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Cover Letter Mistake #2: Who Are You and
Why Should I Interview You?
Have you ever been reading some piece
of literature and as you’re reading you realize you have no idea what the
point of the whole piece actually is? It’s very annoying and you’re likely
not to read another word because you feel like you’ve already wasted your
time. Have you thought about what a hiring manager must think when this
happens with a cover letter? Imagine being inundated with resumes and
cover letters that don’t even say anything important. They consider those
types of applicants not worthy of interviews and therefore will trash your
resume and not give you another thought.
How do you avoid being discarded
without a second glance?
There are some ways to make them want
to read your information and get you in there for an interview.
1) Include a title This is a tactic
that really helps hiring managers focus in on what job you are applying
for without having to take even a few seconds to figure it out. Remember:
anything you can do to make their job easier you should try to do. The
title doesn’t have to be word-for-word the actual position but something
very closely related. You can work it in pretty effortlessly in the first
sentence of your cover letter.
2) Point out the highlights Sometimes
employers get so bogged down with resumes that they resort to weeding them
out rather quickly. The first thing they read about you comes from your
cover letter. Be sure to look at the job description for which you are
applying and make a point to highlight them in your cover letter. One of
the most effective ways to do this is by using bullets. The reader might
only spend 20 seconds on your resume package before deciding whether or
not to read the entire document. You don’t want to go through all that
work only to have them believe you’re not qualified (when you really are).
By making your cover letter easy for the reader to skim over while picking
up on all the important information, you’ve just made the hiring manager
quite pleased. And if your qualifications are indeed a good fit, then you
have a great chance of being moved into the ‘interview’ pile.
3) Let them be able to contact you Have
you ever left off your contact information from your cover letter? Job
seekers believe that if they include it on their resumes, they’re set.
Sadly, they’re mistaken. When there is a job opening, all kinds of
paperwork is flying around the office. It can happen that a cover letter
and resume get separated from one another and sometimes get lost all
together. It’s always best to have all your contact information on both
your resume and cover letter so that no matter which document the employer
has, you’re covered. Cover letters can be tricky; even what you deem as
insignificant can have a major impact on your ability to get interviews.
What may seem as unimportant to you may end up making the difference
between waiting for an interview and actually getting one.
Written By
Heather Eagar |
Writers
Profile
Heather Eagar assistant@heathereagar.com
Recognized as a
leading expert in the employment search industry, Heather Eagar is
passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable
and effective job search tools and information. Check out reviews of the
top resume writers in the industry at
http://www.ResumeLines.com |
