A cover letter is more than just a formality, it's an opportunity to push beyond your resume and showcase yourself. It allows you to offer a strong first impression and stand out among the competition. More importantly, it can convey your fit with the organization's mission, as well as your fit with the organization's culture. All of these reasons - and more - mean that your cover letter is equally as important as your resume—but unfortunately, few people treat it that way.
In reality, a cover letter is the best opportunity to elaborate on your story and start building a relationship with your potential employer. Resumes are basically a laundry list of your achievements, but a cover letter should create a clear connection between you and a possible job, demonstrating what you can bring to the company that no one else can.
While we often spend hours toiling away at our resume—making sure everything is neat and perfect—we rarely invest the same amount of effort into our cover letters. Maybe that's because a resume can be used for multiple jobs, while a cover letter needs to be personalized each time.
However, a cover letter can be the deciding factor between you and another candidate. According to a recent survey conducted by TopResume, close to 50% of employers agreed that they are now more likely to read cover letters than before the pandemic.
But how do you go about crafting the perfect cover letter - especially if writing is not your strong suit?
Have no fear! The same company that conducted that survey, TopResume, also offers a comprehensive resume review as well as other services that include help with your cover letter. TopResume is the leading resume-writing service with over 1,500 writers nationwide who are knowledgeable in 65+ industries!
Their track record is also fantastic as they've helped over one million people switch and/or build careers. The bread and butter of their offerings is definitely their resume review which is key to a quicker job search.
To appeal to both hiring managers and resume scanning software, TopResume will help you tailor your resume towards a specific job by employing keywords as well as recommendations about various content and structural changes. People often forget how important these Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are, as most resumes don't even make it past an initial scan.
TopResume ensures that you never have to worry about this again with their specialized approach to tailoring your resume specifically for ATS--but that doesn't mean it's going to lose that human touch either.
Once you sign-up for TopResume, you'll be connected with a resume writing expert who has extensive experience in HR and recruiting - so you know they're the real deal. From the initial free resume review to the final product, your personal expert will be there every step of the way to guide your resume to perfection.
But TopResume doesn't stop there, they also offer assistance with writing your cover letter! Whether you're confused about tone, your introduction, which skills to list, or what call-to-action you should conclude with, a TopResume expert will answer all of your questions in no time at all!
Candidates who use resumes and cover letters written by TopResume are 3 times more likely to secure a job than those using a self-written resume. Moreover, recruiters value candidates with professionally written resumes about 7% more than their competition. That's why TopResume is the market's secret weapon to landing 2 to 3 times more interviews stress-free.
Take charge of your career story today by crafting perfect cover letters. Let's be honest, you probably won't be able to do it on your own - or just plain don't want to - so what's the harm in trying it out?
