Beyond Your Resume: Five Steps to the Perfect Cover Letter | The ...

Well, you did it ? you found that perfect job posting. It sounds incredible. The company?s the right size,?made up of the right people, working on the right projects, and they need someone who sounds just like?you. You?re qualified, you?re excited, you know you can get this job, and you absolutely can?t wait to?get started, so you go straight to email, and?

Stop! One surefire way to cost yourself the job of your dreams is to send them an everyday cover letter.?You know you?re perfect for the job, so make sure you tell them why.

If a job is really worth your application, it?ll be worth the research and the time it takes to tailor that?cover letter to exactly what they need. If it isn?t worth that effort to you, either you don?t actually want?that job, or that job won?t want you.

Why does it matter?
As a study commissioned by TheLadders recently revealed, employers spend about 6 seconds looking?at your resume. You can?t just rely on your employment history, bulleted and arranged like pinned?butterflies in a case, to sell your merits. Fortunately, you get a chance to intercept that reader on the?way to the attachment.

As Jason Fried, the CEO of 37signals, writes in Inc. Magazine, ?Resum?s reduce people to bullet?points, and most people look pretty good as bullet points,? explaining his company?s hiring practices. ?Cover letters say it all. They immediately tell you if someone wants this job or just any job.?

Intentions are well and good, but it can be daunting to approach this problem. You know you want their?job, but how do you make sure they know it?

Step one: See what they?re all about
Look past the description in the listing and take a look at the company around it. How old is the?company? Who works there? What?s the office culture like? Does their mission seem like a good idea?to you? What?s the last product they launched, and how is it doing? If you can find out, who are you?likely to be interviewing with? This research shouldn?t take that long, but it?ll help you direct your?attention at the things you have in common, and the reasons they?re looking for you.

Step two: Name their biggest priorities
Take another look at that job posting and filter it through what you?ve just learned about the company.?Yes, they want a well-rounded, creative, motivated, detail oriented, self-starting, multitasking team?player with excellent written and verbal communication skills, but what do they really want? Make an?educated guess about the top three skills they want in the candidate for this specific job.

Step three: Don?t just write, write to them
Make it clear from the beginning that you know who you?re talking to ? even if you don?t, exactly. If?you have no idea who will be reading the letter, your research has told you what kind of office culture?it is. To a startup, ?Dear sir or madam? is going to sound stuffy; go with ?Hi.? If you know your?contact?s name, use it! Let your reader know you belong in her office, not just fulfilling her job?requirements.

Step four: Scratch that itch!
You know what they want, and you know you have it, so figure out exactly how you?d solve those three?big priorities. Point specifically to what you?ve done in the past that proves you could fill the gaps in?their team. Don?t waste their time by making claims you can?t back up, or by listing all your ancillary?skills that have nothing to do with their job opening. Show them that you?ve done your homework.

Step five: Go back and edit
Once you?ve solved all their problems, unequivocally proved that you know their business inside and?out, and made the strongest possible case for your candidacy, take a step back. Do something else for?fifteen minutes, and then read it again. Anything you?re saying twice, you can cut. If something isn?t?directly related, get rid of it. Polish all your awkward grammar and sand down your misspellings until?you?re left with something compact, shiny, and smooth.

Now you?ve made the most efficient argument for yourself, and that achievement on its own will look?good to the hiring manager. You haven?t wasted his time ? you?ve concisely shown that you know?exactly what he wants and that you have it ? so you haven?t wasted yours either. Time spent on your?cover letter will pay dividends in interviews.

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