A successful cover letter needs to be targeted to a specific employer showing them at that you have researched and understood what their company is about. While your resume is a comprehensive list of your qualifications a cover letter is a personal pitch to the employer explaining two things. Number one, why their company would benefit from your employment; and number two, why you want to work for them.

Each cover letter should be tailored to go with a specific company. Do not make the mistake of creating a generic cover letter and attaching it to your resume, doing so shows lack of interest and plain laziness. You need to be willing to invest time and energy to formulate a directly targeted cover letter showing the hiring manager you are a legitimate prospect and not a desperate job seeker spamming out their resume to anyone who will take it.

The four main things that you should keep in mind when creating a cover letter are:

1. Research
2. Professionalism
3. Why me?
4. Format

Doing background research shows the employer that you have a genuine interest in their company! An easy start would be to research their website and do a quick google search. While doing that it’s a good idea to retain any excess information such as company history which could be useful during an interview, should you get one.

Keep the cover letter professional! Don’t use any crazy fonts or clipart. Keep it direct and to the point. Making it an eyesore to the reader will leave a nasty impression if they choose to read the entire thing. Format ties in here also. Research sample cover letters to give you an idea of how professional format looks.

After doing research go back and make an outline for yourself as to why you would be the ideal canidate for the avalible possition. This is a chance for you to expand on certain sections of your resume, but don’t get to wordy and try to expand on all of them–just the ones that are more so directly related to the specific job.

A cover letter gives your resume a boost, shows interest to the employer, and gives you a personality in your absense. Make sure all your effort that you put into your resume doesn’t go to waste by letting the cover letter fall by the wayside. For some examples of cover letters specific to your industry, be sure to check out our free sample cover letters on ResumeBucket.  Do everything in your power to get that job!