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An important, but often undervalued, piece of the job application process is the cover letter. Many call writing one an art, and just as many will end up using a cookie-cutter letter they found from somewhere else. What must be aimed for is to be original and make yourself stand out, while maintaining professionalism.

Add a Dose of Caffeine

… Not literally, of course. Yet, take the following into consideration: You are one of countless applicants for the same position. The likelihood is, the person that is going to receive your resume will have to go through many that day. Even with a killer resume, yours can easily be overlooked if it’s lacking pizazz. Do not using dull languages. Instead, incorporate a sense of liveliness to the cover letter. Let the hiring rep know that you’re excited about the job, and they’ll get excited about you.

Make it Personal

A good candidate does his/her research. Not only on the company, not only on the position, not only on potential bosses, but also on the human resources side of things. Find out who will be looking at your resume and address them by their name. There are pretty much two reasonable ways to go about this. Either give a call to the office and speak only with the receptionist to inquire about the name of the hiring manager, or using a job search engine like LinkedIn will allow you to see who posted the listing. Only use a title to address them by if a name is absolutely not available. Be sure to use the best one instead of the extremely impersonable ’sir or madam.’

Be Attractive

As energetic and personable one may be, it will be difficult to stand out if some keywords are not laced throughout the cover letter. Get the reader hooked by including some of your more marketable skills. If there are key terms used in the job listing that are not in your resume, now is the time to strategically put them into the letter. Remember that a cover letter is not a summary of your resume, but a necessary supplemental element.

Stay Active

The rest of your letter does not portray a lazy candidate, so don’t drop into it at the end. Remain in an active voice throughout. At the closing, don’t only thank the reader for their time, but let them know that you will follow up with them. This shows them that you’re a) interested in the position/company and it’s not just another resume sent out; b) you will be an active/interactive employee that keeps their word.

Perfecting a cover letter is not an easy task for many, and the same goes for the resume. Take advantage of the 360 Job Interview pool of experts and enjoy the personalized resume service by a human resources executive from your industry.