If you’re weeks or months past your graduation day and everyday’s agenda has been reduced to ‘job hunting’, it’s time to work on your cover letter. Cover Letters are easily synonymous to golden tickets granting entry to your dream job. Just like how the general audience scrutinizes a movie synopsis before deciding to view it, a potential employer studies your cover letter before glancing at your résumé. Irrespective of how highly qualified you are or how attractive your resume may be, a poorly written cover letter convinces the concerned employer that you aren’t the right candidate.
A cover letter must be brief but more importantly clear and precise. It should be short enough to not dissuade the employer from reading and precise enough to grab the employer’s immediate attention. Point out the reasons why your résumé stands out above the clutter. If your cover letter fails to impress or arouse any interest in the HR manager or employer, chances of them browsing through your intricately drafter resume are borderline negligible. Check out guidelines for writing a cover letter
Guidelines For Writing A Cover Letter
Guidelines For Writing A Cover Letter
- Pen down your residential address and follow up with the present date on the right hand corner (approximately an inch below the top) of the fresh page.
- Skip a few lines to enter name of the contact person and the company’s address. Avoid using "To whom it may concern" or "Dear Sir/Madam" and stick to the specific name of the concerned person/employer.
- Compose the preliminary paragraph of two or three sentences stating the position you seek. Stray away from trite openings like- “I wish to be” or “My dream is”.
- If you intend on inquiring about the positions available, specify why you are in interested in brief.
- Outline your qualifications and achievements and link them to your job requirements in the middle paragraphs. Infuse some enthusiasm and a subtle assurance to contributing to the company’s bottom line.
- Do not forget to state the college or university you have graduated from.
- Avoid flowery language and overstatements as this may only irk the employer and prompt him/her to toss your résumé into the trash can.
- Tactfully juxtapose these middle paragraphs with relevant details about the company’s background. This implies that you have researched the company beforehand and therefore, gives you leverage.
- Add a positive statement in the final paragraph that will stimulate the employer to revert to you as soon as possible.
- The closing paragraph should not exceed 2-4 sentences.
- Make it a point to mention the specific date and time of your availability for an interview. Also, specify the date you intend on joining the concerned organization.
- Provide your own contact information (phone number, e-mail address) and welcome them to get in touch.
- Thanking the employer for investing his/her time is mandatory as it represents your courteousness. Conclude with "Yours sincerely,” or "Regards."
- Your tone must be upbeat, proficient and informative.
- When you draft your cover letter, remember not to attribute all your achievements to an external body. Put yourself on a pedestal as long as you don’t go overboard by beginning every sentence with “I”.
- If the letter drags on to a second page, you’ve got some serious trimming to do. An employer is not looking for biographies.
- Avoid spelling mistakes. The employer will be compelled to doubt your speaking abilities.
- Leave four blank lines to sign your name in blue ink. If you use black ink, they may think it to be a copy.
