Crafting a well-worded, concise and effective cover letter can be the difference between landing and interview or not. When you are applying for jobs in Charleston, having a solid cover letter is of at least equal importance as having a good resume. Avoiding mistakes and following the right steps will help your letter stand out from the rest in the eyes of potential employers. Here are a few helpful cover letter tips, courtesy of Seth Porges of Forbes:
1. Dont repeat your resume: this is a pretty common one. A lot of applicants treat their cover letters as just extended versions of their resumes, regurgitating all of their prior work experience and education into the letter, forgetting the fact that that is what resumes are for. Briefly recapping your experience in one or two sentences is fine, but always remember that your resume is about your experience; your cover letter is about you and what you will bring to the company.
2. Keep it short: cover letters should never exceed a page. In fact, the average cover letter can be written in just three paragraphs and still contain all of the relevant information. If you are having trouble keeping your letter short, following step one will probably help.
3. Address no one: often times applicants will not be aware of whom to address in their letter. If you are ignorant as to whom exactly will be reading your letter, dont bother addressing anyone at all; jumping right into the body of the letter is acceptable.
4. Dont ever use phrase My name is ______, and I am applying for the position of _____.
5. Give it a strong ending: End your letter with two to three sentences explaining how your experience can help your job performance. Once that is written, nothing else should come after it.
By Kyle Wise
Click here to find Charleston Jobs
Back to About