Best Practices for an Effective Cover Letter
Your cover letter is written to get the resume read. Knowing this will help to guide the writing to your best advantage. You want to show that you have invested the time and effort to research the company, and that you have thought about how you could contribute to the employer’s success. You want to showcase the skills and qualities that match the job announcement. And you want to make it clear that you anticipate an interview that will allow you to further expand on what you can offer.
Best practice is to put the cover letter on business stationary. This can be easily created through your word processing program. Use a simple, easy to read font for this. It should match the font used for the body of the letter, but be a bit larger. Helfonte or Ariel are good for this purpose, but choose one with which you are familiar and comfortable. If the font for the body of the letter is size 10, use 12 or 14 for the stationary heading.
You can get some ideas for stationary heading by looking at business letters you may have received. It should be simple and easy to read, and should place your contact information right at the top of the letter, where the employer can easily find it.
Bolding can be used for the contact information, and a line cab be drawn across the page either under the name, with other information on a single line below that. Alternatively, present all the contact information above a single or double line. Experiment until you have a heading that looks professional and pleases you.
Do not add graphics or a picture to the stationary unless you are an actor or a graphic designer. You want to be brief and businesslike.
Store the heading on a document labeled “stationary heading” in your computer and use it for your business correspondence. Use a good quality paper, not too heavy, and black ink.
Head the cover letter with first the date, followed by a single blank line, then the title, name and address of the search team member to whom you will send the resume. They need to be sent together in a business size envelope.
Use a formal salutation, and type the body of the letter in block style, with paragraphs separated by a single blank line. Under the body of the letter, on the left side, type your name under two blank lines to allow for your signature.
No particular order is universally recommended for information presented in a cover letter. For this reason, I will deal with a formula that has worked well for me and my clients. I use three paragraphs, and keep the letter to only one page.
If your research has revealed future plans for expansion of the company or some other change, use the first paragraph to show how you can contribute to these plans. Otherwise, summarize here how your skills and qualities will benefit the company.
The second paragraph should expand on some of the statements of qualification in the resume. These should be accomplishments that show how you have used your skills to benefit the employer. You have matched these to what the employer has placed in the job announcement. Choose two or three to present in greater detail, showing how you achieved these results.
The third paragraph should summarize what you have said. End by stating that you look forward to the opportunity to present your qualifications in an interview.
If you have done your job well, the employer will be eager to peruse your resume for further information about what you will do for their company when hired.
