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Chapter 17

The Cover Letter

Connection

In This Chapter
➤ Your secret weapon: a cover letter that lets your personality shine through
➤ The issue of including salary on your cover letter

➤ An effective cover letter, part by part
➤ Four easy steps to creating multiple cover letters

You have a great-looking resume, and you’re eager to send it off to Mr. or Ms. Employer. But
wait! You need one more thing: a cover letter. And not just any old cover letter—you want a
terrific letter that makes a great first impression. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to write a
cover letter that’s quick and easy to compose, sounds personable, and gets you the results
you want!

The Secret to Success

Here’s my secret for writing an outstanding cover letter: Think of your letter as the basis of
the ideal script for the job interview you’ll have with the person to whom you’re writing.
Let your letter indicate the following things to the reader:
➤ What topic could break the ice at the beginning of the interview
➤ What kind of personality you have
➤ What types of things you have to talk about in your meeting
➤ What you hope to get from the interview

If your cover letter can say these four things, it will make an employer start imagining that
you and she are having a conversation. When she does that, she’ll be more apt to read your
resume and then reach for the phone to call you for an interview!