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YES! Every resume needs a cover letter!
Attached to your one page chronological or qualitative resume should always, always be a cover letter. This provides you the space and freedom to do several things. First, you may use this cover letter to explain any flaws, gaps, or weaknesses in your resume without drawing unnecessary attention to them. You want your potential employer to know that any gaps or other anomalies were legitimate, but ensure you keep that from becoming the focus of you cover letter. Instead, use the cover letter to focus on the parts of your experience, skills, awards, education, and qualifications that are most important and applicable to the specific position you are applying for. This ability to cover all types of experience and qualifications comes in extremely handy for chronological resumes, where work experience alone generally dominates the top of your resume. Do not copy your resume in the cover letter! Instead, use the letter as a ‘highlighter’, adding personal touch to a rigid, highly structured list of information and qualifications. Speaking of personal, you should address your cover letter directly to the person who will be reading it whenever possible. Remember to use the cover letter to ‘ask’ for an interview. The cover letter and resume together are meant to encourage employers to consider you for open positions, rather than securing those positions for you.
Your cover letter should open with a discussion of why you are writing, or what your aim is. Take the opportunity to introduce any connections you have. For example,
“Mr. Stamford of XYZ Builders informed me that your company was searching for a Project Manager, and encouraged me to contact you regarding it. I am extremely interested in the position.”
This frames your letter with the reference of a respected and trusted colleague or businessperson and your purpose for writing. If you learned about the position or company through a website or advertisement, be sure to mention this as well. The opening should be inclusive of any broad career goals or objectives you hope to convey to the reader. These should be in line with those of the company, hiring manager, and/or position being applied for (if not, you probably will not get the interview, but more importantly, the job is probably not a good fit for you anyways!).
The middle paragraph or two of your letter should provide evidence of why you are a qualified candidate for the position. It should support and further define any broad statements or generalizations of goals and ambitions expressed in the opening. This is where you can explain any gaps or faults, draw out and explicate your most relevant skills and experiences, and add a truly personal touch to the information on your resume. Again, resist the urge to simply ‘copy and paste’ information from your resume, and do not simply ‘reword’ it either: explain in such a way as to add new information or impart additional meaning and substance. For example, if your resume states, “Organized and coordinated international meetings and conferences,” under your last job’s responsibilities, you could explain this in your cover letter by saying,
“The conferences I coordinated in Brussels, London, and Antwerp stretched and challenged me, showing my superiors and myself that I was adept in personal communication across language barriers, capable of financial management in a cross-currency task with a limited budget, and efficient in my organization of numerous parties from differing time zones.”
The closing of your cover letter should wrap up and restate your ‘premise’ in a concise and non-repetitive way. Then, specifically ask for the interview, or outline your future contact information. For example, you could say, “I relish the opportunity to meet you face to face if possible,” or “I will call your office this week to set up a personal appointment at your convenience.”
To recap the crucial advice for a cover letter:
- Always include a cover letter, personalized if possible!
- Don't regurgitate your resume...make the cover letter unique!
- Use it as a 'highlighter' for the good spots on your resume, and as an 'explanation' for the not-so-good spots
- Ask for the interview!
Please leave comments about this article here on ConstructionJobsBlog.com.
Contact Mark Avera at MAvera@TopBuildingJobs.com.
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