The
personal profile you present to the employer should resemble,
as closely as possible, the gap they are trying to fill.
The
cover letter presents your only opportunity before the interview
to convey a sense of your personality - an important
dimension of your "fit" with an organization which cannot
be gained from the resume alone. It is the first point at
which an employer can sense whether or not the "chemistry"
is right, in terms of bringing you into the organization's
unique "culture".
The cover letter might also convey a sense of your philosophy
of the profession, the kind of energy you bring to projects,
your contribution to the team dynamic, your knowledge of the
field beyond the entry position, and your view of the
implications of current developments within the profession.
The cover letter presents the only opportunity you have before
being hired to demonstrate a skill that almost all employers
regard as crucial - your skill in written communication. The
quality of your written communications - the fluency,
eloquence, grammatical correctness, precision of language,
and focus (and let's not forget honesty!) with which you express
yourself - is a very significant factor in evaluating you
as a potential hire.
Don't waste this important opportunity to impress employers
by writing a boring "textbook" cover letter that sounds just
like those that will be mailed out by hundreds of thousands
of other grads ("I read of your opening…./ I will graduate
from…./My major is…./ My courses have prepared
me…./ Enclosed is my resume…./ I am enthusiastic
about the possibility of…./ I can be reached at…./
Thank you for your time…./ Last summer I… .").
That boring letter - though correct and true - is a waste
of a unique and limited opportunity to establish your desireability
and to build your case. This is your chance to market yourself.
No one else has your level of commitment to that goal.
The cover letter is most definitely not just the piece
of paper that goes in the envelope with your resume. It does
get read, and it is one of the two pieces of evidence that
employers use to evaluate whether or not you are worth inviting
for an interview, a decision that costs them time and money.
If you have created an impression that causes employers to
respond: "I need to interview this candidate - I want to hear
more" - then you have succeeded in writing an effective cover
letter.
