You've written your resume and it is perfectly worded, professional, and well-formatted. Now you're done right?

Wrong!

A resume should always be accompanied by a complementary cover letter which capitalizes on your most outstanding accomplishments, contributions, or skills. Depending on your field of work and the job you are seeking, your cover letter needs to reflect the traits which are most likely to get you in for an interview.

It's important that your cover letter serve as a cohesive introduction to your resume. Your cover letter is your opportunity to share the highlights of your resume, without overwhelming the reader with too many details. It is important that you coordinate not only the words and references of the cover letter with the resume, but that you coordinate the look.

A few important tips for connecting your cover letter and resume will ensure that you present yourself as a polished professional:

- Highlight accomplishments or skills in your cover letter. Be sure these same things are included in your resume with more detail. Your cover letter should provide just enough information to make the reader want to flip the page for more details on these aspects of your experience and performance.

- Make sure that your cover letter includes some reference or information that is similar to your career objective or experience on your resume. If your cover letter talks about your desire to be in management, but there is no experience on your resume to support this desire, there is a huge disconnect! If your resume focuses on technical skills and programming abilities, make sure your cover letter reflects this as well.

- You can briefly mention things such as schools attended or prior places of employment in your cover letter, assuming they are also included in more detail on your resume.

- Visually, both the cover letter and resume should go together. Use the same color and texture of paper, same font style, and similar writing style in both documents. They should flow together as one single document with the cover letter being a shorter document drawing the reader in to want to learn more about you. This includes the envelope which should coordinate with the documents.

- Include your full name and contact information on both documents and make sure that it is identical. A cover letter with a different email address, or one that uses a nickname versus your actual name, can be confusing to the reader.

Presenting yourself professionally requires that you take the time to coordinate your cover letter and resume. The more time you put into this process, the more likely you are to land that interview where you can really sell yourself!

A coordinated, organized, and well-worded cover letter and resume will make a positive first impression on the employer. Be sure to take a clean copy of both documents with you to your interview.

And, best of luck!

Learn more about this author, Zoey Day.
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