COVER LETTER
A lot of the time when you're hunting for a new job, time is of the essence. It's not difficult to save a lot of that valuable time if you can make use of one of the most powerful tools at your disposal: your cover letter.
The cover letter you send attached to your resume can really speed up the process, because it can help you all but close the deal right then and there. You can pretty much custom-build whatever first impression you want a potential employer to have of you when he or she reads it.
A cover letter is a statement of your qualifications. Your main intention for the cover letter should be to tell what skills you have that make you the best-suited candidate the business could ever want... a tall order, but it's definitely doable.
Make sure your cover letter is customized and completely unique to the business you're sending it to. Too many people make the mistake of printing off generic copies of the same nonspecific cover letter and mailing it all off to a bunch of completely different businesses. If your cover letter doesn't specifically address the requirements of the job it's trying to set you up for, it's basically useless.
Simply sending off a cover letter and resume, no matter how great they are, is not enough. You have to be proactive and self-motivated if you want to get a job efficiently and keep it. Businesspeople respect someone who's willing to get out there and break out of his/her comfort bubble in order to get done what needs to be done.
Do what you have to in order to get seen and noticed...mail your cover letter directly to the person at the company who has the best chance of flat-out hiring you, and who won't be questioned for doing so. You yourself make the call to set up an interview, and see if they have any questions. Make yourself available to them if they need you.
