tips for writing a good cover letter

If you were giving a beautiful piece of jewellery to someone, you wouldn't wrap it in yesterday's newspaper would you?

So why would you go to all the trouble of crafting a fabulous resume, only to send it with a half hearted, poorly crafted covering letter?

Well, you wouldn't. Not if you were really serious about getting that ideal job.

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Although there are a TON of resources on the web about writing a cover letter (too many) - I'll give you pointers that have served me as Vice President of my company...

The gist will boil down like this -

be brief - be relevant - and be ready... here's how it works...

Be Brief : First - the note is not a book. If you go over one page, you'd better have a great reason... otherwise, your diminishing the value of whatever conversation you'll want to have. This letter is meant to be a conversation starter - you want to tease without giving away the substance of who you are or what you are hoping to achieve.

Be Relevant : If you are writing the letter introducing yourself, you won't present EVERYTHING you've ever done. If you are using this to seek a job, give a couple of lines to quickly summarize your experience. Or answer the question of "why would they care..." - think about from the point of view of whoever will be reading your note. It's GREAT to let your personality show (if it's not a stodgy corporate note) - and that personality may be that of your company too...

Be Ready : This essentially is you OWNING the conversation from the beginning. If you are compelling in your first few lines, someone may read your whole note... if they do that - give them something else to do... What next steps would like..? Are you hoping for a meeting? An interview? A purchase... whatever the case - the note is generally not the end... so let them know what your next step is - and that you want them to do "x" - for example if you want a meeting - ask for it... tell them your availability (generally a couple of time slots) then ask them for the meeting. "I have availability on July 18th at 3p (est) if your calendar affords it, I'd like to schedule our meeting for then. Please advise." (okay that's not the general tone of my notes - but does give you some idea.)

Generally what I'll get is people unavailable at the time that I suggest, which is great - when they respond back, we're talking... it's fairly straightforward to move the conversation to a meeting, purchase, or whatever after that...

But it all starts with a great cover letter...

Does this make sense?