Cover Letter

Companies and recruiting agencies can get thousands of responses for job openings. Under such circumstances, they will be able to give each letter a few moments to get the gist of the candidate’s proficiency, qualification and experience before moving on to the next one. If you are making a serious bid for that job, your cover letter must have that unique element to hold the recruiter’s attention and make them go through the entire content.
 

Applying for a job is actually selling yourself for that particular position. There would be many other candidates who would try to grab that particular opportunity, but you need to distinguish yourself from the others in a way that the employer feels that you are the best candidate for the said position. For this, it is important for the applicant to write a resume cover letter, and send it along with the resume.
 
The resume gives the employer the details of the applicant’s academics and work experience. However, the employer, if reads the complete resume, he/she would need at least 10 minutes to know everything about you. On the other hand, if you write a cover letter that summarizes your resume in a way that the employer gets a complete idea of your qualification and expertise in less than 5 minutes, is more impactful, and would lead to a positive decision in your case. The letter is aimed at simplifying the reader’s task, but if not written correctly it would rather weaken your resume as well.  

 
1. Overuse of ‘I’

  
The cover letter is aimed at presenting your skills and potential and communicating to the employer of how you fit in the organizational needs. Over stressing on ‘I’, would make your letter look like an autobiography. Mention what the employer wants, and then answer how you satisfy the same.

 
2. Weak Opening:

 
Beginning a cover letter is a task of responsibility. The beginning of the letter creates your first impression. This should thus be very impressive, and to the point. For example,
 
a. Please consider my application for the post of Sales Team Lead – this is a very weak beginning. It does not differentiate you.
 

Your cover letter is a hugely important tool in your job search arsenal. After all, it’s usually the first thing a potential employer reads about you and it almost always precedes your resume.

A cover letter is like a friend you have who takes all the awkwardness out of an introduction by going out there and doing all the work for you.

If a cover letter is so important, why is it that so many job seekers neglect their cover letters? Oftentimes, it’s clear that an author didn’t spend enough time writing their cover letter. When that happens, it sails right into the circular filing cabinet.

Check out these six mistakes to not put in your next cover letter:
  

How To Start Your Cover Letter With a BANG!