While free cover letter templates are good as a reference, that is really their only useful purpose. Just read the thing. Do you know anyone who talks like that? Does anyone really say, ?Please reference the enclosed resume??
The good news for you is, so many people use these free cover letters that if you right anything original your cover letter has a much better chance of standing out from the crowd, and that is what this game is all about; getting your cover letter noticed.
Stand Out From the Crowd
The internet has made it so easy to click a button and send out a resume and cover letter that hiring managers may have to sift through dozens (or hundreds) of cover letters to find a few that are worth interviewing. With that volume, it is unrealistic to expect that they will read each individual letter from start to finish. Instead, they quickly scan the cover letters to see if there is anything that catches their attention. If your letter uses the same tired language as every other applicant that used a cover letter template, it will blend right in with the crowd. If you want to stand out, you have to be original.
Do Your Research
The first step toward originality is to do a little research. Start by finding the name of the person that will be reviewing your cover letter. Catch their attention by including their name. After reading ?Dear Hiring Manger? countless times, seeing their own name will make them slow for a second look. Not only does it stand out, it sends a message that this is important enough to you to make the extra effort.
The next area you want to find out is a little bit about the company and its values. While you are writing the body of your cover letter, make sure you word it in a way that reflects the values of the company. If the company values excellent customer service, you can talk about ways you have demonstrated a commitment to customer service. Remember, if you want this job you have to show them how you can benefit them. It is not about you.
Be Specific
When you do write the body of your cover letter, limit yourself to a few specific qualifications. You only have one page to work with, so you have to be brief. Look at the list of requirements in the classified ad, and pick a couple that you feel are strong areas for you. Then you can mention what they require, and tell them how your experiences and qualifications will fill the company's needs. Anything you can add that will demonstrate that you have done some research about the company will increase the level of interest in your cover letter.
Be Alive
If you have taken the time to read one of the free cover letter templates, you quickly see how lifeless they are. If this is supposed to be a reflection of you and your abilities, then lifeless is not the message you want to send. You are unique individual with likes and dislikes. There you feel passionate about things. Your cover letter needs to show that.
If there are areas in your job that you love to work on, say so. Read your cover letter out loud; if your passion does not come through reword the letter so it does come through.
Ask
Before you close your letter, make sure you ask for an interview. So many cover letters miss the mark here, and it is a very important step. While it is all well and good to express an interest in the job, it is the call for action that really catches the reader's attention. After you ask for the interview, be sure to include your phone number so the interviewer can contact you.
This is your chance to call attention to yourself. If you do not get noticed, you will not get hired. Be unique. Be alive. Be yourself.
Not all free cover letter templates can effectively market your skills. For one, these templates were created as a simple way of giving you an immediate solution to your immediate need: to write a decent cover letter. And therein lies the problem. 'Decent' can mean 'passable' or 'okay' or 'can do' but it doesn't mean spectacular or excellent or terrific and that's just where your problem might begin.
Why a free cover letter template is not your best solution
A 'decent' cover letter will not hold the attention of a potential employer. If you're lucky, it could be given a cursory glance before it's crumpled up, thrown in the trash can or shredded to pieces. When that happens, consider your chances of landing that particular job as zilch.
When you're looking for a job, you don't want just any job ? you want a job that can offer you security, potential growth and possibilities for advancement. You probably won't run after a job if you think it offers little in return. Now, if you have a great cover letter template to use, wouldn't that increase your chances of landing a job you'll love?
Will a cover letter template solve your job hunting problems?
Depends on what type of cover letter template you're using. Free cover letter templates are not always up to par with recent industry standards. If you look closely, you'll notice that the style of writing used in many free cover letter templates is archaic and boring. If you've seen other cover letters before, you'll find many of the words and phrases used in these free templates as the very same words you've read 5, maybe 10 or 15 years ago.
That's because these free templates were created to meet the needs of every job hunter from the box stacker to the forklift driver to the accountant to the CEO. There is just not enough detail in these free cover letter samples to make them extra special and effective enough to actually showcase what you can offer. Now put yourself in the shoes of the employer. Would you care to bother with a cover letter that seems so out of place and unappealing? I thought so.
It takes money to make money.
Not all free things are good. If you want the best job in the world, you'll need to be able to use the best cover letter template to market your best assets. It only makes sense. You have to give a little extra effort into your job hunting in order to capture the kind of job that will reward you later on.
After all, what's the point of wasting your time in an effort that is bound to end as a failure or worse, a disaster? Believe me, a bad cover letter template will do more harm to your professional reputation if you let it, so why bother at all?
It will take some effort to write a cover letter but that can be remedied by an excellent cover letter template. It's much easier and more convenient to use. Build your career on a solid foundation that will offer you a lot of possibilities in the future and make sure you start with a knock out cover letter template.
Mario Churchill has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Anger Control and Credit Cards. Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For more information on. Mario Churchill's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.