By: Dirk Daggler
Submitted: 2009-04-05 17:38:29 | Word Count: 560
These days, you can find several websites that offer sample cover letters. It can be tempting to subscribe to any of these websites and use a ready made, ready to use cover letter, but refrain yourself from doing so. Nothing beats writing your own cover letter, and you can do so without any serious difficulty.
When you write your own cover letter, of course you’ll want things to be just right. You’ll want to have the perfect cover letter that can get you the job as soon as your future employer reads it. While it is true that nothing in this life is perfect, you can come as close to perfection as you can when you use proven methods in resume writing.
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Your cover letter must, above all else, advertise your unique qualifications. It is your job in writing a cover letter to promote yourself to the company of your choice. The only way to do this is to think long and hard about the skills and talents you can offer. Some people choose to lie when it comes to presenting their skills and talents. Not only is this wrong, but it’s also very dangerous. There’s a high risk that your future employer will find out sooner or later that your cover letter is made of pure baloney. Instead, focus on the qualifications you really possess and make them relatable to the needs of the company. Make sure to include your academic accomplishments, past projects which you’ve handled or have been a part of, and other relevant information. Zero in on the traits that the company is looking for.
In order to write the perfect cover letter, or one that is close to being perfect, you must catch the reader’s eye right away. Some job seekers take this piece of advice the wrong way and excitedly proceed with using different font colors, sizes, and bold and/or italic commands. This will only result in a chaotic looking cover letter. Instead, limit the highlights and the color and size changes to sections or headings so your cover letter appears neat and carefully prepared. One of the simplest tricks you can do is to use a font that is attractive and more readable. In this regard, studies have shown that Georgia, Times New Roman, and other serif fonts are easier and nicer to read in hard copy as opposed to Arial, Tahoma, and other sans serif fonts. This is because unlike sans serif fonts, serif fonts make use of small horizontal lines and clean flourishes that allow the eye to be carried along.
Of course, all these won’t matter if your cover letter reeks of grammatical errors. Proofread your cover letter several times just to make sure that you are getting the correct message – complete with proper spelling and punctuation – across. Ask the help of a language proficient friend if you must. Effective communication is one of the best ways to ensure that you are indeed writing the perfect cover letter. Finally, find out the name of the person who will be reading your cover letter. You can create a more favorable impression by addressing your cover letter using that person’s name. Always use the person’s full name (not his or her nickname) and add a “Mr.” or a “Ms.” (whichever is appropriate).
