

An ending note can make quite an impression. Tell them your resume
is attached and that you're "looking forward to explore this
opportunity
further". Include an address and telephone number for them to contact
you. Sign off with a "Yours Truly" or "Best Regards" and put your
complete name under it.

Get into form and write out your winning cover letter.