Does the Opening Line in your Cover Letter Grab the Reader’s Attention?

Does the opening line in your cover letter grab the reader’s attention? Does it make the reader want to read further and learn more about you? Of course, you can start your letter with “I am writing in response to your ad …”.  Or, you can jump right in with relevant information about you.

If you are applying for a job in, say, nursing, you might consider starting your cover letter with, “Having xxx number of years of experience in the nursing field, specializing in …, I bring to your organization …”. Or, if you are looking for a job in the IT field, you can open your letter with “As the Manager of IT Operations in my company, I am responsible for …”. Right away, the reader wants to know more about what experience you have, because the information you opened with highlights relevant experience to the position for which you are applying.

Of course, you want to make sure that you are including some of the target words that the hiring company may be looking for. As I shared in a previous article, try to capture the words that might be used by a screening software program, i.e. use the word Manager instead of managed, etc. If you’re not sure how to identify them or in what form they should be used, you might consider working with a career coach to make sure your cover letter is as effective as it can be.

The point of the Cover Letter is to ensure that the hiring manager can learn as much as he can about you, and makes him want to find out more.  Make sure you tailor each cover letter to include content that is relevant to the position for which you are applying and that it is a valuable accompanying document to your resume.

Do you know someone who is faced with this challenge? Feel free to share this post by using the share links at the top of this page. Also, if you’d like more resume and cover letter tips, feel free to check out the resume resource page.