Page 28 - 201 Killer Cover Letters

03 6/27/03 9:20 AM Page 15
picture him or her. Try saying out loud the points you wish to make as if you were
sitting face to face in an interview, and then jot them down. Flesh out these ideas
into full sentences that reflect the way you speak. After all, your interviewer will
want to meet the person to whom she was introduced in your letter, and it had
better be you!
For a clear example, look back to Letters 2-1 and 2-2 by Philip Tucker. Letter
2-1 is replete with foggy jargon, leaving you without a single clear opinion of the
candidate—except that he is likely to be boring. Letter 2-2 has introduced you to
a person who has studied and is currently authoring a research paper, an individ-
ual with personality traits that sound appealing—someone you might not mind
interviewing, which is, after all, the purpose of the letter.
You’ll find words and phrases to avoid listed in Chapter 10.

5. ELIM-ME-NATE
Do focus on the needs of your prospective employer.
What do you talk about in your resume? Me. Me. Me. Me. What do you talk about
in your interview? Me. Me. Me. Me.
So use your letter to address the needs of your next employer. Focus your
thoughts on the needs of your next boss. After all, your prospective employer ex-
pects you to meet her needs on a daily basis. Why should she care what your em-
ployment objective is or what you’re looking for in a job? She will hire you and
pay you for the specific contribution you will make to increasing profits, improv-
ing performance, or enhancing productivity. In the letter, tell her how you’ll ac-
complish this.
Successful jobhunters create letters that link their strengths and talents to the
benefits they bring to the firm, department, team, or supervisor with whom they’ll
be working. Chapter 3 is devoted entirely to illustrating how to achieve this cru-
cial goal.
6. APPEALING IS REVEALING
Do make your letter easy to read.
The visual appearance of a letter is as vital as its content, maybe even more so. Be-
cause if you’re lucky, your reader will devote 30 seconds to your letter before turn-
ing to the next one in the pile. Make it easy to skim. Note that Letter 2-1 is boring
in appearance. Its italic print and fully justified margins make it difficult to read.
On the other hand, Letter 2-2 is visually appealing. Its content actually appears to
be interesting, and the letter can be scanned by the eye in seconds. The reader who
spends 30 seconds on Letter 2-2 will form an instant, positive impression of the
candidate.
How do you make a letter appeal to its recipient before he or she even reads it?
Simple. You can use the same tricks that advertisers use. Sample Letter 2-4 puts to
use many of the proven formatting techniques upon which direct mail experts de-
pend. But first, examine another unappealing, unrevealing letter. (See Letter 2-3.)

15