5 Cover Letter Tips to Get Your Resume Noticed

“Experience is a great advantage. The problem is that when you get the experience, you’re too damned old to do anything about it.” — Jimmy Connors

Sorry if this sounds strange, but nothing is more annoying (nor more important) than having to write a cover letter. On the one hand, it can be the single most important document in your job search (yes, possibly more important than your resume). “Why?” you may ask. A cover letter is your introduction. It can be the single reason your resume is (or is not) considered. Even if you have the best resume in the world with the most amazing work experience, a missing or poorly written cover letter may ruin any chance at getting your resume seen by the right people. In an economy in which high unemployment prevails and few jobs exist, hiring managers are being very selective about the few people they will hire.

Why You Need a Cover Letter:

• Do You Need a Cover Letter? — This article was posted on About.com by Alison Doyle and it provides a very quick overview of why a cover letter is so important. In addition to the points I make above, a cover letter is your chance to tell the hiring manager why you are the best person for the job.

5 Tips to Get Your Cover Letter Noticed:

• Leverage Your Network: The job search is no time to be shy. If you know someone at a company where you are sending a cover letter or have a contact in your network that can help you get our foot in the door, now is the time to use it. So many jobs are filled based on who you know. Leverage your network and get an advantage. Take a look at “How to leverage your own network to find a job (it’s bigger than you think it is)”.

• Tell Them Why You Are the Right Person for the Job: If you don’t toot your own horn, who will? If you find a job opportunity that is a good fit, make sure your cover letter includes all of the reasons why you are the right person for the job. Maybe you have similar experience or have skills and education that are a perfect match. Whatever the reason, make the point in your cover letter. “Tailor your Cover Letter to your Job Search Strategy”.

• Find the Name of the Hiring Manager: Anyone can send cover letter without an addressee. It takes someone who is willing to put in a little time to find out the hiring manager’s name. What will this action do for you? Well for one, you can address the cover letter to the hiring manager (which will get a few points for you). And second, you can look up the hiring manager on LinkedIn and get some key information that will help you cover topics that you now know the manager is experienced in. “Leveraging LinkedIn in your job search”.

• Select the Type of Cover Letter that Suits You and the Job: Yes, there are different cover-letter styles and you need to pick one (or more) that fit your career, company you are applying to and the type of position. Everything is important, the font, format, and content should be specific to the position. While this specificity may seem extremely hard at first, you can easily overcome the difficuty by looking at some cover-letter samples (Cover Letter Samples).

• Tell Them What You’ve Done in Your Career: Beyond telling them why you are the right person, spotlight your important accomplishments across your career. Best to pick the ones that specifically match the job, but no need to include thousands of accomplishments. By highlighting accomplishments that illustrate broad and matching experience, you stand a better chance of getting the hiring manager’s attention. “Cover Letter Power Words”.

Good luck in your search.

A Guest Post by CareerAlley.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.