21.5: The Résumé Cover Letter
- Page ID
- 180478
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A cover letter is a personal communication written to a specific person in an organization. The cover letter speaks for you to garner the interest of the employer-write the cover letter so that the employer will want to read your résumé and offer you an interview.
- Format: Use white or off-white 81/2 x 11-inch high-quality paper following the format for a personal letter (chapter 15). Do not use Air Force letterhead.
- Address the letter, if possible, to a specific person such as the hiring official, work center manager or human resources executive. If addressing the letter to an official position without the name, use gender-neutral terms in the salutation (e.g., "Dear Manager").
- Use a positive tone that is genuine and natural to stress how your association with the firm will benefit you both.
- Use action verbs, personal pronouns, life, conviction, humor, assurance and confidence to sell them on hiring you. Delete irrelevant and negative information.
- Limit the letter to one page; limit the body to two or three paragraphs.
- First sentence: Grab the reader’s attention and use the name of a mutual contact.
- Highlight your relevant experience, skills and accomplishments that make you unique for the job and entices the reader to call you. Consider using bullets to create eye appeal and place the most relevant information first/at the top.
- Close with a bid for a brief meeting (don’t use interview) and write as though you expect it to occur. Indicate you will follow up with a call to arrange a time.
- Make it professional--edit, edit, edit-then keep the file to draft future cover letters.