Of the hundreds of resumes that employers get for every job opening, you need to stand out in order to get a callback, and there is just one way to do that; your cover letters. A resume might make you stand out from the crowd, but before your potential employer ever looks at your resume, they have to be wowed by your cover letter. Most employers do not open about half of the resumes they get for every job opening. They get tossed in the trash or deleted with a cursory glance or sometimes even no glance at all.

To give your resume a righting chance, your letter has to clearly communicate that you are one to interview. One secret to doing this is through action words. You cannot show your potential employer that you are one to interview if you have a letter filled with boring, over-used words that describe your characteristics and past job duties.

When you use action words, you come a lot closer to getting the hiring manager out of his or her chair and over to the phone, where he or she will call you in for an interview. An action word is a verb that you can use to describe the duties you had at another place of employment, a volunteer opportunity, or while in school. When you use action words to describe these experiences, your writing sounds vibrant and full of life. This tells employees that you are the one-the one that they can depend upon when they need someone willing to get the ball rolling with high energy.

Resumes have been eliminated because of certain words used. Cover letters follow the same principal. If you use action words and resume keywords that are important to your potential employer, you tell your potential employer that you are the one who can benefit the corporation. This means having a unique letter for every job that you apply for, but it also means a much greater chance of getting an interview.

Letters that stand out speak to the people to whom they are addressed. After all, there is a reason why a cover letter is called a letter instead of a statement. It is meant to bridge the gap and act as your introduction to someone who is looking for a person with your skills to join his or her team. For this reason, make every effort to explain exactly how your skills will benefit the company.

By making a personal connection, you show potential employers that you are the one to hire because you have thought about how you will benefit the company, specifically, and you plan to put those benefits into action if you are hired. However, do not make your personal connection, personal. While you want to show the employer that you have thought about the position and you are capable of filling it, you do not want to sound too personal. For instance, if your writing complains, whines, or begs for work, you will be eliminated.

To show the potential employer you are one to interview, your cover letter should focus on them, not you. The best way to wow anyone is to make them feel important, and you can do this by being wowed by them. Find out more about cover letters that wow employers. Copyright 2010 by Joe Beeswax Freely distribute this article but please leave article, author name, copyright info, and links intact.

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