Your Cover Letter

Very often, potential employers ask interested professionals to submit cover letters along with their resumes or vitae. But even when the employer doesn't ask for such a letter, it is a good idea to provide one.

• Your cover letter gives you another opportunity to shine. Resumes and vitae are often dry listings of factual information. This is what they are intended to be, a quick overview of your professional history. Your letter is where you can let your communication skills, personality, passion, and unique characteristics take the spotlight.
  
  
• Your cover letter can allow you to focus the employer's attention on factors that might not be well emphasized in your resume. It is sometimes difficult to fully describe interests, commitments, or the personal impact of some of your past experiences in a simple resume. Your cover letter gives you a format for saying to the employer why his or her opportunity speaks to you, and how you relate personally to the mission of the organization.
  
  
• Your cover letter, identifying in detail the organization and position you are interested in, shows the employer that you have thought carefully about the opportunity, that you are serious and not just mailing resumes in a "shotgun" approach to every advertised position in your particular field.
  
  
• Your cover letter allows you to offer flexible contact information like multiple email addresses or after hours phone numbers that you may not want to put in your resume.

Remember when writing your cover letter to use your best business style, and to have it proofread by someone you can trust to find any little typos or misspellings.

And, if applying for a position through RPA Inc., remember that a cover letter is always required.

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