The best tips on writing resume cover letters come straight from experience, and experience states that there is no one right way to land an interview. Now, this doesn’t mean that creating a cover letter is an “anything goes” kind of affair – in reality, most cover letters are based on a simple proven formula.
The hardest part is adapting this formula to your own specific needs, but these quick tips will show you how to do just that!
Attract Attention by Starting Strong
You have roughly three seconds to grab the reader’s attention before your entire resume ends up in the rejection pile. So get straight to the point: include the company name and position that you are applying for in your first sentence.
If you and the recipient have any relevant contacts in common, the first line is the perfect place to namedrop them. “John Doe suggested that I contact you in regards to the sales manager position at Business Co.”
These first few tips on writing resume cover letters often prove to be the most important and, coincidentally, the most often ignored.
Consider Taking the “Four Paragraph Approach”
There are always exceptions, but it is safe to assume that “less is more” for the vast majority of jobs. Four paragraphs is commonly considered the golden number in regards to cover letter length.
The first paragraph is the introduction, the second is a brief description of your career history, the third section outlines relevant achievements, and the last paragraph is usually a line or two requesting a meeting or informing the recruiter about when you will be making contact.
Don’t Get Carried Away
These tips on writing resume cover letters won’t do you any good if the tone or context is inappropriate. Make sure that you are keeping the language and format professional, but don’t go out of your way to sound like an some sort of overconfident pseudo-intellectual. Confidence and intelligence are extremely important traits, and you should definitely demonstrate them, but be careful not to cross the fine line that separates savvy from snobby.
In the end, three major factors will decide the tone and contents of your message: the person to whom the letter is addressed, the job you are applying for, and who you are as a person and as an employee – this is why no two cover letters should ever look alike!
These quick tips on writing resume cover letters are a great place to start, but the fun part is relying on your gut instincts to tailor them to your particular situation.
