Cover Letter for Resume

Writing a cover letter for a resume is just as important as your resume. The letter should be a snapshot of your skills and is a chance to catch the reader’s eye. It should spark interest in a way that will make someone want to read your resume.

Cover letters are essential

• Contact information – If you have personal letterhead with all of your contact information on it, then use that. If you don’t, in a word processing program, you can create your own by top-centering your contact information including your email address. Make it original by choosing a bold font larger than the 12-point Times New Roman font you use in the body of the letter.
• Address – When writing the letter, you should address the letter to the person who is in charge of the initial applicant search. Some help-wanted ads or online ads will only list a department or an email address. Before you skip the address and just write Dear Sir or Madam, analyze the help-wanted ad. If it’s a newspaper ad, see if you can determine the company who placed the ad. Call the company and ask who is in charge of their human resources department or the department the ad implies. For example, if it’s an architect job, you would ask who is in charge of selecting architectural applicants.
• Email addresses - If you only have an email address to send your cover letter and resume, see what you can decipher from the email address. If it says john@AcmeCo.com, do an Internet search on the Acme Company and seek out the about us page or the contact us page to see if you can locate the human resource director. If that fails, most websites have a phone number, so call and ask. Keep in mind that your letter will be more desirable if you are able to provide the addressee’s entire mailing address, even if you are emailing the letter.

• Body – The body of your letter should be clear and concise. Your first sentence should read like this, In response to your ad for a lead architect, I submit my resume for your consideration. Some experts say you should bold the words lead architect so it catches the eye of the reader. Your second sentence should be brief but tell the reader why you would be a good candidate. After reading your job description, I am confident that my skills as an architect would be a good match for your organization.

• List your skills - The second paragraph should list key points on your resume that apply directly to the job opening. An option might be, I would bring to your company a wide range of skills, including: After this, list only prudent accolades.

1. I was lead architect for ABC Company and involved in the preliminary design for the Buck Building.
2. I helped incorporate a new architectural software system at Davis & Sons.
3. At Davis & Sons, I was team leader on various projects and designated as the client contact.

• Keep it brief - These are brief statements about the architect job, but they say a lot. The reader knows you were lead architect on the Buck Building. In addition, from these short statements the reader knows you are good with software solutions, a team leader, and have effective client communication skills.

• The Close – You should close cover letters for resumes by saying you are available for an interview at their convenience and look forward to hearing from them. Under your typed name on the letter, let the reader know what you are enclosing a resume, Enc. Resume.

If your letter is not spaced or centered correctly or has a font that is not businesslike, your resume could be ignored. Avoid colored paper or scented paper. Invest in 20 lb weight paper or purchase resume paper. The letter should only be one page and it’s not a place to tell your life story. Stick to the bullet points of your work experience that pertain to the position. Don’t use the same cover letter for every resume you send out. Tailor your resume cover letter to the job opening.

Try to place the shoe on the other foot when writing your cover letter. After you’ve written it, read it and ask yourself if you would want to meet the applicant. For letter templates, you can visit DocStoc, a free letter sharing website that offers effective business letter examples that you can download and use to write your resume cover letter.

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