So, does an employer actually read a cover letter?

In a word – yes! In fact, cover letters may actually be more important and more necessary than even the attached resume.

Cover letters can move candidates to the front of the line if they are highly focused and highly objective. They can help a recruiter or employer see why it is that you contacted their organization. This also helps what you are looking for (not to mention how you can help the company itself!).

Cover letter, then, is important to have. You just have to make sure that you understand how and why employers read them. With that, then, it’s critical that you create the perfect cover letter than an employer will be happy and glad to read, as they make sure they are getting the most out of your contact while they try to fill out their job descriptions.

Here’s the rundown on writing a cover letter that employers will love:

Cover letter need to be tight and focused:

First and foremost, make sure your cover letters are incredibly tight and focused. Make it brief and short. Highlight your experience. The cover letter should tell how you can help the company. It should express what you can do to get the most out of their job description. But never forget that it should highlight your experience and the successes in the past. In turn, make sure they are no longer than several paragraphs. Definitely, it should not be longer than a single page in length!

Link it to a specific job or opportunity:

Second, link the letters to a specific job or opportunity. Never send a cover letter to a company that isn’t highly focused to a direct job opportunity, and never make your cover letters aimless and worthless. Employers only have so much time to read cover letters, so it’s critical that they are brief, to the point, and highly specific.

Make it brief and provide value:

When you make them brief, make sure you highlight how exactly you can provide value to the company, and how you have provided value to companies in the past. Experience is great to highlight, but connect it to providing overall value (and revenue!) to corporations, since the bottom line is what drives profits, hiring, and the growth of the business.

Proofread, proofread, and proofread!

Finally, don’t make any grammatical mistakes or spelling errors! Nothing will get your cover letter thrown out quicker than a dumb grammatical mistake, or a spelling error that could have easily been corrected in time. Constantly make sure that you are double checking your cover letters – even to the point of having other people around you proofread them – so that you don’t run into stupid mistakes or other dumb problems that may lose you respect and opportunities with different companies and corporations.