Cover Letter Tip #3 - Cover Letters Are Morphed Business Letters
In these days of e-mail and instant communication, the art of letter writing has increasingly been lost.
There was a time, very long ago, that school children were actually instructed not only in the art of writing letters, but in the various reasons of doing so, and how letters for various purposes differed from one another.
You may be one of those rare individuals who still handwrite what were once known as "friendly" letters - and if so, you understand the difference between that and a business letter, of which a cover letter is one variety.
As a business letter, a job-search letter is never handwritten.
Since typing machines became portable and widely available, it has been standard practice to write professional correspondence on such machines.
Today with the wide accessibility of computers, there is no reason not to provide professionally typed and neatly printed correspondence.
Choice of Font Believe it or not, this is important - and it goes beyond simple readability.
After all, fonts like "Shipwreck," "Friday 13th," "American Graffiti" or even "Upsie Daisy" (yes, these are all actual True-Type fonts) may be legible, but will certainly give the wrong impression about who and what you are.
It goes without saying that "calligraphy" fonts such as "Jans Hand" and "Dear John" are inappropriate for use in cover letters too.
Most sources agree 10 or 12 point Courier and New Times Roman are probably the best choices, followed by Arial and Tahoma.
Any of these fonts are clean, businesslike, and easy to read.
The Soul of Wit "Brevity is the soul of wit" as well as business correspondence.
Remember that whoever reads your letter is probably responsible for skimming countless pieces of resume and cover letter correspondence every day.
Remember, people are still hiring people ...
computers do help shoulder some of that strain.
Assuming an average of 100 job inquiries are received in the course of a 40-hour week, well, that breaks down to about 20 per day or just over an hour and a half each day reviewing *only* cover letters.
Now, keep in mind that number might be light for some.
But if you think about how AT&T and IBM have noted receiving a million-plus resumes each year from college students alone, you really have to wonder how much time is spent reviewing screened candidates once all prerequisites have been met.
So do yourself a favor.
Make yours memorable - and brief.
Three to five paragraphs of between three and five sentences each is plenty.
About E-mail It's generally best to submit your letter as a ".
doc" (Microsoft Word Document) attachment, or simply translating the content of your intro letter into the body of the email.
When sending your letter via email, write as heavy as 2-3 paragraphs in length or as light as a few words or lines.
For job-searching purposes, however, weigh towards the heavier length.
There was a time, very long ago, that school children were actually instructed not only in the art of writing letters, but in the various reasons of doing so, and how letters for various purposes differed from one another.
You may be one of those rare individuals who still handwrite what were once known as "friendly" letters - and if so, you understand the difference between that and a business letter, of which a cover letter is one variety.
As a business letter, a job-search letter is never handwritten.
Since typing machines became portable and widely available, it has been standard practice to write professional correspondence on such machines.
Today with the wide accessibility of computers, there is no reason not to provide professionally typed and neatly printed correspondence.
Choice of Font Believe it or not, this is important - and it goes beyond simple readability.
After all, fonts like "Shipwreck," "Friday 13th," "American Graffiti" or even "Upsie Daisy" (yes, these are all actual True-Type fonts) may be legible, but will certainly give the wrong impression about who and what you are.
It goes without saying that "calligraphy" fonts such as "Jans Hand" and "Dear John" are inappropriate for use in cover letters too.
Most sources agree 10 or 12 point Courier and New Times Roman are probably the best choices, followed by Arial and Tahoma.
Any of these fonts are clean, businesslike, and easy to read.
The Soul of Wit "Brevity is the soul of wit" as well as business correspondence.
Remember that whoever reads your letter is probably responsible for skimming countless pieces of resume and cover letter correspondence every day.
Remember, people are still hiring people ...
computers do help shoulder some of that strain.
Assuming an average of 100 job inquiries are received in the course of a 40-hour week, well, that breaks down to about 20 per day or just over an hour and a half each day reviewing *only* cover letters.
Now, keep in mind that number might be light for some.
But if you think about how AT&T and IBM have noted receiving a million-plus resumes each year from college students alone, you really have to wonder how much time is spent reviewing screened candidates once all prerequisites have been met.
So do yourself a favor.
Make yours memorable - and brief.
Three to five paragraphs of between three and five sentences each is plenty.
About E-mail It's generally best to submit your letter as a ".
doc" (Microsoft Word Document) attachment, or simply translating the content of your intro letter into the body of the email.
When sending your letter via email, write as heavy as 2-3 paragraphs in length or as light as a few words or lines.
For job-searching purposes, however, weigh towards the heavier length.
Source...