Resume Cover Letters

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Resume Cover Letters - Free resume examples

Resume cover letters play a critical role in your job search andshould accompany every resume you send out to prospective employers.According to a national survey conducted by Robert Half International,60 percent of executives said that cover-letters are either equally ormore important than resumes.

By writing a one-page cover-letter, you should be able to accomplishthe following purposes:

Explain why you're sending a resume and convince the recruiters to readyour resume.
Express your interest in the company and the position.
Highlight the most important information in your resume.
Explain negative aspects in your work history like unemployment gaps orlack of experience.
Indicate what you'll do to follow up.
There are two different types of cover-letters: letterof application for open-market positions and letterof inquiry for hidden market positions. The formats of bothtypes are similar and can be divided into three parts:

In the opening paragraph, explain why you're writing and howyou learned about the position. Demonstrate your knowledge of thecompany and mention someone else's name to make a connection ifpossible.

In the middle paragraphs, call attention to your best sellingpoints and state your qualifications for the position. explain whyyou're interested in the position, company, location or industry.

In the closing paragraph, thank the reader for taking thetime to review your qualifications and indicate what you'll do tofollow up. If this is a letter of application, ask for an interviewover the phone or in person; If this is a letter of inquiry, state thatyou'll call to learn more about upcoming employment opportunities.

Also, proofread your letter and make sure that it's concise anderror-free. Create personalized letter for each resume and eachposition you're applying for. Don't just use a generic cover letter forall your resumes, that's like spamming. You can have some idea of howto write effective cover letters by reading some samples,tipsand templatesor else, you can also use a coverletter writing service if you're not sure how to write orjust want to save some time.