Excellent Cover Letter: Professional First ImpressionBefore an employer even reads the first word of the main body of an excellent cover letter, they’ll have received a strongly positive “psychological” first impression about you from the way you’ve chosen to arrange: a) Your page format, Following that, the next thing they’ll notice is how you’ve designed the very beginning and end of your cover letter – your letterhead along with the employer’s address, the date, your salutation and your signature. They’ll notice these things very quickly – within a few seconds – and they’ll often have a lasting impact on their opinion of you and your application. So let's go through them one by one to ensure that you're on the right track. Great First Impressions: Creating a Professional “Look and Feel” These elements may seem insignificant but the actually play a large part in getting your excellent cover letter off on the right foot with employers – employers who are constantly looking for any valid reason to eliminate your resume from their often huge pile of applications. :-) Simple and Traditional Layout As a general rule, it’s best to keep your cover letter simple and traditional in its layout. Most often, anything “creative” or out of the ordinary rubs employers the wrong way, and generally just doesn’t look that great despite our best efforts. In contrast, an excellent cover letter delivers on both “look and feel” and thoughtful and persuasive content. Keep it to Just Under a Page The best length for your cover letter is just under one full page. If you write more than one full page, the employer may not take the time to read it. If it’s less than two thirds of the page it may look empty and give the false impression that you lack sufficient skills, experience and education to do the job. The page should be centred vertically and have a look of fullness without being cramped – just like your resume. Leave one space between each paragraph. Do not right-justify the paragraphs, and keep the paragraphs even on (or “flush” to) the left-hand margin with no indentation. Consistent and Easy-to-Read Font Type and Size It’s important to be consistent in all matters of your layout and design, both within your cover letter and also among your cover letter, resume, reference list and thank you letter. For instance, it’s best to use the same font type and size for the main body of all of these job search documents. I recently reviewed a cover letter for a client that featured four different font types as well as various font sizes. This inconsistency is a big issue with employers, who see it as carelessness and will not bother to read further. Times new roman is my favourite font - an excellent type for most resumes and occupational fields. It’s clean, not too complicated to read, and warm in contrast to other font types like arial that are often too cold and harsh looking when used in hard copy. Garamond is also very nice. A font size of 11 is often ideal. 12 is also good whereas anything larger than 12 often looks “elementary” and font smaller than size 11 is hard to read, again increasing the likelihood that the employer won’t read your cover letter. Beginning and Ending Your Excellent Cover Letter Professionally How can you start and finish your cover letter for maximum professional impact? Professional Letterhead and Email Addresses Use the same letterhead at the top of your cover letter as you do for your resume, but make your name slightly smaller. Within the letterhead, provide your full address including street address, city and state/province as well as one phone number and one email address. Email addresses with your name in them are generally regarded as very professional by employers whereas ones that indicate a nickname, hobby or strictly personal interest of some kind lack professionalism and may give the wrong first impression. Examples of good email addresses are “john.martin.doe at hotmail.com” and “jason.h.johnston at yahoo.com.” Examples of poor email addresses include “bluemoon5000 at hotmail.com” or candydandy1957 at yahoo.com” Accurate Date and Employer Address Remember to always include the date next, commonly written as “Month Day, Year” as in “December 31, 2009.” As much as possible, provide complete employer address information as follows: Mr./Ms. Contact Person Here’s an example: Ms. Joan Weinstein Make sure that everything is accurate and spelled correctly. If the employer doesn’t provide their address information in the job posting, do a quick search for it on their internet website or through a related search. If they don’t give you a contact name, you can substitute a generic term such as “Recruiter,” “Hiring Manager,” “Hiring Committee” or “Human Resources.” This avoids you having to use the old-fashioned terms “Dear Sir/Madam” and “To Whom it May Concern” which sound impersonal and make your cover letter look more like a form letter than a personalized introduction. Salutation and Signature For your salutation, it's common to use the term, “Dear.” You could substitute the term, “Attention” if you think “Dear” is too personal. It's common to write “Sincerely” or “Yours truly” before your signature - these always help you to finish off with a professional touch. Leave a few spaces before your signature to maintain a properly spaced, well balanced and easy-to-follow “look and feel” and finish off your excellent cover letter.
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