In essence, when you write a covering letter for a job, it should provide a powerful first impression to the reader. You need to convince them continue reading your letter, persuade them to read your resume and finally and most importantly, consider you for an interview. Maybe a tall order for one letter, however, if you follow these quick and simple cover letter guidelines on using the right format, this task is very much possible. What does a cover letter look like then? While there are no fast and hard rules, but the letter should at least have the following format.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Self explanatory, the first section of your cover letter should include information on how the employer can contact you. If you have contact information for the employer, include that. Otherwise, just list your contact details.

OPENING INTRODUCTION

Begin your introduction with:

Why you’re writing.

The position you’re writing about – include the job      reference and date you saw the opening, if it was      advertised.

How you heard of the opening or organization.

The career area in which you’re enquiring about.

SELLING YOUR SELF

A crucial area of the cover letter guidelines is the part where promote your key skills. At this point, you need to be referencing the parts of your resume that are most pertinent to the position you’re applying for. As obvious as the following may sound, whatever information you provide in the cover letter, that same information should already be in your resume. Applicants often forget to do this.

Rule of thumb: If you think it is valuable enough to write these details in the cover letter then include it on your resume. Other points you should focus on in this section:

State the most relevant qualifications you think would be      of greatest interest to the company.

Let the reader know why you are particularly interested in      their organisation, location, or type of work.

If you have had related experience or specialized training,      be sure to point it out.

You should be particularly emphasising your positive attributes. For example, if you state you have strong communication skills or excellent leadership abilities, then you should illustrate evidence of this, referring to any instances of this in your resume.

The final part of the cover letter guidelines is tailor your letter to the job and the organisation, not vice versa. In other words, match your skills and abilities to their requirements. A cover letter is an important accompaniment to any resume. It introduces you to an employer. Furthermore, it illustrates to them how your skill set matches their job description.

Do you need some extra job cover letter help? Then read our full software descriptions of our featured cover letter creators>>>