10 Cover Letter Tips for Millennials

10 Cover Letter Tips for Millennials10 Cover Letter Tips for Millennials4Without a doubt, my least favorite sentence to read when I have applied for jobs in the past is Please include a cover letter in your resume submission. Even when I landsee my dream job and I dont meet all of the job requirements, I am mora optimistic and upbeat than when I think of the pain and anguish of having to write a cover letter This is where cover letter tips come in handy.While writing a cover letter ranks up there with dental work on the list of things that suck, it is an important part of the recruiting process for many jobs.notlage only is it a great way for you to show a hiring manager or recruiter that you are a great candidate, but it is also a way to stand out among the other applicants they are looking at.Cover letters are also a great tool for recruiters. How hard is it to upload your resume and click submit? Its ridiculously easy. By asking for a cover letter, not only can a recruiter learn m ore about who you are as a candidate, but he or she can also weed out the majority of people who dont really want the job enough to put forth any extra effort.Having been on the hiring side of the process, I have read countless cover letters- ones that are good, bad, and ugly. In my reviews, I have noticed how ansicht brief notes have helped or hurt the likelihood I would hire a candidate.That said, there are a number of things to keep in mind that will help you write an awesome cover letter to go with your rock-star resume.Check out these 10 great cover letter tips for millennialsKeep a consistent format.The header, fonts, and style of your cover letter should match your resume. If you have the opportunity to upload your cover letter in a file, copy the header format from your resume into your cover letter. It shows continuity and attention to detail. Plus, its easier for a recruiter to know that both documents fit together.Grab the readers attention.Say something provocative or co ntradictory, bring the reader right into a moment that describes who you really are, or do something to make the recruiter want to keep on reading. Start off with a catchy quote from a story you tell, such as I smell jail time Kevin OLeary (aka Mr. Wonderful) said to me while filming my episode for ABCs Shark Tank. This makes the recruiter want to read on to find out why Kevin said this and how it relates to me (in my case, I would reference how I was able to handle myself professionally under pressurethat is a true story, by the way). Then you have the recruiter hooked.Highlight your resume.Think of your cover letter as a more in-depth follow-up on relevant aspects of your resume. A description of a specifically relevant work experience or accomplishment often gets lost in all the other elements of your resume. If you have done something that you think sets you apart from other candidates, share more about it here. Go in depth and share more than your resume allows you to.Tell a st ory.Along those same lines, it is best to highlight your experiences by telling a story. We all have heard the old saying, Show, dont tell. Well, this is particularly true with your cover letter. If you say, I am great with clients and always hit my quota that wont resonate with a recruiter like ending a story by saying, and that is why I always received 100 percent positive feedback in client surveys and was first in my region in ausverkauf each month.Do your homework.Read the job description in detail to learn what they are looking for, so you can tailor your cover letter to show how you have these skills and experiences. Talk to someone who works at the company or in the group you want to work for. They can tell you more about what the job and hiring manager are like (so you can decide whether you really want to work there) and so you can write the cover letter highlighting how you would fit well with the organizations culture. Dont just spew out facts to sound smart show you did your homework in more nuanced ways.Customize.Just like you want to customize your resume to fit the type of job or company, you should do this to an even greater extent with your cover letter. By doing your homework, you will have plenty of ammo to use in making your cover letter fit for the specific company and job you are interested in. Not every job wants the same traits or experiences. You should highlight the best traits and experiences for that specific job.Cautiously name drop.If you know someone at the company and talked to them about the job, or have some specific connection to the company, then mention it. Your cover letter is a way to supplement your resume with more info in a different format. If the recruiter has a conversation with someone who really knows you and can vouch for you, it will help your chances a great deal. Or, it could kill your chances at getting the job if they dont have something good to say about you, so make sure you have an advocate before mentio ning them.Use bullet points.Recruiters are extremely busy and are likely reviewing your cover letter along with many others. If you can, highlight main points in a bullet point format- it is better than hiding them in the middle of a long paragraphs.Dont be ordinary.I believe that I have the skills, abilities, and passion to be a great access to your organization. This type of statement may be true, but a majority of every other candidate will say the exact type of thing. Say it a different way by using a story as talked about above. Dont make the letter too long either. Keeping the letter to one page in length is important, but that doesnt mean you have to take up the entire page. Make the letter as short as humanly possible while totenstill getting the points across you feel are necessary.Another good way to stick out is by signing your letter (sending a PDF is always better than sending a .doc file, since PDFs are cleaner). If you cant print, scan, or sign each one, then get a co py of your signature as an image file and paste it into your letter- it will make your letter stand out. Note make sure to only do this if you send a PDF file of your cover letter- if you do this in a .doc format it will look weird to the recruiter.Brand yourself.To really stand out as an ideal candidate, you need to make sure a recruiter reading your cover letter walks away remembering who you are. I often would mention the male pageant I won in college (my official title is Mr. Business), tying it into the story I tell or main points I get across. After reading my cover letter the recruiter remembers me as Mr. Business or that guy who won a male pageant, which helps me stand out and grab their attention. Be careful though, make sure you are being remembered for the right thing touting victory in a male pageant may not be the best way to brand yourself for many jobs.Use the tools I listed to make your resume and cover letter submission stand out in the stack and best of luck in fin ding your dream jobReaders, which cover letter tips do you use to make the best impression? Share with us belowAaron McDaniel is a corporate manager, entrepreneur, author, and speaker with a passion for helping millennials build the foundation for successful careers. Aaron was one of the youngest ever to serve as regional vice president at ATT, a Fortune Global 100 company, and taught a highly rated course on leadership as a student at UC Berkeleys Haas School of Business. Aaron is the author of The Young Professionals Guide to the Working World (an international top 10 listed book printed in multiple languages) and The Young Professionals Guide to Managing and has been written about in Forbes, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, US nachrichten World Report, and Kiplinger. He has also been heard on NPR CBS Radio, seen on ABC, and has spoken to groups of young professionals at top companies and organizations like Wells Fargo, The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Academy, Deloitte Consulting, UnitedHeal th Group, and the United Way. You can follow him on Twitter and read his blog.Check Out the Top 100 Companies with Remote Jobs