A Resume Cover Letter has only one purpose - to stimulate the recipient of your resume to review your resume.

Resume Cover Letter goes in the email message

In the age of e-mail your Cover Letter should go in the message of the e-mail and not as an attachment.

Hiring managers and recruiters receive too many resumes to open and read each and every cover letter that comes as an attachment to an email. The chances are very good that a Cover Letter sent as an attachment will not be opened and read and it fact the email will simply be deleted. But with your Resume Cover Letter in the body of the email your chances of getting noticed improve.

Keep your resume cover letter brief

Keep your resume cover letter brief and to the point. Assume that the person receiving your resume is busy - very busy. They are reviewing other resumes - many. Your cover letter is introducing you to the person who could be hiring you.

So be thoughtful - keep it brief and to the point. You are not writing an essay or a novel. You are trying to communicate with someone who is very busy and you are competing for their attention. You need to help them see that opening your resume many lead thme to the person - or persons - that they are looking to find.

The following pages take you step by step through the nine components necessary in a cover letter including a sample cover letter.

Table of Contents

• 01. How to write a resume cover letter
• 02. Resume Cover Letter: Use Email
• 03. Resume Cover Letter: 9 basic components
• 04. Resume Cover Letter: Sample
• 05. Resume Cover Letter: Take action!

Technorati Tags: resume cover letter, Resume Writing

Maximizing your e-mail impact

For the most part, as an IT professional, you will be sending your Cover Letter and resume by e-mail. Your e-mail will be one of many in the inbox of a recruiter or employer.

Meeting you for the first time

Your e-mail represents you walking into the office of the recipient. They are meeting you for the first time.

Make it easy to read your e-mail

Remember the goal is to make it as easy as possible for the recipient of your e-mail to decide to open your e-mail, read your e-mail and then open and read your resume.

Your Cover Letter is going into the message or body of the e-mail delivering your IT resume.

Let’s take the example of an employer or recruiter who is looking to fill the position of a “SCO UNIX Support Technician”.

Be clear and concise

Be clear, concise and specific in the Subject Line and use the Job Title found in the advertisement or job posting plus your name:

• Subject line :

  SCO UNIX Support Technician job application by J. Itguru
   

Now let’s look at the nine (9) components of a Cover Letter that goes into the Message or Body of the e-mail.

Table of Contents

• 01. How to write a resume cover letter
• 02. Resume Cover Letter: Use Email
• 03. Resume Cover Letter: 9 basic components
• 04. Resume Cover Letter: Sample
• 05. Resume Cover Letter: Take action!

Technorati Tags: resume cover letter, Resume Writing

Writing a good Resume Cover Letter requires following some basic steps and I recommend that your resume cover letter include the following 9 components:

Body of the email

The Cover Letter goes into the body or message of the email attached to your resume and uses the following nine(9) components:

1. Your name, telephone number and e-mail address at the top of the Cover Letter.
    
2. Address the letter to someone in particular, if you can, or use To Whom It May Concern.
    
3. Name the position that you are applying for unless a file reference number is requested, then use the file reference number.
    
4. Briefly give an overview of your experience as it relates to the position being applied for.
    
5. In point form list the 3 or 4 most career highlights that relate directly to the job according to the ad that you are responding to.
    
6. Tell them that you have attached your resume that provides a detailed overview of your skills, experience, education, training and achievements.
7. Thank the person reading your resume.
    
8. Sign the e-mail with your name, home telephone number and personal e-mail address.
    
9. Add a PS to the note telling the recepient that you check your voice mail and email on regular daily basis.
    

Let’s look at a sample Cover Letter

Here’s a sample Cover Letter.

Table of Contents

• 01. How to write a resume cover letter
• 02. Resume Cover Letter: Use Email
• 03. Resume Cover Letter: 9 basic components
• 04. Resume Cover Letter: Sample
• 05. Resume Cover Letter: Take action!

Technorati Tags: resume cover letter, Resume Writing

As you recall the position being applied for is that of an SCO UNIX Technical Support, a good covering letter that uses the 9 Resume Cover Letter components could read:

How is this Cover Letter received

As a recruiter I am going to open the email and review the resume - and so is the typical recruiter or hiring manager.

Table of Contents

• 01. How to write a resume cover letter
• 02. Resume Cover Letter: Use Email
• 03. Resume Cover Letter: 9 basic components
• 04. Resume Cover Letter: Sample
• 05. Resume Cover Letter: Take action!

Technorati Tags: resume cover letter, Resume Writing

Take action and write a resume cover letter to introduce your IT resume. Just follow the steps in this tutorial and write a resume cover letter that works for you.

Taking the necessary steps to write a resume cover letter to introduce your IT resume will pay big dividends.

Let’s Review Resume Cover Letter Basics

Let’s review the basics so you can get started:

• use the Job Title found in the job advertisement in the Subject of the email;

 

• the Cover Letter goes into the body or message of the email attached to your resume;

 

• there are nine (9) components that make up the Cover Letter

 

Resume Cover Letter Action Steps

• Now print off a copy of the Cover Letter and write your own using Notepad or some other text editor.

 

• When you are finished you can easily cut & paste into any email that you then send.

Table of Contents

• 01. How to write a resume cover letter
• 02. Resume Cover Letter: Use Email
• 03. Resume Cover Letter: 9 basic components
• 04. Resume Cover Letter: Sample
• 05. Resume Cover Letter: Take action!

Technorati Tags: resume cover letter, Resume Writing