Resume Cover Letter Tips

You should always send a resume cover letter with your resume. Remember, your employer sees your cover letter first (in email) and then only your resume. If your cover letter is not good enough, employer may loose interest in your resume. So here are some of the tips you should remember while writing your resume cover letter:

• Send it to one person - Never address your resume cover letter as "To whom it may concern". No. Call the person by name to whom you are sending the resume. If you don't know the name of the person, call the company or checkout their website. This personal communication in cover letter shows that you have an interest in the company.

• Start with a referral - If you know somebody in the company, or somebody who know somebody in the company, start the cover letter saying "Mr. So and so said that I should mail your and send my resume for so and so job, which I am much interested in", will create a sense of familiarity and comfort for the person reading your resume cover letter.

• Short and sweet - Don't make your resume cover letter into an essay. Just describe your most recent work or achievements (related to work).

• Call for action - AT the end of your cover letter, ask the employer to call you up or write you. Don't say the employer that you will follow it up. You should still do the follow up.

• Correct Language - At the end, check your resume cover letter twice for any typos or grammar errors.

• Request for an interview - In the cover letter, most of us spend a lot of time trying to show how we are best suited for the job. The purpose of writing a resume and cover letter is to convince the prospective employer to call you for an interview. Make sure that you ask for an interview. Resume writing and cover letter writing is more like marketing yourself. Ask any successful marketing person the secret of successful marketing skills. They will tell you that asking for a sale is vital. Thus, when you write a resume, the most important part is to ask for an interview. Though it is implied you expect an interview call, do ask for an interview. Asking for something creates an impact.

• Your space - Cover letter is your space where you mention things that you have not covered in the resume. You might have had a gap in your career. The employer will want you to explain this gap in career. You can justify this gap in the cover letter. At times you may have shifted your career option, or worked for short period in a particular company. You can justify these things in the resume.

• Skills and career summary - Let your cover letter mention skills that you have not mentioned in the resume. There are certain things that you have not mentioned in the resume since it makes the resume too long. Mention these skills in the cover letter.

  Your cover letter should be so accurately targeted at the job requirement, that the employer should be eager to read your resume. The cover letter is a perfect marketing tool and the foundation of any resume.