Career Cube Blog

Yes, that wise man was correct. Every resume needs a cover letter. And yes, it’s better to muddle than to cut and paste, even though cutting and pasting is much simpler, and takes less time and brain power.

It’s tempting to use the same cover letter, because you can sit down and rip through the job sites, applying for anything that strikes your fancy. But that’s a dangerous strategy that is vitually guaranteed to bring you exactly the opposite of what you want. You’re more likely to find what you’re looking for - your perfect job - with a focused and targeted strategy, rather than a shotgun approach.

So if you’re answering an ad in the paper, it’s a given that you’re not the only one answering the ad. So how do you distinguish yourself from the hundreds of other letters coming in over time? Easy. Make yourself stand out from the pack. After all, you’re selling and you want a buyer - the product is you and the buyer, of course, is the company. They’ve only “bought” when you have successfully scheduled an interview.

Let’s start with the salutation. If you have any information about the company at all - name, address, or phone - you can obtain the missing pieces. So there’s no reason to NOT customize with the proper name, even if it wasn’t provided to you. If you choose to address your letter to Dear Sir or Madam, Dear Human Resources Director, To Whom It May Concern, or any other variation of the generic salutation, do yourself a favor. When you are done composing, proofing and printing your letter, throw it in your garbage can and save yourself a stamp, because that’s where it will end up when it arrives.

With today’s resources in both the library and on the internet, take the time to find the phone number, call the company, and find out to whom your letter should be addressed. Make sure you get the exact spelling of their name, as well as their precise title!

The ONLY exception to this is when you are responding to a blind ad with nothing but a P.O. box provided - no company name, no address, and no phone - to give you an idea of where your resume is going.

Look at it this way: if YOU have a pile of ad responses in front of you, how will you determine which one gets a closer read? The one with:

* a generic salutation, or
* the letter with your name on top?

And once you’ve begun to read the letter, which one encourages you to read further? The one that:

* indicates research was done into the company, attention was paid to the ad, and is all tied together with skill examples and enthusiasm, or
* the bland one with no specifics that is clearly intended to do multiple duty?

Which brings me to the next point.

Creating a job search cover letter doesn’t need to be a painful process, especially since the benefits of a customized one are worth the extra time and effort! An effective cover letter is short, skimmable and easy to read (a good rule of thumb no matter WHERE your cover letter is going) – three to four paragraphs tops, two to four sentences each.

Share what caught your attention about the opportunity or the company, why you’re applying, and why you think you’d be an asset to the company (as opposed to why the company would be an asset to you!)

Address the requirements in the ad and speak to how your experience relates to each. If you are sending the letter cold, make sure your letter reflects some research on the company, how your background relates, and why you have an interest in that company.

Is it time consuming to do all that research? It can be. But fortunately with the internet, one doesn’t need to spend every Saturday afternoon at the library anymore. It’s really not a numbers game.

Twenty targeted resumes with well thought out cover letters going to opportunities that, not only fit your goals and capabilities, but create excitement and hope in you, are far better than fifty generic resumes going to anything that sounds only moderately interesting!

by Judi Perkins

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