Many people ask me about cover letters. How do I write a good cover letter? What should be in the cover letter? How long should a cover be?

There are many websites out there with example cover letters, some of them are great. There are even websites where you fill in the blank's those are great too. The only difference is they're not yours they're somebody else's.

To me, the purpose of a cover letter is a brief introduction of YOU and essentially a request for a meeting to discuss what you can do for the hiring company and how you'll make it worth their time by being able to walk the walk not just talk the talk and having the skills that meet the job requirement.

Now for the details of what belongs in a cover letter. FIRST YOU MUST READ THEIR JOB DESCRIPTION before you do anything.

Get a good sense of the responsibilities and requirements the hiring manager might expect from this position. Then choose five or six keywords or phrases from the job description that match your SKILLS (as they are listed in your resume) - if your keywords or skill phrases in your resume do not match the Job description change your resume so there are matching keywords and phrases from their job description to your resume. For example (highly motivated, willing to relocate, exceptional customer service, ability to make effective and efficient decisions, or successfully managed a team of 10 etc.).

Now don't go crazy and match every one your skills to the job description they should somewhat match the job description already.

Now in your cover letter you are going to introduce yourself express that you are submitting your resume regarding the specific job title in which you're applying.

You're going to write 2 brief paragraphs ( no more than a total of five sentences ) stating that after going through their posting or advertisement you noticed that there were many similarities in what they have listed with your experience such as; ... (here is where you list a few of those keywords or phrases).

For instance "My ability to prepare and submit budgets on a weekly basis seems to align with your need in this area, as well as, my current payroll experience. Additionally, since travel was a part my previous two positions there should be no delay in getting right to work. "

This is where the Manager or recruiter says hummmm 1=1 and 2=2 and if you did a good job with your cover letter they'll put this one through for an interview.

Be sure to close with requesting a meeting and let them know that you look forward to meeting with them to discuss the opportunity further. Hope to hearing from them soon. Make sure your contact information is also on the cover letter in the case it gets separated from the resume.

Lisa Loou MyiConsultant.com