A Good Cover Letter Creates Fear
My idea of a good cover letter is one that creates fear. Fear that someone else will snap up the product before they even get a chance at looking at it. Whether it is attached to an executive resume or administrative assistant's resume the strategy is the same. Get the reader to take action and call you for an interview.
How do you make your cover letter stand out from the rest? There are some definite tricks or if you prefer devices that a serious job seeker will use to hold the reader's attention and guide their eyes to key information. Your most important psychological weapon to deploy will be your opening paragraph. You have to catch my attention.
Imagine if I'm a manager, recruiter or employer and I have had the opportunity or bad luck to sift through a stack of resumes and cover letters. After reading a number of letters that start with "I'm writing you this letter... or your advertisement said you were looking for...please accept this resume as" they will have slipped into a near coma induced by boredom. Your opening line has to snap them out of their stupor. I recently read a novel that began with "The doctor is here to see you. That's when I knew I was dead." Okay, it got my attention because those two sentences don't usually go together. This is called a hook. Every good sales device uses one.
Getting the reader to sit up and take notice can be accomplished in a number of ways.
Use a technique that instructors and public speakers incorporate to hold your attention. If I ask you a question, which I have been doing all along, you will be answering them. Maybe not out loud but you will be answering them inside your head. That is human nature. So start with a question. Ask them what quality is the hardest to find in a new employee. Then suggest several very obvious traits that you know are key to this position. Your second paragraph is dedicated to demonstrating why you're all those things you mention in the first paragraph.
You can also start with a quotation from a famous person related to the field that you applying for. You can't go too far wrong quoting Ben Franklin or Albert Einstein. Another eye-catching technique is to use a bold statement to begin you pitch. Tell them about a major achievement that screams that you're a success. Remember when I suggested that you identify three key qualities about your work ethic? To make them work even better for you, tell me what they are and change their font by bolding it and putting in an italicized style.
If you look in most books that describe how to write a cover letter you will see a basic theme. The formula for the cover letter is broken down into I Have, I Can and I'm. Generally there will be three paragraphs. First paragraph deals with I have, which means you will be sharing information as to your qualifications for the job. This could mean training, education, certificates or experience. The second paragraph concerns itself with information declaring what you can do and what you have done. Telling them whether you can sell, teach, build, design, serve or operate a piece of equipment, etc. The third paragraph is dedicated to information about yourself as a person. Things dealing with personality traits like punctuality, team player or dedicated.
The tendency for writing a cover letter is to write it from the 'I' perspective. This is natural unfortunately it makes for lousy reading. It is appalling how many cover letters are given to me to critique that are saturated with the word 'I'. Sometimes every sentence begins with "I". I did this. I'm that. I'm a cat in a hat. Do you see what kind of reading this is for the employer? Not only does it come across as egotistical, it is also very clumsy reading that pushes your reader away from you. To bring your reader into your letter you need to incorporate lots of 'You' or 'Yours' into the writing. Instead of telling them "I have seven years of experience in sales and customer service" say, "You will appreciate my seven years of experience in sales and customer service." Do this and you will make your cover letter easier and more enticing to read. You can still use "I" to start the odd sentence but don't overdo it.
When you are writing your cover letter never lose sight that for it to get you the response you are hoping for, it must be read. Make it a piece of writing that gets read.
Larry Arrance has assisted over 4,000 job seekers and career changers to find the best jobs available. His hard hitting,no nonsense approach helped his students and clients to beat out their competition. You can get a copy of his powerful book at http://www.findingajobfast.com
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