Eight Rules of Direct Mail that You Should Apply to Your Cover Letter

Here are some thoughts from pages 30-32 of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (a book I liked very much) that give the author's thoughts on how a cover letter is a piece of direct mail. Here main point -- your cover letter is a sales tool where you're trying to sell yourself to a stranger. As such, you can get your best bang out of it by using some techniques from the direct mail industry such as:

1. Open with a bang. Use your first line to sell yourself and make yourself stand out.
2. Don't waste other people's time. Introduce your resume quickly and move on.
3. Don't waste your own time. Don't let your cover letter steal time from your resume.
4. Format strategically. Use bullets.
5. Tell the reader the next step. Say you'd like to set up an interview.
6. Say it, then say it again. Make it easy for the recruiter to contact you.
7. Come back to it. Proofread.
8. Follow up. There's a chance that your call may get you noticed.

I can't help but think that the job-searching public would be much better off if they all applied these tips. I've probably looked at thousands of cover letters in my career and 99.9% of them are the same. They can be summarized as follows: blah, blah, blah, me, blah, blah, blah, more of me, blah, blah, blah, did I tell you about me? In other words, they are full of useless information that interferes with what can sometimes be useful information (though that can be over-the-top at times too.)

Anyway, my advice to all of you out there who are writing cover letters or those who may be writing them in the future is to follow these points. And if need be, go to the library, check out this book, and read the details on these points. They'll certainly help you craft a winning cover letter.

Comments

[Laura]

And please address the specifics in the job announcement even as you point the reader toward your resume.