When it comes to applying for various jobs, you want to have a cover letter that will make you stand out above other applicants. Your cover letter is how you introduce yourself to the company so you want it to be professional.

The first thing you need to do with your cover letter is the heading. You should try to have the cover letter heading match that of your resume. This presents a more uniform look and is much more professional. If you can find out the name of the hiring manager, use it. Address the letter to him or her to make the letter personalized. You should try to do this for all jobs that you apply for but if you do not know that name then you should address in general to the head of the department.

After your heading and introduction you will need to write your opening paragraph. You should keep this specific. Tell the hiring manager exactly what job you are contacting him or her about and why you are the one they should hire. You do not need to go into details here as this is the paragraph that leads you into more specifics.

The main body of the letter should describe your special qualifications and skills that you have pertaining to the job in which you are interested in. To draw more attention to this are, you should use bullet points for your skills, qualifications and special awards as it helps the manager to easily skim through the letter to see if they are interested in you. It also makes it much easier to read, giving just little chunks of information rather than having to read through a paragraph to get to the point.

Bulleted example:

My enclosed resume details the 10 plus years that I have in Customer Service Management which includes the following experience in:

• In house collections

• Training of new employees

• Creating and implementing new policies and procedures

You do not want to make the list too long but as the same time you want to give them a taste of what they will be getting should they hire you. You are showing them what you can bring to the table and what sets you out above the rest. For the most part, your cover letter is how you sell yourself to employers for possible careers with the jobs that they have available.

Your closing paragraph should wrap up the cover letter, pointing out that you will be in touch so that you can set up a time to meet in person. You should also thank the person for their time and consideration. Keep the closing paragraph short and to the point just as the opening. You do not want a letter that will drag on as the employer will lose interest and move on.

When looking into various careers, check out the details of the jobs that are offered in each field. This way you are allowing yourself to have more than one option where employments concerned. The final thing that you need to do with your cover letter is to send it off to the company or more specifically, the hiring manager.

You can do this either by faxing it, emailing it or mailing it my regular mail. If you are mailing the cover letter with your resume, be sure to print the resume and the cover letter on crisp, clean paper. A good bond to go with is about 20lbs. Watermarks are also good to use as they help to make your resume stand out. You should go with white paper but cream colors also work well.

Many people have started their careers by sending out the perfect resume and you can do this too. You just need to make sure that you personalize each cover letter to be specific to the jobs that you are applying for. For the most part, your cover letter can be a universal one so that you can just plug in the name of the company and the hiring manager where needed. This helps a great deal as you will not have to constantly rewrite your cover letter for every application you turn in.

Landing the perfect job starts with making a good and lasting first impression. You can do this by writing the best resume.