Cover Letter Essentials

An often overlooked aspect of a candidate's job search strategy is the cover letter. There has been debate in recruitment circles about how much value to put on a cover letter, but an expert in the area, Jimmy Sweeney, believes it is the key to getting your foot in the door to an interview.

He believes that a cover letter will help its owner stand out from other candidates. A cover letter shows a lot about you, your personality, your attention to detail and your ability to put yourself forward as a must-see person.

Employers often relate stores of receiving resumes in the post, with no introduction, no reference to the position, and no personality. As well as being unprofessional, doing this is viewed as plain rudeness. It shows that you have an extremely casual approach to life, especially to your career.

However when a well-written cover letter is received, one that is tailored to the job in question, one that shows a little bit of who you are, employers stop and take notice. This can mean that your resume with cover letter will be read ahead of the others in the 'maybe' pile.

The cover letter should outline the reasons why you are the best person for the job. It should encourage the reader to want to turn the page to read more about you in your resume. It should satisfy these criteria:

• You can do the job - you show (succinctly) that you have the knowledge, skills, experience and/or abilities

• You want to do the job - you demonstrate your interest not only in the position in question, but that you have the attributes that would fit well with the businesses or company's direction

• You will fit in - illustrate your goals and values to show that they match those of the company.

If you have difficulty putting your cover letter together, seek help rather than submitting something sub-standard. One resource that has had great success for those whose cover letter writing skills need work, is Jimmy Sweeney's "Amazing Cover Letter Creator".

It's a simple to use point-and-click package with some great templates and proven sentences that will see you produce your own personalized cover letter in just a few minutes.

The free bonuses that Jimmy has included in the package, will make it very difficult for an employer to ignore your application.