by Robert Levine

Created on: December 18, 2008   Last Updated: February 09, 2011

Everyone should know two things about cover letters going into writing one. First, as NTC's Business Writer's Handbook, by Arthur H. Bell, says, "The letter should not try to outdo or redo the resume itself. . . . Instead, select one or two of your most impressive or interesting achievements and weave them smoothly into the application letter . . ." The cover letter serves to expand on the most important items in your resume, to spell out the significance to the available position that their inclusion in the resume implies.

Second, focus on you, not them. As a teenager, I had the audacity and naivete to hit up my county's weekly newspaper for a job as a cub reporter. I had a professional writer friend in his twenties to whom I showed my cover letter for advice. In the first paragraph, I wrote about what a great newspaper the Prince George's Journal was, what an important function it served, and how much I liked to read itI really laid it on thick. My friend pointed out that this was a mistake. The audience of your cover letter already knows about the qualities of his or her organization; the kind of junk I had written evades the point. Your audience wants to read about your qualities and why you think they make you compatible with his or her organization. (I didn't get the job, but I'm sure that was due to my inexperience, not to my revision of the cover letter.)

The usual format for all business letters is called modified block style, and it's the format I like best. Everything is typed single-spaced. The writer's address and the date are typed at the top of the page, indented to the number 4 on the screen's ruler bar.

1234 Main Street

Bozotown, MA 98765

December 1, 2008

Skip a line, and then type the recipient's name, title (if known), the company name and the address starting at the left margin; skip another line and type the greeting, ending with a colon.

Jonathan Hind

Human Resources Manager

Doofus Bowlingpin-Setting Company

0001 Rockfish Lane

Moronia, MD 22222

Dear Mr. Hind:

Skip a line before starting the body of the letter. Don't indent the first lines of paragraphs instead, indicate separation of paragraphs by keeping a blank line between them. After the last paragraph, skip a line and type the closing from the number 4 on the ruler bar, ending with a comma. Drop down four lines to accommodate your handwritten signature after you print the letter and type your name starting from the number 4 on the ruler bar (if sending the cover letter and resume

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