7 Steps to Writing Effective Cover Letters

A cover letter can be the ultimate compliment to your resume. With an effective and well-written letter, you can impress future employers with details that cannot always be found in the resume. Also, a cover letter may just be the reason your resume is even read. Employers are likely to ignore resumes that are unaccompanied. A cover letter makes it stand out.

However, for a cover letter to work, it must follow certain rules and meet certain standards. Below, you will find tips to help you meet those standards. By following these suggestions, you can perfect the necessary art of writing a cover letter.

1. Take Your Time

A cover letter is essential to your job seeking process; however, many overlook it or, worse, devote all of the energy to their resume and then throw together the cover letter as an afterthought. This is not wise: Employers read the cover letter first. Do you want their first impression of you to be a messy and obviously strewn-together letter? Of course, not! You want it to be professional; so, take your time. Allow equal proportions of time to be spent on both the resume and cover letter; they are both important and deserve equal attention.

2. Be Concise

Potential employers want to read your cover letter; they do not, however, want to read a novel. You must keep your letter simple and to the point