Using a Great Cover Letter to Get The Job You Want

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Using a Great Cover Letter to Get The Job You Want - By: Erik J. Michaels, Posted on: 2007-08-24

Writing a great cover letter can be the key to your success in a jobhunt. With the average American's search for a job lasting up to nine months, it's more critical now than ever before that you stand out above the rest and get your foot in the door before it gets slammed in your face. The right cover letter can help you achieve that goal.

When corporate Human Resources people are sifting through hundreds of applications and resumes in search of one single candidate to fill the position, the cover letter is the first thing they'll look at. It's the first impression they're going to get of you, and it's your first chance to shine out above the rest of the applicants.

Getting through this first inspection is 100% key to getting the job. This could easily make or break your chances of getting the job you're applying for. The resumes with successful cover letters will pass the test and stay in the running...but the applications that fail the test will be dispassionately disposed of.

Now, I doubt you somehow found the time to attend college to get a four-year degree in Writing Cover Letters, so you may feel a little intimidated in a world where a great cover letter is almost mandatory. Lucky for you, you don't have to be a cover letter prodigy. All you need is to have a good teacher.

Probably the best teacher around is the good old "example". It's never a bad idea to learn an important skill by talking to people who have successful experience with whatever it is you're trying to learn. Unfortunately, finding these people isn't always the simplest thing in the world, which can make the process something less than easy.

Lucky for you, the person you need here isn't a person at all, it's the actual cover letter! You don't need to go hunting for the people behind the successful cover letters. All you have to find is the cover letters themselves! They're a lot easier to come by, and from them you can learn more than you could from any person.

Being able to analyze and adapt something is a skill you'll be glad to build while you're at it, because such a skill is highly valued in the workplace. Too many people just get lazy and plagiarize, which gets you nowhere...if you take the time to learn what makes a cover letter good, not only will it allow you to create your own successful cover letters, but it'll also improve your analysis skills and make you even better in the eyes of potential employers!

And during your analysis and writing process, it's important to not forget what the real intention of your cover letter is. For it to be successful, it needs to primarily do two things: outline your qualifications, and get you on the road to an interview. The most important goal of a good cover letter is to try to get that interview. Once you do that it's up to you, but if you try to search for a job without a solid cover letter as your partner, there's a good chance you may never even get that interview.

Article Source: http://higradesearch.com

Learn how to write an effective cover letter by visiting this site for some cover letter samples. By reading these, you can learn how to create your own awesome cover letters and make your jobhunt easier.

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