You must have a cover letter. More than 80% of recruiters surveyed by the Society for Human Resources say cover letters are a necessity. A bad one is worse than none. A good one can set you apart from the crowd.

Free cover letter examples are a great way to move yourself into the middle of the pack. Is that what you're after? Here are a couple hints for breaking out:

1. Send more than one. Conventional wisdom says you can't. If the job is attractive, the hiring manager is receiving hundreds of resumes. Duplicate cover letters will be confusing at best and sound like begging at worst. And that's true. Except when you continue to add value.

"Multi-step campaigns," multiple mailings that add incremental value each time, are scarily effective. And follow up can be your most valuable tool. As long as the follow up isn't just "when will I hear back from you" but rather, "here's something else that may be helpful for you." Go look over the companies you've already applied to. Then use Google News to figure out what's happened in the industry that is critical to the manager. Better yet, set up a Google Alert for companies as you apply to them and write them back every time you hear news that you can help with.

2. Give the manager a reason to identify with you. The hiring manager is just like you. And she'll feel closer to you if you point it out. "Last year, we were so overcrowded, four teachers left in one term. How about your teachers? Do they have the same concerns?" Then, when you've established some identification with the hiring manager, show her how you can help her. "Well, while we couldn't stop them from leaving, I could do this... and you wouldn't believe the results. Of course we'd need to talk about how that would translate to your environment." Now you're advising the hiring manager instead of coming hat in hand. And there's a natural reason for you to get together.

Free cover letter samples don't lend themselves to this kind of optimizing. They're just too generic. This is a different way to approach cover letters. It can make your letters jump off the page, and catapult you ahead of your job competition.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Teresa_McGill