Many a hiring manager really wonders why most job seekers have lost interest in writing cover letters. A hiring manager recently told me that he got a cover letter that was as short as a tweet and even one that only said “Have a nice day” and so forth. Job seekers should not neglect the place of cover letter, it is still important in job search and employers still look out for them. In a survey conducted by Saddleback College, 53% hiring managers want more than just a basic cover letter. What employers look out for in a Cover Letter?

Employers look out for certain ingredients and things in a cover letter and if your cover letter contains those important elements, then you might as well have fetched yourself an interview. 33 percent of the cover letter should contain customized skills from the job description. Clarity takes 26 percent of what hiring managers expect from your cover letter. The cover letter should be direct to the point in terms of the job applied for. 20 percent of what hiring managers expect from your cover letter is details from your resume while 19 percent of it is your personal value.

Obviously, employers want you to show them that you are the right candidate for the position and therefore would be right for the interview. Of course, job seekers are often dissuaded because after spending countless hours creating a customized cover letter they seldom hear from the hiring managers.

Cover Letter Format

Download cover letter formats : Cover Letter Format (1) - Cover Letter Format (2)

Start with a cover letter template

Starting with a cover letter template can save you lots of troubles. You can have the template customized to the exact thing you want and include custom features like your experiences, skills and so forth. After creating a custom cover letter, you will need to save it in a word document with a file name you can easily remember in order to make use of it when required.

Personalize your cover letter

With the cover letter template you created, you will be able to reproduce subsequent cover letters each time you want to apply for a job. You simply have to follow the procedures and details outlined in the template and then customize them as much as you want to fit into your current requirements and meet your needs and purposes at the given point in time.

There are some things you will need to edit in your new cover letter to match your current requirement. You will need to edit the contact information of the new cover letter and ensure that it bears the name of your new employer. You also need to edit the salutation of the cover and in case you know the name of the new manager, you can fix it into that position. The first paragraph of the cover letter also needs to be edited. It should show information regarding the job you are applying for and where you saw the posting of the job.

Professional Cover Letter Template

You may not have to change the final paragraph and closing of your cover letter but you need to edit the body of the letter and ensure that the skills stated in the body are related to the job you are applying for. After editing and producing a new cover letter, you have to save it with a separate name to distinguish it from the template.

You will achieve a better result easily when you tweak the cover letter or customize the cover letter template you already created than starting from scratch. By producing a top notch cover letter, you will achieve a better result and ultimately fetch yourself an interview.