You don’t want a cover letter.  You want a job.  You need a great cover letter and resume to send to that big job you’re going for.  But don’t forget cover letter basics.  Keep it short and to the point.

It’s easy to forget what a cover letter is for.  It’s an introduction.  That’s it.

It’s that simple.

You need to let the reader know why they are about to read your resume.

If you get too wordy, the reader will lose interest before they even get to your resume.

Keep it short and sweet.  Picture this; You are a manager that needs to hire someone.  You have just returned to work after a big, carb filled lunch.  You really want to take a nap.  You start thinking about Friday and how you are going to sleep the whole weekend.  It would take a minor emergency to get and hold your attention.

But you have to read resumes and cover letters.  Yawn!

That may not happen every time someone reads the cover letter to your resume, but it will happen.  Do you want to take a chance on boring the reader?

Think introduction, qualifications, and contact. Write a quick paragraph for each one.

Who are you?

Are you a friend of an employee?  Did you hear about the job on TV?  Let them know.

Are you qualified for the job?  Do you meet the advertised minimum requirements?  Are you close?  Let them know.

Do you have a home phone?  Do you have a cell phone?  Do you have an email address?  Let them know.  And let them know when you are going to call back.  (You do plan to contact them again, don’t you?)

Don’t repeat your resume.  Your resume should do fine by itself.  Cherry pick details about your experience to mention in your cover letter.  Take advantage of the more conversational style of the cover letter.  But don’t be too wordy.  Leave a little to their imagination so you’ll have something to talk about at the job interview.

You will work hard on it, but you don’t want a cover letter.  You want the job the cover letter will help you to get.  It’s smart to take care of the basics, and stop there.  Think of it as your elevator pitch.  You know, the elevator pitch is the thing you would say to someone to sell them on an idea, or you, if you could ride in an elevator with them.  You never know when the doors will open and your time will run out.

Image taken on 2009-04-16 10:17:46. Image Source. (Used with permission)