Resume Preparation Guide

The Cover Letter

In an active job search, your cover letter and resume should complement one another. Both are tailored to a particular reader you have contacted or to a specific job target. Modify your cover letter for each employer to give it a fresh, personal tone.

In the past, most cover letters merely told the employer where the applicant heard about the job and stated that a resume was attached. Today’s cover letter is used for a variety of purposes:

• Links the name of a person known to both the applicant and the employer.
• Indicates the applicant’s interest in the job
• Indicates the job seeker’s knowledge of the organization
• Lists additional information not included in the resume
• Emphasizes skills, background, and strengths that match the job requirements
• Explains special circumstances
• Asks for an interview (and indicates the job seeker’s follow-up plan)

Keep your cover letter short (one page) and make sure it is easy to read. Avoid long paragraphs. Use short lists. And address the cover letter to an individual by name and title, if possible.

The cover letter that follows contains some of the suggestions listed above. Use it as a starting point to compose the letter you will send to each employer to whom you apply.

You probably will spend a lot of time and effort to ensure that your resume is “perfect” – and rightly so. But if you send it with a cover letter that is quickly dashed off containing even one conspicuous error, all of your effort will be wasted.