You saw it in the paper – or online. THE perfect job for you. The one that you have always known was out there, but for which it was never quite the right time for you to apply. Now, this times, you’re ready.

How do you ensure, however, that you’ll even get your resume read? There might be well over a hundred other applicants – and you WANT THAT JOB! How can you place yourself over the masses and be sure that YOUR resume is the one that will be read from top to bottom and get you in the door for an interview?

Face it – when HR personnel are looking for a candidate to fill a position and are inundated with hundreds of applications and resumes (as most are in todays economy) you’re going to need something to help you stand out. Most applications are looked at for about 30 seconds before a determination is made on whether or not to call the applicant in for an interview. 30 seconds! That’s how much of their time you can expect. 30 seconds is how much time you have to make yourself stand out above the masses.

How are you going to do that? All resumes are basically the same. There are only 2-3 types of “official/professional” resume formats. So if they all look alike how do you stand out?

It’s simple. With an amazing cover letter. The cover letter is your one and only chance to step outside the box. Your one chance to let your personality shine through and catch the attention of the HR people and make them say “I like this ones style” or “I want to meet this guy/gal – they sound interesting”.

With an amazing cover letter your are SUPPOSED to be creative. You must make yourself stand out. Be innovative. Be smart – be DIFFERENT! When you do that, you’ll get the interview. Then it will be back to business. Face-to-face impressions to convince a possible employer that even though your resume looks like 50 others – it’s YOU that you will bring to the table! You!

The cover letter will begin this process, pique a possible employers interest and make them more open to you and your ideas! An amazing cover letter will be your ticket to all the job interviews that you can possibly handle – if you’re amazing enough. Resumes are a dime a dozen – but the cover letter – THE cover letter will take you to the next step.

Image taken on 2009-09-28 15:10:12. Image Source. (Used with permission)