Preparing for a new career is very exciting for a person just entering the workforce.  Consider a cover letter as a professional introduction to yourself.  You are going to tell your potential employer many eye-catching things about yourself in a short amount of space, so you want to be sure to put all the right information out there.  If you present yourself the right way in the cover letter, you will be setting yourself up for success in the long haul.

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A cover letter tells the employer who you are and your best qualities.  It will also tell them why you are the right candidate for the job, as well as your interest with the company.  With that in mind, let’s take some steps to make your cover letter be the best possible first impression and make that impression imprint on your future employer’s mind.

The cover letter answers three main questions, it is very important that you answer them:

1. Why are you interested in the position you are applying for?
2. What are your qualifications for the position you are applying for?
3. Why should this company hire you for the position?

The questions sound easy enough to answer, right?  It isn’t always that simple.  There are certain rules to remember when you are answering these questions in order to make your cover letter a knock out of the ballpark and get you the job.

Here are some things to remember while writing your cover letter:

• Give information only about the position that you are applying for when setting up qualification portion of your cover letter.  For example, if you were applying for a job in customer service, you wouldn’t want to put in qualifications in web design.  It needs to be extremely job-specific to the position in which you wish to obtain.
• Be direct and to the point, but keep it professional.  If you babble on too much, you could lose the employer’s interest in your letter.
• Short is sweet.  One page on a cover letter is perfect.  You don’t want to restate everything it says in your resume, they can read that for themselves.  Simply answer the questions above, highlighting your strong points only.  You have to make them want to look at that resume.

A great resource for some sample cover letters and more information is Georgetown University’s Career Education Center’s website.   Good luck on your job search and remember to make yourself shine above the rest!