Believe it or not you do not need to prick your fingertips with blood and use it as ink in order to write an impressive cover letter that will complement your resume quite nicely. In fact, if you are willing to look at the cover letter writing process in a rather unconventional light you just might find that the process can be almost fun in a challenging sort of way.



Most people fail from the start when it comes to writing a cover letter because they somehow miss the point of writing one all together. A good cover letter is not a summary of the resume at all. In fact, a good cover letter merely invites the hiring manger to read the resume rather than rehashing the bland details that are more often than not contained in the resume. Your cover letter should be anything but bland if you are hoping for results. Hiring managers sift through dozens if not hundreds of bland cover letters on a daily basis. If you want to create a resume that will stand out you need to create one that is fun to read. The best way to do that is to have some degree of fun while writing it. Yes, you did read that correctly, I said have fun with your cover letter.

Having fun while writing a cover letter shows hiring managers that you can have fun with some of the less pleasant tasks that will be required in the real working world as well and definitely sets you apart from those boring two-dimensional cover letters that are littering the wasteland known as the dead pile of cover letters. If you want a few extra brownie points you might try laughing while writing your cover letter chances are if you find it funny and entertaining so might the hiring manager that has been bored to tears for hours sifting through all the others.

The purpose of the cover letter is not to highlight your skills, education, or prowess in your field but rather to entice the hiring manger that yours is the resume he or she wants to pay attention to over the many others that have graced his or her desk. You are not likely to do this if your cover letter sounds like all the others that have come his or her way. Make it sound different, add your ?voice? to your cover letter and make sure it is your voice at its best. You want your cover letter to be an interesting and entertaining read that is actually true to who you are. Your personality should fill the page if you are really interested in landing the interview. Of course you will want to make sure you bring your personality along with you when the interview occurs so that they know you are one and the same person that wrote the cover letter.

If you are still too nervous about writing the cover letter to inject it with your personality you should change your mind set about your cover letter. The cover letter isn't about getting the job. That should never be the purpose of writing a cover letter. The goal of your cover letter should be in getting the interview. This takes a little bit of the stress off and reminds you that the job search process is much more than one thing though a great cover letter can definitely open the door to an interview you will need to shine in the interview as well. Do not hinge all hopes of getting the job on the cover letter though or you will find that you come across far too bland and are held back from showing the hiring manager that true appeal of your personality through fear.

Cover letters can be stressful but if you make them fun you will find that you procrastinate less and, more importantly, land more interviews when all is said and done. Hiring managers hire people to work with their companies and not a set of skills. If you keep this in mind it is much easier to write a winning cover letter and enjoy (well almost) the process of doing so.