5 Ways To Write a Simple But Effective Cover Letter

The tricky thing about cover letters is that they shouldn't be longer than one page, they need to be tailored to each job you apply for and they have to contain enough information to get an employer's attention. But even still, there is no reason why they can't be simple and still be effective.

Here are 5 tips to keep your cover letter simple and effective-

1. Make you layout easy on the eyes- Double space your paragraphs and leave generous margins. This will make it much simpler for an employer to skim over the page and still find the important stuff. Keep in mind that employers generally have less than a minute to go over a cover letter.

2. Just three paragraphs- This falls into the keeping it simple part. The first paragraph should say who you are and why you are applying for the job. The second is your place to say why you are the best canidate and why your resume is worth taking a look at. Finally, the third paragraph is where you very clearly ask for the chance to discuss things over in the interview.

3. Keep it to the point- It is a good idea to keep editing down what you want to say, until you have it down to about 3 sentences per paragraph. Cut out anything that is not essential. Keep in mind that these sentences may be the make or break information that either makes the employer want to read your resume or causes them to reject it out of hand. Make them simple and compelling.

4. Make reading easy- You can try using bullet points or even making an important sentence bold. Try to make it easy to read and easy to skim over.

5. Proofread, proofread and proofread some more- Check it over once to make sure that the flow is good, then run it though a spell check program. Read over it again to catch any other errors you may have missed. Set it aside for a little while and then go back and proofread it one more time.

So that's it. You should be done and ready to send it off. Keeping it short and effective will allow you to edit it for each job you want to send a resume in for without having to completely re-write it from scratch. Imagine yourself as an employer, reading a simple cover letter that is to the point and makes you interested in reading more.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.