Cover letters provide employers a greater sense of what you have to offer as an employee. A cover letter should highlight your skills, provide insight on your expertise and years of experience.
But creating a cover letter should not be an exercise in insufferable arrogance, sure you have to list down your achievements to advance yor candidacy, but the manner its written should be given some thought as well, so not as to come off as insufferable. You can define your achievements succinctly by defining the steps of how you got there, what you did, the level of hardwork involved and how well you did it.
Here are some reminders when writing your coverletter:
1. Tailor the cover letter to the job you are targeting. This is to show that you've done your homework, that you are actually gunning for the position and not merely sending out a cover letter of interest such as an email blast or a job query.
2. Only include information relevant to the job you are seeking. Do exclude personal interests, extra curriculars or achievements not in line with the jobs- (e.g. putting your award as 'Fastest Hands at the Assembly line' would not look too ideal if your trying out for a job as a precision watchmaker) Learn to edit and leave out the unnecessary.
3. Clearly establish why you are writing the cover letter and the outcome you hope to achieve. Ask for the next step in the process clearly and without apology or arrogance. This demonstrates your energy and enthusiasm for the position. In this day and age, leave your email address beneath your phone number as initial contact is often by email.
4. Before sending out any cover letters, check your Facebook account and clean up your profile. You don't want drunk instagram pics or unprofessional photos of you to be the deal breaker. As much as we feel our Facebook profiles are private and should not be the concern of employers, it is the unfortunate reality that background checks are done this way now. And they never fail to uncover some unsightly impressions not found on your resume.
