If you think
writing a resume is hard, try writing a cover letter. Remember, the cover letter is what your potential employer will read before she or he reads anything else. It serves to give an impression of you, in some ways more so than your resume. If you think about the resume as appealing to the brain, you can think about the cover letter as appealing to the heart; and we all know that the heart can be far more powerful than the brain.
With that in mind, sit and think about what is not on your resume. Then get ready to write about just those things in your letter. That's right. The cover letter is the place to sneak in accomplishments of all sorts that have no place on a resume. Did you take care of your aging grandmother for five years while you earned your MBA? While there's no place for a sob story in the business world, it's also worth commemorating with a sentence or so, as a way to show how strong, disciplined, and compassionate you are, all at the same time.
It isn't that you want to ignore your primary job and academic experiences, but remember -- those are already listed on your resume! And so, while you might want to embellish one or more of those listed experiences, you want to think more in terms of augmentation as opposed to embellishment. How about the time you spent your summer in a bird suit trying to wave people into a business of the very same kind you ended up managing three years later? Undoubtedly you have not included that on your resume, but wow -- what fortitude! What stamina! What dedication! You devoted yourself to the field from beginning to -- well, to management -- and this is something a cover letter can show in its full glory.
The cover letter is also a way to show your ideal boss how smart you are. While most jobs don't require excellent writing skills as part of their job requirements, it is also true that the written word can convey a sense of a person's intellect. If you word your sentences with elegance, grace, depth, and perhaps even a dash of humor, and connect them with flowing and original transitions, you will make it clear that you are a man or woman with a brain. If, on the other hand, your language is sloppy, you don't take care to be interesting or, heaven forbid, you have made errors in spelling or grammar, you will be immediately marked as someone who might not have what it takes to do the job you want.
This is why it is extremely important to have someone knowledgeable go over your cover letter once you've gotten it into what you consider a perfect shape. This doesn't have to be a professional whom you pay, but it should be someone who knows something about the hiring process, ideally in your own field. This should also be someone who has a good command of spelling, grammar, and all of the other conventions of language. In fact, try to get more than one person to read and comment upon your cover letter; it's always good to have an extra perspective. And again, be sure to listen to their suggestions with an open mind; defensiveness has no place in this process.
Once you've gotten your letter in final shape, be sure that you print it out on the same kind of paper you've used for your resume. Details like this speak volumes to future employers; and so while you're at it, order matching envelopes as well!
Yes, it takes time and energy, as well as a bit of money, to create an excellent cover letter and resume package; but in the end, if these things help land you the job of your dreams, it's might be the best investment you make.
