To Impress the Employer with Your Experiences and Skills

Cover Letters

In your cover letter, summarize the best of what you have to offer. The goals of the cover letter are:

To get and keep the reader’s attention

To impress the employer with your experiences and skills

To match some of the keywords and skills from the advertisement or job description with the skills in your resume and letter

To show your interest in the company and its consumers

To show that you are dependable, professional, and determined

The cover letter is almost as important as your resume. Use it to highlight experiences that are of interest to the employer. You can brag a little in the cover letter about work or activity accomplishments. Do not be shy about saying that you were a champion swimmer, had a main role in a school play, or are on the school’s baseball team. Potential employers will see you as a person with energy and enthusiasm. Hopefully, they will want to meet you and see if you have the same enthusiasm in person.

To give a professional impression, give your cover letter the same look as your resume. Use the same font and paper. Don’t staple your cover letter and resume together. Send the letter and resume in a large envelope, and don’t fold them.

A good cover letter should contain seven sections.

Section 1: Your Contact Information

Start your cover letter with your name and contact information and the date. Use the same format and type fonts you used in your resume. For example:

Section 2: Potential Employer’s Contact Information

Personalize the letter with the person’s name or company name.

Section 3: Salutation

If you are contacting a man, begin the letter with

If you are contacting a woman, begin the letter with

If no name is listed in the job advertisement, begin the letter with

If you can’t tell whether the person is a man or woman, begin the letter with

Section 4: Opening Paragraph

Here are four types of opening paragraphs. Choose the one that matches how you learned about the position.

Newspaper Ad

You might find a job advertisement in your local newspaper or other publication. If so, you might use an opening paragraph like the following:

Internet Listing

Another good way to find out about jobs in through the Internet. Here is an opening paragraph you might want to use:

Section 5: Second Paragraph

This is the place to impress the reader with the experience you have that is related to the job. Include the skills you have that are related to the job. A potential employer will appreciate seeing a list of these skills. You might word the paragraph like this:

Section 6: Third Paragraph

This is your persuasive paragraph. Include some of your soft skills, or personal skills. Soft skills demonstrate your personality. Use a paragraph similar to the following:

Section 7: The Closing

End your cover letter by telling the person how and when to contact you. Express your interest in hearing from the company and thank the employer for considering you. Close with “Sincerely,” followed by your typed name. Leave space above your typed name for your signature. Also, include a line telling what is enclosed with your cover letter. Use the following as an example: