Four Ways A Cover Letter Can Make Employers Sit Up, Take Notice, and Call You

Imagine that you’re an employer with a challenging task ahead of you-filling a recent job opening. On your desks are hundreds of resumes most with a cover letter. You can’t read them all, and you most certainly can’t interview all of their resumes. You’ll have to skim through the pile until you find those that stand out to you, so you scan cover letters or have a software program that does this, looking for keywords and phrases for the skills you desire or that intrigue you. Everyone else is immediately eliminated making your job much easier.

This might not sound fair, but it’s accurate. In today’s competitive environment, you need to have a cover letter that stands out from the rest in order to get noticed. Luckily, there are a few words that you can include in your cover letter, the one that makes employers sit up, take notice, and call you in for an interview.

First, start with subtle compliments. No employer likes a cover letter that is obviously designed to schmooze, but you can certainly gain points by being complimentary. For instance, you might mention how the employer’s advertisement managed to grab your attention or how learning about the company intrigued you. Remember that the idea is to be subtly complementary, so comments about the employer’s "masterful web design" are too much. However, words like intrigued, interested, and attracted, suggest the employer’s techniques were effective while simultaneously alluding to your own perceptiveness and can separate mediocre cover letters from excellent ones.

Second, use action words. Employers want workers who make things happen, so you want to make sure that your cover letter sounds like you’re an active, motivated person. Although it’s tempting to use passive words when trying to be polite, active words are more likely to get you a call back. For instance, you might write that the advertisement caused you to take "immediate action." Specifically request a meeting with the employer-don’t beat around the bush-and use words that create a sense of urgency, such as "eager," "as soon as possible," or specific deadlines.

Third, use power words. Most cover letters are too long. The employer who must skim through all of them will likely stop reading after just a few lines, so be as specific as possible. Replace vague words and phrases like "decision-making skills" with employee-centered specifics, like "make inventory choices." Many power word sentences used on a resume can be repeated in a bullet list on your resume. Keep bullet list short with no more than four bullets and keep sentences to ten words. If they are longer on your resume, condense the sentences for your cover letter bullet points.

Fourth, repeat keywords from the advertisement or job listing. When replying to a job posting, act as if you were completing an essay exam in a college course-incorporate words from the job description or qualifications into your cover letter. For instance, if the job description denotes "attention to detail" as a necessary qualification and the company is described as "community centered," mention that your attention to detail-especially your ability to recall nonprofit organizations’ areas of specialization-would greatly benefit the company’s focus on community values. Employers search for these keywords and phrases, especially those that describe a particular skill they desire.

Busy employers with desks that are cluttered with resumes don’t have time to analyze every one. By using strong words in your resume and cover letter, like the four types mentioned above, you can write your way into an interview and a job-faster than you’ve ever imagined possible.