The truth is, sending a cover letter and resume through email is so much harder -- meaning, so much more effort is required on the applicant's part that will get his or her foot in the door. Think about it. It's not so much harder to discard email than it is to trash applications sent the regular way. In fact, it's a lot easier. All anybody has to do to get read an email is to click on a button -- to delete it, click on another button, press a few keys. For paper mail, there's already comparably a lot of effort taken in ripping open the envelope, taking out the letter, discarding it into the trash. Compared to paper? Email is really a no-brainer. Email cover letters have to work extra hard to get what you want -- and that is an interview, which, if all goes well, will score you the job. But how do you make your cover letter work the way you want it to, through a medium that speeds up the application process but also has a reputation for misunderstandings?

Remember, a substandard email cover letter can be deleted just like that, so work hard at the first few sentences. If the receiver gets bored, the email can be deleted. If the receiver gets confused, the email can be deleted. You can't be around to plead that second chance, you know, that cover letter is often the only chance until you get an interview. Nobody is forcing the employer to read through the entire email. Besides, with that glare the monitor gives out, who would want to? Here's another hard part in making a cover letter to be sent through email: keep it short and sweet. Don't make it a drag to read.

Sound impossible? It's not, really -- just find that happy medium... an email that doesn't bore with just enough information to be appealing. Information, like:

1. the name of the position that you are applying for

2. how your work experience qualifies you for the job

3. what you want the reader to do (hmm... call you for a job interview, maybe)

4. contact information (of course they can just hit the reply button, but phone number and address is also nice.)

Remember to not be impersonal. You're communicating via email but somebody's on the other line, too: research the hiring manager's name, at the very least! You wouldn't want him to mistake your email for spam, now would you? Spell it right, too. It shows some effort on your part, and the hiring manager didn't even get to the body of the email yet. It pays also to spend most effort on the first two sentences of your cover letter -- an invitation to read the rest of what you can offer the company.

Keep in mind that nowadays, in lieu of the viruses, spyware, and other malicious programs that run wild on the internet, many hiring managers don't even open email with attachments. So if you're going to include a resume, it's preferable to include a link to an online copy -- that way, it's always being updated, too.