15 Tips to Writing Cover Letters You Should Know

The traditional cover letter rules of thumb are as follows:

1. When contacting recruiters, HR reps, and cold networking contacts, use bullets for easier scanning.

2. When contacting HR managers, recruiters, and warm networking contacts (when you know the recipient will spend more time reading), use a paragraph letter style.

3. Use one-inch margins all around. (Some say ½- or ¾-inch.)

4. Keep paragraphs to five lines or fewer.

5. Consider changing the font size on bullet points so they’re one to two sizes smaller than your text portion.

6. Suggested fonts (Use between 10-12 point.):

Ariel*

Garamond*

Bookman Old Style

Tahoma

Times New Roman

Verdana

7. Keep the interests of the reader in mind. The letter may be about you, but it’s for them.

8. Communicate how you’ll meet the recipient’s needs or solve a problem rather than what you hope they will do for you.

9. Highlight your top three to five key points from your resume, using keywords and phrases. Don’t repeat your resume but add information that is not      on it.

10. Keep the use of “I” or “my” to a minimum. Try to use “you” or “your” so that you come across to your reader on more friendly terms.

11. Refer to the organization as “it” rather than “they.”

12. Leave some breathing space in the letter for “visual relief.”

13. Sign the original cover letter with blue ink and paperclip it to the resume.

14. Remember to follow up within three days of emailing or five days of mailing your cover letter. In your email subject line, include the position’s title and your name. Include the cover letter within your email and as an attachment with your resume.

15. Remember that this is all good old-fashioned professional business etiquette!

*** The above material is an excerpt from my newest executive job search book, The NEW Rules of Job Search – How to Land an Executive Job in the New Economy, Chapter 4 pages 70-71.

I am also suggesting you save copies of all your letters to be able to rework and customize for each new situation in your executive job search.

I look forward to helping you further with your executive job search.

Kind regards,

Eleanor

Eleanor Anne Sweet

Your Executive Job Search Expert Coach â„¢

PS

TODAY”S Executive Job Search Action Plan:

1. Register for my bi weekly executive job search tips on this page before you leave this page/blog, www.ExecutiveJobSearchExpert.com

2. Go to www.TheNEWRulesofJobSearch.com  to find out more about my job search book, The NEW Rules of Job Search – How to Land an Executive Job in the New Economy.

3. Go to www.GreatInterviewQuestionsBlog.com to register for additional weekly executive job search interview questions information to help you with your executive job search and landing that next great job faster.

Copyright 2013   All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright   All rights reserved.