Skills to writing a perfect Curriculum Vitae (CV)

7 Ways to Make an Impact With Your Cover Letter

Job hunting today is a tedious process due to high competition in the job market. But even with so many applications; do you ever wonder why you never seem to receive calls from employers? The success or failure in a job hunting process is contingent upon the way one someone writes his or her cover letter.

Writing a good cover letter is sometimes more important than writing a resume. I say this because the bearing of the letter is definitely heavier than that of the resume. It is the first thing that your prospective employers read about you.  The assertiveness and the command of your letter make them think twice before sending your portfolio to the paper shredder.

Most recruiters spend less than a 60 seconds going through your CV. Therefore, you have a very limited amount of time to arouse enough curiosity (in the mind of the employer) to warrant a look at your resume. A catchy cover letter is what drives the hiring manager to go through your CV.

How do you create a cover letter that employers find genuinely interesting?

1. Avoid verbosity – Don't use two words when one will do, in short, avoid too many unnecessary verbs in your sentences. Remember you have limited space to make an impact; therefore you need to choose your words carefully.

2. Write to sell - Every word you use in your cover letter needs to be focused on four things: the position for which you are applying, the organization in which you will work, your ability to meet (and exceed) the needs of the employer as well as your desire to work for the company.

3. Be personable, professional and persuasive - Address your letter to an individual (the contact person) and use the organization's name in the text at least one time. If you do not have the name of a person to reference, use the internet or the phone and find out who is handling that vacancy. Get creative if you have to, but never use "To Whom it May Concern".

4. Be relevant - Write anything that may be of relevance to your desired and highlight capabilities that are important and related to the job position you're applying for.  Remember to match your accomplishments and abilities with the needs of the company (specifically the expectations for the open position).

5. Focus on your achievements and not on the tasks you were assigned to perform. Majority of people do the mistake of filling up their cover letters with all the responsibilities they were assigned to work on which back fires them in the interview sessions as the employers are interested in what you have accomplished and not on what you were assigned to accomplish.

6. Let the employer know you want to work for them and state specific reasons for your conclusion. Hopefully, you will have done enough research about the organization to know why you would want to be a part of their team.

7. Proofread. Check for any grammatical errors before you send your cover letter. Nothing will work against you faster than a misspelled word. In fact, that is often one of the first screening measures taken in identifying which job candidates make it to the next level. If your materials are not perfect, they may be the first to end up in the trash can.