Writing an Impactful Cover Letter

4/16/2015
Meaghan Holley

Cover letters are useless, right? Wrong! There’s a nasty rumor going around that cover letter writing is irrelevant and won’t help you secure that dream job you’ve been after, but we’re here to set the record straight and give you a few helpful writing tips along the way.

Next to your resume, a well written cover letter is the most valuable document you have in your job seeker toolkit and when written correctly, can help your application stand out amongst the rest.

A cover letter is a concise document that outlines why your skills and experiences make you the best candidate for the job, in four paragraphs or less. It complements your resume and is a place to highlight important and relevant skills or accomplishments. But, before you begin crafting your cover letter, carefully read through the employer job description; this will help you understand your audience, and allow you to better tailor your cover letter to the reader.

For instance, if you’re applying to an agricultural communications agency and the job description indicates “creativity” as a job requirement; inject some of your creative edge into your cover letter copy. Likewise, if you’re applying for a government position, and are asked to demonstrate business acumen, it is probably best to thread a formal tone throughout your cover letter. With that said we completely understand that cover letter writing can be a down-right scary and time consuming task, especially since human resource professionals may only skim your well-crafted document, so below you’ll find some helpful tips on how to write an effective cover letter.

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