Email Cover Letters

Posted by Staff Editor • May 15, 2006

At a recent career fair, I spoke with an HR professional who reads loads of resumes every day. He made this plea to me: "Please tell people that just because they're sending resumes by email doesn't mean they can get away with a poor cover letter, or no cover letter at all."

So don't cut corners. Here are five ways to make sure your email cover letters deliver a powerful impact when sent with your resume.

Avoid character assassination
Email is quirky. Bullets, underlines, bold or italic characters won't show up correctly when you paste them from a word processing document into an email message.
Avoid this problem by first saving your cover letter in plain text format (ASCII). Then replace special characters with ASCII-friendly ones, like these: dashes (-), asterisks (*) and arrows (>).

Caution! Wide load
If your cover letter is too wide, it may produce strange line breaks on the reader's screen, which can hurt readability.
Solution? Set the width of your cover letter to about 4-3/4", or less than 80 characters wide.

Follow the right order
When sending your cover letter and resume in an email message, your cover letter should come first and your resume second. For easier reading, include a line that clearly separates the two documents, like this:
==== END COVER LETTER ====

Get personal
If you know someone influential at your target company, say so! This can help establish a rapport between you and your reader.
Here's an example cover letter beginning that can do this:
"Dear Employer (insert name if known),
"George Best suggested I contact you regarding your possible need for ..."

Enthusiasm sells
Don't go overboard and tell readers that you're a stockholder, for instance. But do try to convey your desire to work for the company. If you feel strongly that the position you're after is a perfect match to your skills and experience, say so!

Following these five tips will help ensure that your email cover letters get the attention they deserve.

Best of luck to you!

-- Kevin Donlin is the author of "Resume and Cover Letter Secrets Revealed," a do-it-yourself manual that will help you find a job in 30 days ... or your money back. For more information, please visit http://www.CollegeRecruiter.com/1dayresumes.html

Melissa Kennedy • Jul 19, 2013

Thanks, Jack. It's so important to create a cover letter that's specifically tailored to the job opening. Of course, you can use some of the same phrases, but edit it so that it's clear that you are interested in that particular job. Most people can spot a form letter from a mile away and it just looks tacky.

JACK • Jul 22, 2009

some tips which follow in making cover letters of resumes* Do not write a long and aimless cover letter for jobs. It is likely that you may have many qualifications that make you stand out, but you should only involve those that can add value to the job you are applying for. Select 2-3 of your top, relevant work experiences or qualifications and feature them in an attention arresting way.* Get a second opinion. Always have someone to proof read your cover letter before you hand it to a potential employer. Take in constructive criticism and amend your letter accordingly. It is not uncommon to overlook mistakes, and spelling and grammar check is never fully reliable.* Again, do not use a one-size-fits-all cover letter. Create your letter from scratch, and ensure that it is customised for the company and position you are applying to.* If your cover letter is full of grammatical and spelling mistakes as well as incoherent messages, it will most likely end up in the paper basket. Put in effort to ensure that your letter is well structured, free of errors and flows from one point to another. Essentially, make it easy and nice to read.

Email Cover Letters

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