Free Online Resume Builder

How To Write A Resume Cover Letter That Will Get Your Resume Read

A Resume Cover Letter has only one purpose - to stimulate the recipient of your resume to review your resume. This free resume cover letter tutorial assumes that you will be sending your resume and resume cover letter by email.

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.

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 them 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.

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.

Writing a good Cover Letter requires following some basic steps such as the 9 steps that follow.

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.

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

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.

Richard E. Ward, the IT Job Coach, has many years experience as an IT Headhunter and provides IT professionals personal coaching through ITJobCoach.com. Review our online tutorials at IT Job Coach Online Tutorials

MORE ARTICLES:

Market Yourself with a Resume that Gets Results
Your resume should be like any good marketing plan ? designed to sell! It needs to hook potential employers as soon as they see it, so they bypass the discard pile and take a second look. Creating a resume that accomplishes that can't be done in just a few minutes because there's much more to it than listing your work history and year of graduation. Try thinking of it as an art form, because it is. Great resumes get a second look and an interview, but bad ones don't get a second thought.

Job Search - Resume Tips To Make Your Job Search Easier
With jobs more difficult to find and competition fierce, you need any edge that will make your job hunt easier, or at the very least, more organized A great job may conceivably have over one hundred applicants, so it is hard to make yourself visible without being overly aggressive or too pushy

Employment Resume: Promote yourself
Resume writing is something a lot of people struggle with, because some have trouble promoting themselves and the opposite when people get carried away and use 3 words when 1 will do. You can find countless sites on the internet that will keep you right, offering you templates, advice as well as a do's and don'ts list so you should be ok.

Internet Resume Search Just Got an Impressive Facelift with TalentHook Sphere
With expanded search functionality, shared tracking features and the addition of over 800 new Internet sites, TalentHook Sphere offers recruiters the most comprehensive Internet resume retrieval solution on the market.

Writing A Resume That Gets You Noticed
As the old saying goes, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression." In today's business world, of course, that first impression usually does not come from a face-to-face conversation, but from whatever you can tell your future boss about yourself on paper: your resume.

Resume Writing - Things to Consider
You are looking for a job and you are out to land the job of a lifetime. It can happen! Before you consider want ads, job websites, or making inquiries of companies you are interested in, you will need a resume.

Free Resume Examples: Use Them, But Dont
There are lots of free resume examples (or free resume samples) on the web.Try searching for "free resume example" at Google and take a look at the almost 5 million pages that come back (the less restrictive "resume example" gives you 7 million pages, if you've got more time on your hands).

Resume Rules Meant To Be Broken
Have you ever wondered what happens to your resume after a prospective employer receives it It used to be that someone ? a human ? would sift through all the resumes, scanning for keywords and relevant experience

Resume Writing
Resume writing can be a daunting task to those unfamiliar with the process, and even to those who are familiar with it. It is important to do your research and make sure your resume writing skills are up to par, but never fear, for there are several ways to accomplish this.

How To Choose The Right Resume Format
After a thirty (30) second glance lots of resumes get thrown into the wastebasket. One of the reasons this happens is because the resume writer has failed to use the appropriate resume format.

Resume Expert Launches New Online Resource and Resume Building Tools for Job Seekers
Resume and job search industry veteran, Carl Bascom, has launched a new resume writing and job search resource website at http://www.resumewinners.com Resume resources include a resume workbook series called the "You're Hired" Series.

Business Resume Tips
For most job-seekers, the resume is the only way to get your foot in the door Unfortunately, the employer probably gets so many resumes, that he barely has time to read through them all

New Video Resume Technology Changes the Job Market
SearchVideoResumes.com links employers and candidates from around the world.

Resume Objectives: How Do You Know if Resume Objectives Are Right for You?
Some experts say NEVER bother with resume objectives. While others say they should be an essential element on every resume.