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.
Amit Pujar is a copywriter/technical
writer currently heading the content department of an online
publication. Amit writes on a variety of subjects and is currently
working on his first non-fiction. He can be reached at pujar@yahoo.com.
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